Mesh/UserResearch
Revision as of 22:39, 14 November 2017 by Tunabananas (talk | contribs)
Based on the interviews and research below, a number of Use Cases were developed for the mesh.
We have also interviews a number of other community mesh networks from around the world.
Digital Divide Working Group - OpenOakland (2013)
Meeting Minutes
Interviews
User Research for Tidepools (2013)
February
- 7th, 5:30-7pm: Alcides Gutierrez - VaporOne - Designing a community mesh in Exelsior, San Francisco. Interview Notes
- 10th, evening: George Gleason - CTel - Creating a worker-owned cooperative telephony/mesh network to compete with AT&T. Transcription forthcoming Interview Transcription
- 11th-16th Attempts to schedule interview with Cassandra Chen - SOL (Sustaining Ourselves Locally) / Teacher at Oakland Unified School District - Works with middle- and high-school youth in East Oakland; has worked on neighborhood mapping projects.
- 18th, evening: Jen-Mei Wu - Liberating Ourselves Locally - Oakland Makerspace - Founder of a People of Color (POC) run and led makerspace in East Oakland that works alongside several other DIY community-based organizations. Interview Notes
- 22nd: Attempts to schedule interview with Matt from the Bikery, who also has a home 510pen node.
March
- 6th: Attempted Communication with Youth Movement Records - Organization that gets youth involved in music production and community leadership.
- 6th-13th: Attempts to Schedule Interview with Spike at Urban Strategies - Oakland organization focused on transforming low-income communities.
- 14th, 2-3pm: Angela Woodall - Reporter for the Oakland Tribune passionate about open data and app development, interested in discussing ideas for a crisis response app. Interview Notes
- 18th, 3-4pm: Open Garden - Startup focused on developing more robust internet connectivity through creating a network of bluetooth-enabled devices. Interview Notes
- 19th-22nd: Sustainable Economies Law Center - "Education, research and advocacy for just and resilient local economies." Correspondance with Sustainable Economies Law Center
Informants
- Mark Burdett - 510pen / EFF - Resuscitating an East Bay community mesh network, with a number of nodes deployed but currently inactive concentrated in East Oakland. Interested in integrating Tidepools.
- Greg Bloom - Provisions Library - Failed community mesh project in DC, now developing a social services directory to integrate with LocalWiki.
- Beau - The #Fort - Mobile hackerspace out of an ambulance, seeding grassroots pop-up hackerspaces across the U.S. Mobile mesh node.
- Dennis - East Bay Job Developers - Dedicated to helping youth, low-income, formerly incarcerated, homeless, and veterans find jobs in the East Bay and learn basic digital literacy skills.
- Bilal Ghalib - GEMSI.org - Starting and documenting makerspaces across the Middle East.
Still to reach out to
- Oakland Public Library Computer Education - Oakland Public Library branches offer computer education and training. Mesh nodes in public libraries??
Interview Questions
For People Working on Mesh Projects
- Who is this mesh network for? (What sorts of communities do you personally feel drawn to serving?)
- How are you involved in your communities mesh network? What is your role?
- What is the goal of this network/project? What are some of the problems you're looking to solve with your project?
- (if this is a goal) How will the community mesh network enhance civic participation? face to face interaction?
- What kinds of data do you see as important for residents / community members to have instantly available to them?
- What information do individuals want to share with each other within a community?
- What are the challenges that you see to making a community mesh network happen? What do you need to address these challenges?
- Do you have funding for the project? What is it from?
- What other organizations / projects (or types of organizations / projects ) are you going to be / hoping to collaborate with?
For Organizations Addressing Access to Technology
- Who (e.g. groups and communities) does your organization serve?
- What is your service / what do you provide for the community you serve?
- What's your role in the organization?
- How is your organization addressing the issue of access to technology in Oakland? What is your overall goal? How do you work to achieve that goal day to day?
- What technologies / apps are you currently using? What do you use to organize? To socially network online and offline? To spread information? To solve problems?
- What kinds of technologies are being used by the people you serve? What do you they to organize? To socially network online and offline? To spread information? To solve problems?
- What resources do you wish you had access to day to day?
- What kinds of data do you see as important for residents / community members to have instantly available to them?
- What would you need in order to effectively achieve your mission?
- What challenges do you face in achieving your mission? / What are some of the potential barriers to success for the organization?
- What other sorts of organizations / projects are you working with or are you hoping to collaborate with?