iSchool Capstone

2014

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Centralizing Multnomah County Library's Día Program

Multnomah County Library’s (MCL) Día de los Niños y Día de los Libros is a multicultural celebration of childhood, literacy, and community connections. In partnership with MCL’s We Speak Your Language Department and 11 library branches, our team streamlined the promotion, planning, and organization of three Día programs. Previously, Día was designed and implemented by individual library branches, but was then centralized to maximize staff time. We coordinated all aspects of the program and prepared supplies in advance. According to patron, volunteer, and staff evaluations, we improved the planning process and delivered an outstanding library program. This year, over 3,600 patrons of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds came to the library for three Saturday celebrations in April. Families participated in literacy activities and learned about free library resources.  After attending Día, many families indicated they were more likely to read to their children and return to the library.
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Chronic Pain in the Oldest Old Women: Considerations for an Elder Friendly Future

By 2030, the CDC estimates 6 million Americans aged 85 and older will suffer from chronic pain. The expected health care costs paid by the US government in this population alone is 40 billion dollars. While this is known, chronic pain in older adults is often overlooked and mismanaged. The goal of this multidisciplinary research is to advance knowledge of the information behaviors of adult women over 85 experiencing chronic pain. Our findings frame ways to empower older adults to become informed managers of their pain, specifically addressing the burgeoning relationship between pain management strategies and remote technologies. This contribution will influence the design and implementation of specialized technologies and policies targeted to older adults.
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Cloud Transparency Initiative

In the absence of industry standards, many small- and medium-sized companies struggle to assess the security risks of cloud adoption. Additionally, the quality and intended audience of available resources is typically focused on singular topics, or otherwise not suitable for companies to consume. To address these issues we published a website to serve as a reference for common concerns and a resource collection for various authorities regarding cloud computing security concerns. The website is published alongside a formal document outlining our findings on GitHub to make them open source, allowing their content to be changed and updated as necessary in the future.
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Cobalt Automotive Shopper Survey Analysis

ADP Cobalt group, a leading provider of digital marketing solutions for the automotive industry, has spent years collecting customer survey feedback on their dealer websites. The company now wants to leverage this valuable data in order to gain meaningful insights that will help guide decisions to optimize content and website functionalities for the end user. Our team will execute a quantitative research project using advanced natural language processing tools to help systematically categorize the unique open text responses and statistical learning methods to cluster customer segmentations, these findings will potentially be used by business stakeholders and the research team to aid in product optimization decisions.
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Connected to Research: Personalized Information Portal for Research Scientists

Research scientists need to stay up-to-date on advancements in their field, but it is time-consuming to constantly search multiple sources. They need to collaborate with other people with complementary expertise, but discovering them can be a challenge. Scientists also need to become aware of funding opportunities they should apply to, but are not sure which ones are appropriate. Connected to Research delivers relevant publications, key people, and funding opportunities. This personalized portal knows your interests so it eliminates searching, reduces the effort, lowers barriers, and automatically provides the information you need when you need it. It tracks key dates and notifies you of changes. Connected to Research allows you to collaborate and share information with others in your team. This tool also actively monitors a variety of trusted sources so you do not have to. Your time is valuable so now you can stay Connected to Research.
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Costco Badge Management System Design

Costco is facing multiple behavioral problems at their IT division including lack of knowledge sharing, motivation to share, lack of transparency in employees skillset and lack of recognition on sharing/improvement efforts by engineers. We are creating BMS, The Badge Management System, to solve these behavioral problems of Costco IT. BMS not only is a software application but it also brings set of business processes in the place. Main purpose of this system is to motivate people to share knowledge among the Costco Family and award recognition on their effort. BMS, with simple concept of awarding badges, will increase knowledge sharing between Costco IT employees drastically, help find right people to ask questions or to consult on their projects, motivate individuals to learn more or learn something new to gain badges to increase their recognition and ultimately their status quo. 
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Course Targeted Research Guides to Support Business Education

Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI) offers two sustainable MBA programs that encourage hands-on practical learning to anchor classroom lecture and discussion. As part of their coursework, students are encouraged to dig deeper into topics as well as conduct research using library resources such as the Resource Database. However, this resource can be difficult to navigate, especially when students are unsure about which resources to use on a project. It becomes even more confusing if interdisciplinary elements are present. The library desires to present available resources in a way that students can quickly access information relevant to the specific courses. The solution is to create research guides that not only present top quality resources useful for class assignments but also introduces students to resources that can used as they move forward in their careers.
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CourseConnect

According to the University of Washington Undergraduate Advising Office, “Many students are undecided about their majors when they enter college — and many who think they have decided will change their minds more than once before they graduate.” However, changing majors is costly. Students that change majors often end up taking longer than expected to graduate. This means that students must absorb additional tuition and living costs. During the 2013-2014 academic year, the average full-time student paid up to $31,971 in tuition alone. CourseConnect is a proof-of-concept web tool built to help students easily learn about majors they might be interested in, based on their course history and/or academic plan. By using data about courses previous students have taken and the degree they obtained, CourseConnect aims to reduce the risk and costs associated with changing majors by helping students make informed choices when they declare or change majors.
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Creating for Community: Developing a Website for the Refugee Forum of King County

Since the 1970s, the Refugee Forum of King County has been a vital source of information and networking for service providers serving refugees and newly arrived immigrants in the Puget Sound region. However, they relied on paper copies, monthly meetings, and word of mouth to share ideas. This has made it difficult for them to move forward with new goals and reach out to potential new members. Following principles of user-centered design, we helped the organization identify its information needs and built a website tailored to its goals. The process included user testing, content strategy, and documentation to ensure a smooth handoff. The website has the potential to improve the speed and efficiency with which service providers access information about community resources, thus enabling them to better help refugees and newly arrived immigrants in the region. Furthermore, it can serve as a platform for advocacy as the RFKC grows.
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Crumble: The Live Streaming Platform for Cooking

Online streaming services such as Twitch.tv allow anyone with a computer to share their gaming experiences with other people who share their passion for video gaming, while making a profit sharing what they do with others. Inspired by popular streaming platforms like Twitch and StageIt (another streaming service for the performing arts), as well as cooking communities like the Food Network, Crumble plans to develop a unique experience for users with an environment specifically tailored for live streaming cooking shows. As a multi-functional, live streaming platform, streamers will have the ability to broadcast at a low budget with a service that offers tools to schedule broadcasts, discover commercial opportunities, and effectively share information with viewers in a cooking context. Viewers will have easy access to cooking education and real-time interaction with streamers. Crumble revolutionizes how users invite the world into their kitchen.