I think this Capstone project is a representative summation of the things that I have learned through MCAD. STEPS encompasses so many different elements of the program; from brand identity, prototyping, web design, and UX research, this project moves across platforms in both digital and print formats. While most of the research was done in previous classes, this course has given me the opportunity to expand how things are presented and polish those preexisting elements to a level of professionalism that I think is appropriate for a Capstone project.
A lot of the research that was done for this project is based off of personal surveys and role-playing scenarios. There was some fact-finding, but that was generally limited to small snippets here and there. A good deal of the information is pretty straightforward (e.g. the United States is at an impasse with gun violence and mass shootings. There are only two hospitals in Clatsop County, Oregon) so I don't necessarily know that it needs to be cited. A lot of the minutiae that is worth documenting comes from primary sources like the U.S. Census, the Astoria-Warrenton Chamber of Commerce, and the Department of Homeland Security, so it is easily verifiable.
The biggest obstacle that I've encountered is finding a SME that is willing to discuss my work. Perhaps I aimed too high when I was looking for someone to critique what I have done and I should've had a local back up from the beginning, but I was really hoping that this project might be the catalyst for change that our community desperately needs. I was not prepared for the sheer volume of bureaucracy that was waiting for me when I tried to make contact with some of these organizations, and I doubt my emails even made it to anyone's inboxes.
Or maybe I'm a bit jaded by the whole process.
What bothers me isn't so much the lack of contact as much as my waiting on them has pushed me past so many deadlines, how discovering what Stop The Bleed has already done has stymied my work a bit, and how all of these things have compounded into a project that is not quite as far along as I had hoped it would be.
I haven't given up though. I'm hoping that maybe if I show it to someone local and they have a friend who has a friend who has a friend that I might eventually get this in front of someone who has the influence and means to do something with it.
I think that's my biggest fear — that this will all be for nothing in the long run.
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