Week 10 Competencies & Reflection

Competency (VI)

6.1 Determine factors that affect communication with the identified audience.

6.1.2 Identify the assets, needs, and characteristics of the audience that affect communication and message design (e.g. literacy levels, language, culture, and cognitive and perceptual abilities).

Summary: This week, I spent time working on the early-stage care guide, working with different graphics, pictures, and designs that would be best suited for caregivers and be visually appealing (6.1.2). The guide has to be set at an eighth grade reading level, and should adhere to the educational, personal, and emotional needs of caregivers in the early stage. At this point, I am working to organize the visual effects as well as adding descriptions and organizing all of this to best fit each page.

6.4 Select methods and technologies used to deliver messages.

6.4.3 Develop communication aids, materials, or tools using appropriate multimedia (e.g. infographics, presentation software, brochures, and posters).

6.4.4 Assess the suitability of new and/or existing communication aids, materials, or tools for audience(s) (e.g., the CDC Clear Communication Index and the Suitability Assessment Materials (SAM).

Summary: This week, the bulk of my work consisted of creating communication aids, materials, and tools, that go along with the early-stage care guide that Sarah and I developed. The guide is being worked on through Canva (6.4.3). This is where I design each page that corresponds with the information we developed. At this stage, I am beginning to finalize some of the designs and organizations of the page, so I work with Sarah to ensure she agrees with the finalizations (6.4.4). We have also decided that some information may need to be incorporated onto more than one page.

Reflection: What, So What, What Now?

This week at the CARE center, I spent more time developing designs for the early-stage care guide. This includes graphics, pictures, borders, and copying and organizing texts to fit pages. Sarah and I have decided since last week that some of the information may need to be more than one page, which alleviates the challenge of trying to keep the guide from being too succinct, but still manageable to read. This week was helpful for finalizing more of the designs and getting a better sense of what Sarah and Jenay are looking for as I create more designs and multiple versions for them to choose from. From this trial and error, I can create more pages to continue making the guide and hopefully creating a final draft soon.