When I think of what "User Experience" means I think about the product or experience taking into consideration:

1. Basic human behaviours - People are often afraid to talk or even make a sound when riding in an elevator with strangers;

2. Human behaviours specific to demographics - In the current state of social media and digital technology an older demographic is still more likely to purchase and read a physical newspaper for their national and international news source than a person under the age of 30;

3. Ergonomics - Last night I re-arranged the apps on my iPhone so that the frequently-used apps such as Messages, Phone, Gmail, Safari, Instagram, and Bitmoji (I use this with my boyfriend for laughs), are aligned on the right side of my phone for easy access and function with my right thumb.

Assignment Week 1

As a high school teacher I have been very blessed to teach a broad range of students. Even more so I have been able to teach many of them from in grade 10, grade 11, and grade 12. Watching them grow and develop as young people in their academic pursuits, in their personal strengths and interests has afforded me an incredible amount of insight into these amazing young people. It was free data that I didn't realize I had until last year. I started telling my students that I was informally data-mining them. I was only half joking (to ease their looks of horror) as acknowledging the power in the information that was presented to me everyday allowed me to change my daily teaching practice and also realize their individual needs . . . to the delight of many (teachers included) Kinetic Sand and peppermint aromatherapy made their way into my classroom. But that's a story for another day.

My desire to help these students who became an important part of my life (it's hard to say otherwise when they spend 5 days a week with you), did not end when they graduated. I've made it a point to keep in touch with many of my students by email and sometimes by Twitter or Instagram. I know from their responses that they appreciate it because the feeling all to common yet rarely discussed is how alone and lost many feel in their first post-secondary year. The blanket of resources, people checking up on them, even the routine of attending school at 8:00 am is suddenly gone and adapting to this new way of life can often be a greater shock to the system than anticipated. As such, I've tried to let them know that something familiar (me ;) is still accessible if they need to chat, bounce ideas off of, or need a reference.

Okay, so here is my problem that I would like to find a potential solution to: as I find out about design contests, job openings, networking opportunities, etc. I like to share them with my community of post-secondary and post-graduate students. I find most of these opportunities on Twitter and would love to just tweet it out to a group named Grads but this is not a function I believe is available. Also, an opportunity may not be obvious to some students but after data-mining their personalities, skill sets, and desires, I know there are some really well-suited and just need a little push. Currently, I have a group set up in Gmail and over the past three months sent three emails about great opportunities. Unfortunately, I recently found out that no one received any of them and I don't know why.

There are so many niche opportunities that are happening in the Greater Toronto Area, how can I curate and notify my talented graduates in an efficient, accessible, eye-catching way? A great example is the newly advertised Disney & Adobe Emoji contest. What is the best way to get this contest to my students?

As I am late with my assignment, I decided not to make a formal "Persona" but have a couple of factors that I am already aware of:

A) Age: 18-26; B) Majority of the opportunities I have greater insight to is in art, design, and education, however, I know many of my students are in other fields such as broadcasting, public relations, and many have an entrepreneurial spirit; C) They (like me) want to access info efficiently and I know that they are more likely to be accessing their Snapchat and Instagram accounts more than Twitter, Facebook, or email.