Reflection

The most important thing I learned from this project was the concept of narrowing a focus. Originally, my project idea was very broad. It first asked the question if our memory would be improved if we performed a certain digitally as opposed to physically. Then, I slightly narrowed my focus by applying this concept to reading books digitally as opposed to reading books on e-readers.

This problem with a broad focus is that it leaves an audience that is too large to be generalized to answer research questions. Regarding my topic of encouraging people to reflect and remember the things they read, I never considered the possibility that people may not want to remember what they read. For example, many people pick up a novel at night after a long day's rest just to relax their mind. They don't worry about actively remembering what they want to read. Thus, for the future, I need to narrow my scope so I can have more useful and thought-provoking investigations. 

Regarding design, I should take a more Agile approach to constructing objects. I had taken a Structured approach by documenting all the materials and action plan needed to design my object, and then moving from one structured step to the next all the way until user testing. However, this quickly became a problem because I realized many times, I could have designed a part of my bookmark better, but I was left with little flexibility to change it. For example, I could have implemented pivots and hinges with my acrylic screen rather than gluing it onto the bookmark. I am not saying I won't make plans when I design things in the future, but I won't commit all my resources to one design iteration in the future.