CS 92 Meeting Notes

meeting: Notes from Friday's 12pm meeting, Oliver and Naomi
date: 3-12-99

We intended to work on creating the screen sketches to facilitate the process of making storyboards. But instead we ended up spending the majority of the meeting going through Dr. Gillerman's email (Hasbro). We don't have any screen sketches yet, but we did end up with really specific ideas of how each screen will appear and what they will contain.

(1) The program will start with a fancy, animated INTRO/SPLASH screen.

(2) The MAIN MENU screen will have one primary button/door and two secondary buttons/doors. The primary door will lead to our EXPLORATION. The secondary doors will lead to our DICTIONARY/INDEX OF TERMS and a CREDITS/THANK YOUS screen.

(3) The EXPLORATION will begin in the WAITING ROOM. The NAVIGATION BAR will appear on the bottom of the screen from this point on. The user must pick a TOUR GUIDE immediately after entering this room so that we have a means to communicate with them. We will try to create our TOUR GUIDES so that there is at least one appealing GUIDE for each age group. Possible TOUR GUIDE characters include a teddy bear, a ghost, a cowboy, a skater dude, and/or a (Warner Bros. style) cartoon character. Dr. Gillerman has pointed out that patients arrive at the waiting room from their own home or from another floor of the hospital. We either have to somehow represent this with additional screens or simply have our TOUR GUIDE explain that you might have come from home or another floor of the hospital. The TOUR GUIDE should also mention to the user that they can have a special toy or a favorite item with them during their visit to the OR.

ACTIVE ITEMS:

* a computer with our application on it

(4) From the WAITING ROOM, the user proceeds to CHECK-IN DESK. The TOUR GUIDE will then explain to the user that, after checking in, they need to go to the CHANGING ROOM.

ACTIVE PEOPLE:

* a receptionist

* a nurse

ACTIVE ITEMS:

* a ID bracelet which the TOUR GUIDE will somehow get from the nurse or receptionist

(5) In the CHANGING ROOM, the TOUR GUIDE will put on the bracelet it got at the DESK. The TOUR GUIDE will also put on PJs and slippers. The TOUR GUIDE could accidentally put the PJs on backwards or inside out in a funny way. The TOUR GUIDE will explain to the user that parents and siblings are allowed to accompany the user during their visit to the OR, but in order to do so they need to put on jump suits, masks, and hats. The TOUR GUIDE could make light of their clothing, saying something to the effect of "Your parents or siblings might look funny when they put on their jump suit, mask, and hat, but try not to make fun of them too much."

ACTIVE ITEMS:

* a thermometer

* a stethoscope

* lockers

Note: It was not clear to Naomi and I how the thermometer and stethoscope are to be situated in the room. Perhaps they are being used by ACTIVE PEOPLE in the room, in which case we need to determine which ACTIVE PEOPLE are in the CHANGING ROOM.

(6) From the CHANGING ROOM, the user can either go to the INFANT/TODDLER PRE-OP WAITING ROOM or the SCHOOL-AGE WAITING ROOM. We will need to determine how this choice is to be presented to the user and how they will indicate their selection. Will there be two doors (there aren't two different doors at Hasbro)? Should a pop-up window and the TOUR GUIDE ask the question and the have the user indicate their selection by clicking one of two simple buttons?

(7) The INFANT/TODDLER PRE-OP WAITING ROOM has...

ACTIVE PEOPLE:

* the Child-Life Specialist (Is this where Sandy comes in?)

ACTIVE ITEMS:

* a TV

* a games/crafts table

(8) The SCHOOL-AGE PRE-OP WAITING ROOM has...

ACTIVE ITEMS:

* a TV/VCR with a movie

* a Nintendo 64

* a stretcher

* an IV setup with a pump and pole

(9) Before leaving both PRE-OP WAITING ROOMS, the user will have to select a VEHICLE from a pop-up window. Possible vehicles are a wagon, a car, a motorcycle, and a wheelchair. Dr. Gillerman pointed out that the vehicles available to infants/toddlers and school-age patients are not the same, so we'll need to find out which vehicles are available to whom and present a different vehicle selection based on which PRE-OP WAITING ROOM the user is in. Once the VEHICLE is selected, it drops off the bottom of the screen and then the "dashboard" of the vehicle rises from the bottom of the screen until it lines up with the NAVIGATION BAR. The rising of the dashboard will give the user the first-person view that they're sitting down into or getting down onto their VEHICLE of choice.

(10) With their new VEHICLE, the user will enter the OPERATING ROOM. The Operating Room has...

ACTIVE PEOPLE:

* an anesthesiologist

* a surgeon

* an OR nurse/technician

ACTIVE ITEMS:

* operating table

* surgical instruments

* anesthesia mask (with different flavors)

* anesthesia breathing circuit

* anesthesia machine

* EKG monitor

* blood pressure cuff

* pulse oximeter probe

* EKG stickers

* syringes/needles

* a cast

* an IV setup with a pump and pole

* sleep medicines

Note: Naomi and I weren't sure what some of these ACTIVE ITEMS were so it was hard for us to imagine how they were situated in the OPERATING ROOM. Also, because we're not going to have a patient on the operating table it might be hard to position some of the items (e.g. stickers and cuffs) which usually are placed on the patient.

(11) Between the OPERATING ROOM and the RECOVERY ROOM the user must go through the HUMAN FORM screen. The HUMAN FORM screen will have an active human form on which mouse-overs of different areas of the body will pop-up a menu listing the common procedures (see Hasbro) associated with that area. Selecting pop-up menu items will pop-up the definition window for that procedure. Moving the mouse off of the body or to a different body area will collapse the pop-up up menu.

Note: Naomi and I were not sure how the user will get to this screen. Maybe the TOUR GUIDE might explain to the user that they must click-through the operating table in the OPERATING ROOM to leave the OR. Clicking-through the operating table might then open the HUMAN FORM screen.

(12) From the HUMAN FORM screen, the user enters the RECOVERY ROOM. The TOUR GUIDE will explain that the user's parents can be waiting for them in the RECOVERY ROOM. The TOUR GUIDE will also explain that it's important to drink lots of fluids after the operation. Lastly, the TOUR GUIDE can wrap-up the EXPLORATION by explaining that from the RECOVERY ROOM the user/patient will either go home or to another room on a different floor of the hospital to get additional rest.

ACTIVE PEOPLE:

* recovery room nurses

ACTIVE ITEMS:

* stretcher

* monitor

* BP cuff

* EKG stickers

* wheelchair

* movies

* large comfortable chair

* IVs

* pulse oximeter

* water or juice

(13) In the RECOVERY ROOM, the EXPLORATION ends. The CREDITS/THANK YOUS screen should appear with buttons from it that allow the user to EXIT the program or return to the MAIN MENU.

Some notes about ACTIVE ITEMS: On mouse-overs, ACTIVE ITEMS will be animated such that they appear to swell slightly and move out of the screen and towards the user slightly. For the accompanying DEFINITION SCREENS, which will appear when ACTIVE ITEMS are clicked, we might need to take close-ups of the ACTIVE ITEMS because some of the smaller items will appear out of focus and pixilated when we zoom in on them.

Some notes about ACTIVE PEOPLE: On mouse-overs, ACTIVE PEOPLE will change their positions and/or their clothing. For example, the surgeon in the OR might be standing stiffly normal, wearing their mask, cap, gloves, and scrubs. On mouse-over, the surgeon could appear striking a funny pose without their cap, gloves, and mask on. For the accompanying DEFINITION SCREENS, which will appear when ACTIVE PEOPLE are clicked, we'll take close-ups of the persons face and have it appear in the corner of the screen.

meeting: Notes from our short meeting after our meeting with Andrea
date: 3-8-99

We will be meeting as a group from 1pm to 3pm every Monday from now on. The location of these meetings may vary.

Both Naomi and Rupali are emailing Dr. Gillerman. Their emails and any responses will be (or already have been, in the case of Hasbro57) posted to Traction for reference.

Yusuke, who has the most web-design experience of anyone in our group, will make us a project homepage. We'll probably serve the page out of his CS account and provide links to it to Roger and Traction.

Naomi and Rupali are going to scan the screen-flow diagram that Naomi sketched so it can reside on our project homepage or Traction or both.

meeting: Notes from group meeting with Andrea at 3pm
date: 3-8-99

Andrea will be gone Wednesday through Sunday. During this time we should contact Saori (st@cs.brown.edu) with any pressing issues or questions.

Storyboard presentations will be starting next week. We should notify Saori as soon as we're ready to present our storyboards so she can schedule us for class.

Some notes on storyboards:

* Storyboards consist of screen shots and overall walk-through structure;

* We shouldn't create any graphics for the storyboards that we aren't going to use in our actual program;

* We should be prepared to receive feedback from the class.

We should put up a project homepage, as our Traction newspage will not suffice. However, the project homepage does not need to be as fancy and extensive as some of the other groups'. At this point, the project homepage need only contain our most recent project description, any (scanned) storyboards we have ready, and all of our meeting notes.

We need to email Andrea with the Traction address so she can take a look at it.

Our software evaluation assignment is due before Spring Break. Our group of four people should produce two evaluations. We should review Rima The Rat as one of our two applications. We should also try to evaluate one application "on-site" and one application in our own user bubble.

meeting: Dr. Richard Gillerman at Hasbro
date: 3-4-99

While Dr. Gillerman was getting his things together, I spoke with Sandy who was there to introduce us. She told me that she had spoken to a bunch of doctors and they couldn't come up with any basic tests that every child undergoes. I explained that we must not have explained ourselves well, as we wanted a list of common tests that a patient might encounter, not a list of tests which every single patient gets.

I told Dr. Gillerman about CS92 and summarized our meeting with Susan, Sandy, and Linda (see Hasbro14). In answer to his questions, I also described how we generally envisioned the application and the medium (CD-ROM) on which we were planning on delivering it. He was very interested in the project and really wants to help us as much as possible. He even volunteered his three kids to help test ideas during the design process and the application itself once we're at that stage.

Dr. Gillerman was really into...

-- lots of graphics, animations or video, and audio

-- a walk-through type of user experience

-- audio accompanying any text

-- an avatar or narrator to assist the user

-- doctors and nurses appearing in the program to explain different equipment and procedures

-- any attempt at making the application multi-lingual

In no particular order, here are the rest of Dr. Gillerman's observations and reactions:

He said that the logistics of setting up a photo/video shoot in the OR and any other rooms would be no problem. He said he could make it happen with as little as 48 hours notice. He observed that the late afternoon would probably be the best time for a shoot because the OR isn't very busy and the doctors are still around.

He further clarified our target users as the 40% of out-patients who arrive at the hospital the morning before their scheduled operation. Roughly 60% of the ORs out-patients come into the hospital one or two days before their operation. He said that in the ideal, no one would come in "cold" (same-day arrival and operation), but it just isn't possible for a variety of reasons.

In regard to our requested list of tests, he said that there just aren't very many tests which kids undergo via the OR. He said it was very rare for a Pre-Op patient to have a CAT scan or an MRI for example. Most patients have already had their tests well before their scheduled operation. He said, off the top of his head, that the only tests which might take place the day of the operation would be a blood test, an x-ray, or a urinalysis. He'll look into the tests issue and make us a list, even if it's a short one.

In regard to our requested list of procedures, he said that he would take care of compiling the list. He can check the hospital computer to easily determine which 10-15 procedures are the most common. He'll also provide us with the name of a doctor who we can associate with each operation: from them we can potentially get a written explanation of the procedure, a photo for the corner of the "definition" screen, and an audio track.

I explained that we sort of knew how we were going to let the user explore equipment--they'll be able to find different pieces of equipment in the rooms of walk-through--but that we weren't sure how we could present the procedures in any form other than a list. Suggested, unprompted, the same thing that Rupali suggested on Wednesday (Hasbro48): an Operation game style body on which mouse-overs pop up the different procedures that are performed on the different areas of the body. He said that most children (and even a lot of parents) don't remember the name of the procedure which their having, but they can identify the part of the body where the operation is taking place. He reccommended using some sort of pseudo-human body diagram on the user isn't intimidated by the body on the operating table.

Lastly, Dr. Gillerman reccommended that we discuss how we want to handle "sensitive" operation descriptions. The benefits of some operations are easily explained to children, but other operations are more difficult to justify to them. In other words, there isn't an immediate threat to their health that the operation is healing, but the long-term threat is scary so discussing it might do more harm than good.

Dr. Gillerman's contact info is as follows:

           Dr. Richard G. Gillerman, MD, PhD
           Pediatric Anesthesiologist, Rhode Island Hospital
           Clinical Associate Professor, Brown Med. School
           tel: 401 444-3343
           fax: 401 444-3519
           email: rgillerman@lifespan.org

           Rhode Island Hospital
           Department of Anesthesiology
           593 Eddy Street
           Providence, RI  02903

meeting: mtg minutes, 1PM
date: 3-3-99

FIRST SCREEN

user chooses exploration through various rooms or the "definitions-only" mode

EXPLORATION MODE

choose your tour guide, who will introduce you to the navigation bar/dashboard and invite you to take a tour -->

waiting room -->

main desk (get bracelet) -->

changing room -->

play station room or little kids' play area -->

choose your own vehicle (it can surround the navigation bar/dashboard at the bottom) -->

OR -->

recovery

At every screen, the tour guide will highlight various items to investigate, ask questions, provide answers to basic questions that apply to all kids (i.e. bracelets, masks, "sleepy-air").

Certain objects/people will change conformation (color, shading, etc) when mouse is passed over them to indicate that the user can click on them. A sound that goes with the mouse-over might be useful. If the user hasn't clicked anything for a while, the tour guide can make suggestions.

Clicking on a certain object will bring up its definition page, which will include a close-up of the object, a simple definition, a button to go to an advanced definition, and a button to go back to the OR. The simple definition would have audio to accompany the text (with the gender of the voice matched to gender of the health care professional who is pictured on the definition page). The advanced definition would not have audio (rationale: if the pt wants a detailed explanation, then they can probably read).

We weren't able to work out the issue of how to layout various procedures and tests in the OR in this mode. Maybe involve the operating table?

Signs pointing to rooms where various other tests would take place would be clickable (i.e. MRI, CAT scan, blood test), and clicking on them would bring up the appropriate definition page.

"DEFINITIONS-ONLY" MODE

geared towards parents and kids without much time

list of tests/procedures, equipment, personnel clicking on a certain word or small icon brings up the definition page for that item

meeting: Notes from Monday meeting with Andrea
date: 3-1-99

Our meeting Monday with Andrea was short and sweet. Andrea talked with us about...

(1) updating out project description;

(2) building our project webpage by Friday (3/5);

(3) looking forward to the creation of our design story-boards;

(4) finding out why Naomi wasn't at the meeting.