DebKR

To the Stars

21st Century Careers

Researching Gamification Software Design

Researching Gamification Software Design

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I am currently conducting a survey into gamification software design to explore software development practitioners’ views and experiences when designing gamified software products. This survey forms part of my MSc Software Engineering (Open University) research project.

If you’re a software practitioner involved in designing and producing gamified software apps or products, it would be very helpful if you can complete the survey. Just click on the link below to be taken to the anonymous questionnaire hosted securely in Microsoft Forms.

SURVEY LINK (opens in new browser tab)

You won’t need to provide any personal identifying information or email address – unless you’d like to receive a summary of the survey results once completed, or take part in a further online research interview later this month – both of which are completely voluntary).

Data remains anonymous during data gathering, analysis and publication. Results will only be published to the Open University as part of academic submissions, and in the anonymised survey results PDF which will go only to those participants who requested it).

To provide a bit more info on the research project – to help you decide if you’d like to take part – the aims of the research are to:

  • understand what design challenges software development practitioners encounter when designing gamified software products
  • explore practitioners’ views and experiences about the software engineering practice of Design Expertise Reuse within the context of gamification and gamified software design

It is aimed at gamification software practitioners only (not end-users of such software), but your role in relation to gamified software design might include:

  • an entrepreneur running a gamification software development company
  • a director or manager leading or manging a company or department involved in producing gamified software
  • a designer, developer or tester of gamified software
  • an architect or analyst involved in a gamification software project
  • a project manager, product manager or product owner working on such projects

That includes developers and teams working on in-house projects, projects for clients, projects which involve outsourcing to external development partners, and also the development of gamification platforms or gamification engines.

Gamification consultants who advise clients on gamification app selection, design and development are also invited to participate.

Responses are invited from practitioners globally, although the questionnaire is conducted in English language only.

The questionnaire consists of multiple choice and several ranked-response questions, and should take about 10-15 minutes to complete.

Responses are being accepted until 28th February 2021. Please also feel free to share the questionnaire link with any suitable colleagues.

SURVEY LINK (opens in new browser tab)

Thanks very much in advance for your participation.

Definitions Used
Gamified Software refers to a software product intended for a serious purpose (such as learning, health, etc) rather than a game purely for entertainment.

Design Expertise Reuse (or simply Reuse) refers to the Software Engineering practice of applying formally encapsulated design knowledge to multiple software design problems. It may involve artefacts, methods, tools and techniques such as: design principles, design patterns, game lenses, and formal design frameworks or methods produced in-house or by others.

Data Protection Statement All responses remain anonymous at all times. No personal identifying information will be included within the research results and associated academic submissions. Survey data will be kept only for the duration needed to complete the research and associated academic submissions. Any email address provided will be stored securely, never be shared, and only used for the purpose for which given. All email addresses will be deleted at the end of the research project.

Role of the Software Architect

Role of the Software Architect

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Block 3 of M813 focusses on the functional/logical view of software architecting. Although there’s more to software architecture than just the functional view, that’s all we focus on in this module. (I believe that M814 will extend beyond the functional side to encompass all viewpoints of the software or system architecture.)

A quick web search on the role of the software architect turned up a really interesting and useful website (http://www.codingthearchitecture.com/) which includes an excellent presentation* from 2009 on the software architect’s role, relating to both the definition of a new system, and its delivery. The key thing appears to be the ability to balance competing demands of being both in the details and being able to step back and see the big picture. Isn’t that true of so many high-level roles [Read more…] about Role of the Software Architect

Asperger’s Careers

Asperger’s Careers

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Below is some info on Asperger’s, what it is or how to recognise it, together with some career suggestions. Sources are as noted.

Career Suggestions for Mathematicians or Musicians:
Accounting  Computer programming  Engineering  Journalist, copy editor  Taxi driver  Piano (or other musical instrument) tuner  Filing positions  Statistician  Physician  Mathematician  Bank teller  Telemarketing

The social and emotional cues – the intonation of speech and facial expressions – that most people decode instinctively in their daily interactions remain a mystery to people with Asperger’s Syndrome. So while many may have high IQs and be technically and logically extremely proficient, they lack the ability to relate to other people. To the outside world they appear to be geeks, nerds, self-centered or obsessive. [Read more…] about Asperger’s Careers

Java Developer (from start to end)

Java Developer (from start to end)

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Delving Into JAVA for the First Time

I learnt some great Python programming skills via Coursera last year (and a bit of R programming too, although that felt too much like work so I’ve knocked R on the head for the time being). I’ve been busy in the background applying that Python coding knowledge to various web scraping & data mining/data analysis projects.

But what’s up next for me in 2017 as part of my wider career-change programme & associated Personalised Training Program?

Well, if you’ve been follow the Systems Thinking category you’ll know I’m studying Systems Theory (or at least one approach within the bigger Systems field, called Systemic Inquiry) with the Open University. That’s a formal post-graduate course, with assignments and deadlines and all that good stuff, so it’s taking up quite a bit of my time. I’m also working on the Udacity Nanodegree in Machine Learning. Can’t quite believe I still find time to do a finance job as well as all that (thank god it’s only part-time!) but it keeps the cash flow flowing and helps take the pressure off and allows me the luxury (actually, I would describe it a necessity) of retraining into a new field.

But one other item on my original PTP (Programming Stream) was to learn Java programming. I need to get that under my belt if I want to progress onto the next OU post-graduate module on my list: M813 Software Development. So I booked onto the best-selling Java Developer course on Udemy, and it’s time to crack on with studying that now. [Read more…] about Java Developer (from start to end)

Machine Learning Engineering

Machine Learning Engineering

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machine-learning-engineeringDipping a toe in the Udacity pool:
I received an email from the UK/Europe Business Growth Manager of Udacity, looking for people with knowledge of/experiencein Machine Learning to lead and/or support face-to-face training sessions in Machine Learning in London. The email included the link to Udacity’s Nano Degree in Machine Learning.

While I’m not yet skilled or experienced enough at this time to lead a session, I felt really excited that I might have an opportunity to be a session supporter and assistant. That would be cool as I’d be exploring and networking in such an important growth area in tech skills, as well as supporting the growth of MOOCs here in London, which is something I feel really passionately about. [Read more…] about Machine Learning Engineering

Coding 101 (part 12) Extracting data with JSON

Coding 101 (part 12) Extracting data with JSON

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JSON-javascript-object-notationJump to ‘Going Public’…

Recap:
As ever, these postings document my responses to and learnings from the much-recommended Python for Everybody specialisation on Coursera (links below) and follow on from earlier posts in the series (bookmarked here).

The previous post was an intro to the XML language used as a data exchange protocol between different applications, especially where data is being read in the form of documents which humans need to read as well as machines. XML is particularly useful where the data structure consists of a branching tree structure (parents and children) and with lots of nested elements.

Introduction to JSON:
Now we go on to look at JSON, the JavaScript Object Notation. JSON is another data exchange protocol that works [Read more…] about Coding 101 (part 12) Extracting data with JSON