Project Plan
From EQUIS Lab Wiki
Project Title: “The Jungle Of Loveâ€
Customer: Carrie Kasurak and the Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit
Supervisor: Prof. Nick Graham
Problem Description:
Sexual education is an exceptionally difficult topic to approach in the classroom. Aside from the fact that the subject matter is effectively taboo, teachers are often too far removed from their students to effectively understand and relate to the difficult choices the youth must make, and are uncomfortable discussing the matter. Similarly, students are less than enthusiastic about receiving sex tips from Venerable teachers, and surrounded by their peers, are unlikely to seek answers to the questions they inevitably have. Finally the students who most need education in sexual health and practice are statistically the least likely to attend classes or heed advice from their teachers or parents. There is an extremely strong correlation between teenage pregnancy and poor grades. Finding a method to reach these students is essential to their well-being.
To make matters worse, there is little in the way of mandate or public policy on what is “required†information. Many schoolboards are hesitant to explain in detail the risks associated with sex, instead adopting a policy of “abstinence is the only safe betâ€. Similarly, there is little to know education regarding legal issues: our customer mentioned a story where a single 13 year old girl had sex with 5 males aged 15-20 (one after another) at a party, resulting in several statutory rape charges.
In short, there needs to be a way of educating students effectively. Similarly, said education cannot simply be about making Smart Choices (practically synonymous with don’t-ever-have-sex-or-you’ll-get-pregnant-and-catch-Chlamydia). It needs to acknowledge that the youth are going to take chances, and instead of judging them for their actions, focus on helping them reducing the risks involved.
Proposed Solution:
The Jungle Of Love: Providing sex-ed outside of classroom opens several opportunities. By exploring the issues in a private environment, students are encouraged to be inquisitive and seek answers to their questions without fear of ridicule or judgment. The information supplied must be accessible, simple and to the point, but also detailed and accurate. Informing students that the only way to avoid pregnancy is not to have sex isn’t particularly useful, any more than the much touted “condoms are only 81% effective†statistic. If they’re interested enough in having sex to look up this information, they’re not going to be scared out of it by a few numbers on a webpage. Pointing out that condoms are 99% effective if used properly then explaining exactly what that means will be infinitely more productive.
Similarly, it needs to be presented in an accessible manner. Students who are academically disinclined are not going to look up a factoid on STDs. Students who are bored out of their skulls in a computer class might spend a few minutes playing around on a flash game they found on the net: harnessing the appeal of easy-to-play online games can be the way we reach these kids. The game has to be simple yet fun, available (and playable) online, works on the pre-installed packages standard to most computers, and run on obsolete systems. Moreover, being that our customers will ultimately be responsible for developing new content, the game needs to include a very simple, easy-to-use toolset for adding new information and scenarios into the game world. This toolset must require no programming skills to use, and must also be highly expandable so future modules with more complicated game mechanics can be added.
Simplifying Assumptions
The immediate task is an exceedingly simple adventure game. A simple walkable space with point-and-click interactions with objects (click on a door to go through it, click on a person to talk to them). This simplification comes from the principal requirement of the toolset: no programming skills can be assumed or required. Every action that can occur in the world must be pre-programmed by us, and then selected by a menu in the toolset. Allowing a vast array of customized actions would be confusing, this means our adventure game is going to be an extremely simple set of action-reactions.
This might ultimately make for an extremely boring game (and thus, not attract the audience we’re interested in). However, this may be considered a necessary evil for now: we need to provide a framework in the short term, so that our customer has something to begin work on. There will be no scripting language, but the toolset will allow entire “rooms†of the game world to be imported. These rooms can be custom-coded with more complicated scripts, or even entire minigames (imagine a sexually themed Bejewelled, if you like). The idea here is that we can only do so much for now, but a solid foundation will allow the software to go into immediate use, and perhaps attract funding or more manpower in the near future.
Description Of Constraints
Our customer is working with two 4th year nursing students as well as our group, so as we plan out our timing we not only have to keep our customer in mind, but the schedule of the nursing students as well. Moreover, writing a full game is a huge undertaking and it’s easy to add in more than we need and go completely overboard. We can’t do everything: what’s important is that we make a foundation for our customer and the students that can be built on.
Hardware/Interface Requirements
Java 1.2 should be enough for the job. In addition to extremely portable, it contains a useful suite of simple 2d graphics tools. Moreover, being a slightly older version, even antiquated machines have it pre-installed.
Description of Development Process Used
Since our focus is on making an initial working prototype, then refining from there, we won’t be following the waterfall model as closely as we otherwise might. There is tremendous pressure to have a working model quickly as the nurses need something to show for their project by the end of November. Also, the customer wants to get feedback from students as soon as possible. The sooner we’ve something to show, the sooner she can begin.
Resources Needed
As the project progresses, we will need a variety of tools and resources. From the start, we’ll will need programming tools for Java: eclipse will be suitable. As development progresses, we will need a few simple pictures with the theme and characters of the game for early prototypes. We’ll also need some simple music to go with the game as well. To ensure low-power computers running on limited bandwidth can use our creation, we’ll need relatively low-resolution images and simple music/sound (midi). Obviously, the production of multimedia software will ultimately require some artistic talent.
Risk Analysis
For this project, the biggest problem is possible delays. With such a small team, organization should be relatively easy to manage, so coordinating our efforts is less of a challenge here than it might be in larger-scale developments. Given that we’re using Java Applets, it is quite literally impossible for us to damage a users computer (or so Sun would have us believe). Our biggest fear is a slowdown in development. By promising delivery too early, or running into unexpected complications during development, we run a serious risk of missing major milestones. Given that the project has several associates outside the programming team, we need to make a prototype as soon as possible in order to ensure we don’t delay them. Simply put, for every delay or obstical we run into, we’re going to have to slash a feature from the final product. That said, the greatest challenge is to produce a working prototype in time.
Schedule and Milestones
As of now, we do not have a specific schedule for the full year’s development. However, we do have several milestones to pass for this Semester. By October 10th, the nurses will have received several examples of flash/java games for their review, so that they can begin developing some specific requirements. By October 31st, we will have a working content plan done to demonstrate to our customer what the final product will look and feel like. At the end of November, the working alpha-prototype will be ready for the nurses project presentation.
As mentioned previously, with such a small team, organization is simple. Weekly meetings and frequent e-mail communication will allow us to coordinate effectively for the duration of this project.
