HND Level 4 Unit 6 - Managing a Successful Computing Project Assignment, Papers of Project Management

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HND 36 Su Shoon

Managing a Successful

Computing project

Assignment

Table of Contents

• Introduction
  • Reasons for choosing Discord
  • Objectives
• Work Breakdown Structure
• Project Charter
• Qualitative Data
• Quantitative Data
• Methods chosen
• Research Questions
• M2 Research methods evaluation
• P5 & P6 Survey results
• M3 Evaluate tools and techniques
• P7 Things I learned
• M4 Objectives and learning performance

Figure 1.2 Discord server Being able to assign roles to different users allows the server owners to create a chain-of-command within the server, separating between developers, moderators and normal members. For instance, moderators are allowed to make some limited changed to the server while the members cannot and they can kick out some members if such member is saying hate speech in the chats, while normal members cannot kick out the other members. User interface 2 4 3 1 The above picture shows a typical discord server. On the left part of the screen, ( 1 ), shows the list of servers join by the user, the user can go into each server by clicking on the server profiles. Beside the server is the channels created in the server, ( 2 ) Text channels and ( 3 ) Voice channels. Beside the channels, ( 4 ), is the chat interface. The users can talk to each other, send texts, photos, video and external links through this area. On top of the screen, ( 5 ), are the options to view threads, mute the channel, view pinned messages, hide members list, search messages, view inboxes and ask help from Discord. The area on the right side of the screen, ( 6 ), show current active users separated by the roles.

Reasons for choosing Discord

For this project, I will carry out research about Discord that is used by most people these days. Discord is one of the popular communication platforms used by young people these days to communicate with each other through voice chats, video calls and messaging. It can be installed on Android, iOS, MacOS, Windows, Linux and in web browsers. Discord allows a large group of people to be in one server together and it allows everyone to talk with many people at once without having to talk one-on-one in several private chats. Friends and classmates can 6 5

join one server and create small chats within the server as they wish. The owner of the server can make one chat for all the students, another chat which includes only the boys and another chat with only the girls. Therefore, it can provide privacy to the users. For instructors and teachers, Discord can help them interact with their students immediately at any time including outside of regular school hours. If a student has trouble doing their homework or assignment, they can message their teacher directly without having to wait to ask in the class the next day. Since the messages are kept in the public archive, the other students in the chat can check them at anytime they want or convenient and therefore, the teacher will not have to explain the same thing to different student for several times. Another reason for choosing discord is because it can provide real life news and updates to the users in the servers. For example, if you are in a server that is for BLACKPINK fans, you can know the latest news from other people in the chat before you see articles on social medias. You can share your opinions with other fans in the server and during the process, you can make new friends. There can be many people from different parts of the world and meet all those people by using Discord. Who knows, when the travelling restrictions are open, you can travel and meet the new friends you made on Discord. Discord also helps people to look for answers and solutions that they cannot find on the Internet. For instance, when a person is facing with an error on their computer or mobile devices and they cannot find the solution for the error, they can join a server where it helps people to fix the issues. In this way, they will not have to go through the trouble of sending their computers to shop to fix and waste money. They can just ask the experts for help and fix the error by following their guidance and instructions.

Objectives

For this project, I have come up with three objectives as blew:

1. To learn and understand more about Discord and its features Currently, there are over 350 million registered users and 150 million active users on Discord. The objective of this study is to find out all features and functions provided by Discord. In order to do this, first, a research on early platforms, like Twitter and Flickr will be done to find out how much these platforms have grown over the years. After that, a research on hate and internet culture will be done to look for hate speech and other racists remarks to make sure that such things do not happen in chats and voice channels and prevent trolls and toxic people from spreading hate and toxicity. Next, the anatomy of Discord will be studied, like the servers, users and user roles, and the user interface. By understanding more about Discord and the way it functions, it will attract more people to join Discord and gain their trusts as they will know everything, from head to toe about Discord, before they create accounts and join servers.

Discord Research & Analysis (WBS)

1. Initiation {5 days} 1.1. Identify research focus area [Manager] 1.2. Draft concept [Co-Ordinator] 1.3. Define vision [Manager] 2. Conduct research { 8 days} 2.1. Develop research approaches and suitable framework [Researcher] 2.2. Research on others communication platforms [Researcher, Skype, Viber, Messenger] 2.3. Research on hate and internet culture [Researcher] 2.4. Research on community growth [Researcher] 2.5. Research on sustaining communities [Researcher] 2.6. Read reviews from users on Google play store and other websites[Manager] 2.7. Carry out surveys [Interviewer] 2.8. Observe user’s behavior and body language [Observer] 2.9. Observe how Discord team handles bugs and errors [Observer] 3. Try out Discord { 6 days} 3.1. Install the app on Android, iOS and Windows [Co-Ordinator, Discord] 3.2. Critically examine the features [Researcher, Discord] 3.3. Create accounts, servers and join existing servers [Researcher, Discord] 3.4. Add users and assign roles [Researcher, Discord] 3.5. Create text and voice channels [Researcher, Discord] 3.6. Try screensharing while talking with users on voice chat [Researcher, Discord] 3.7. Create another server for volunteers who wants to discuss about Discord with each other [Co-Ordinator, Discord] 3.8. Read their discussions [Manager] 4. Analysis & Evaluation { 2 days} 4.1. Analyze which features are most most-used [Analyst] 4.2. Evaluate the most-used features [Accessor] 4.3. Analyze all the reviews and survey results [Analyst] 4.4. Evaluate the reviews and results [Accessor] 5. Closure { 2 days} 5.1. Review findings [Manager, Co-Ordinator] 5.2. Suggest further recommendations and improvement [Manager]

Company Name: Discord Inc. Project Team Name: Discord Inc. Date: 1 st^ November 2021 Project Name Discord Research & Analysis Project Sponsor YouWeb's 9+ Benchmark capital Tencent Project Manager Jason Citron Date of Project Approval 1 st^ Nov 2021 Last Revision Date 21 st^ Nov 2021 Project Description To research and make analysis about Discord Business Case ❖ To know and understand more about Discord features ❖ To understand more about pros and cons of using Discord ❖ To increase awareness about Discord Scope A research about Discord will be carried out in order to gain more knowledge about Discord features Budget $ 4000 Timeline 1 month Constraints Limited experience due to time limit Risks ❖ Accuracy Resources HR Resources Researcher – 6 Interviewer – 1 Analyst – 2 Assessor – 1 Observer – 2 Material Resources Internet Discord app MS Word Key Stakeholders Name Company and Description

Quantitative data is the numerical data collected. There are two types of quantitative data:

Continuous data

Continuous data is the data that is measured. For example, distance between two points, height of a person and length of a rope. The number doesn’t always have to be whole number it can also be decimal like 3.5 or 6.78.

Discrete data

Discrete is the data that you can count. For example, there are 8 dogs, it is a discrete number. There could not be 8.5 cats. It will always be whole numbers. For my research project, I have chosen case study, focus groups and observations to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Case Study In this method, Discord users will be studied to see what kind of people uses Discord and for what reasons. The age group that uses Discord will also be studied to get more accurate target audience. Whether the number of downloads increased after the pandemic will also be checked. This method will be carried out by letting people answer online surveys and tracking the number of downloads for Discord and the ratings. By using case study method, the researchers can turn opinions given by the users into facts as it can record opinions, behaviors, beliefs, attributes and attitudes. This method is inexpensive to conduct and can be done remotely without having to visit the natural environment.

Focus Groups To carry out this method, volunteers for the research project will be asked to join a server on Discord, where they can discuss about Discord. How Discord has made the communications with their friends and colleagues easier. How it has improved their relationships. How Discord has made their work-related activities easier. They will also discuss about the problems they faced when using Discord and how long did it take for the errors to be fixed and if they encountered any kind of toxicity and hate speech from other users and how Discord handles those kinds of behaviors. This method can generate fresh ideas as the users give their current opinions and ideas. It is faster and cheaper than doing one-on-one interviews as the researcher get opinions from several people at once instead of asking one by one to many people and therefore takes shorter time.

In the above project, it is stated that Case study, Focus groups and Observations will be utilized to carry out research about Discord. After carrying out the above methods, it is found that most methods did not meet the expectations and had trouble when implementing the methods. Even though Case study provide reliable information and facts, it is prone to error and some information are not accurate or true since the accuracy of information depends heavily on the researcher. Therefore, the results maybe biased. As the whole system about Discord needs to be studied and examined, it is time- consuming and the cost of the research will depend on how long it takes for this method to be completed and also the skill of the researcher. It is true that focus groups are less time-consuming than most of the other methods, however, it will still take time to watch people talk to each other and then review and analyze the things they share during the session. There will not be any confidentiality as everyone can see each other and knows how the individual feels about Discord. Therefore, the people who prefer obscurity may feel uncomfortable due to the personal approach. The responses might be biased since it depends on the person’s opinion and their experiences with the app. While doing the focus group, it is found that while some people are loud are share their opinions proudly, some chose to stay quiet and only make occasional remarks. Only the loud individual’s opinions are heard and recorded while the quiet and timid people are ignored. Therefore, the results maybe unbalanced. It is found that in order to do observation method, we need a skilled observer who will not miss a single thing happening around them and who can read body languages and behaviors well. The observers have less control over the situation as it is done in natural settings. Since the users are aware that they are being observed, the Hawthorne effect may take place. They will modify their behaviors and reactions to things due to their awareness of being observed. The observation also cannot be generalized to the entire population unless a method for representativeness is made. Due to Covid-19, the observation method is unsuitable as the people need to be six-feet apart at least. Therefore, the observers cannot examine all the reactions, body languages, behaviors and reactions given by the users closely. The observer’s might not be able to watch how Discord team handles bugs and errors due to COVID-19 restrictions.

For this question, it can be seen that there is 69.6% of people who are between age 10 to 20 and 30.4% of people who are between age 20 to 30. For this question, there is 91.3% of people who have heard of Discord and are using it, 4.3% of people who have heard of Discord but do not use it and 4.3% of people who have never heard of Discord before For this question, there is 69.6% of people who know about Discord from friends, 13% of people who were recommended by celebrities, 13% of people who know from App Store/Google Play store and 4.3% of people who know from communities like Reddit.

For this question, 95.7% of people believe that Discord as a communication platform is good enough for users and 4.3% do not think that it is good enough. For this question, it can be seen that 22.7% of people are dissatisfied with being unable to search user by certain condition, 27.3% are dissatisfied with being unable to search messages with keywords in chat history, 27.3% are dissatisfied with having only one way to invite user into the server and 54.5% are dissatisfied with being unable to see if the message is seen or delivered.

For this question, the people who took survey have to rate their satisfaction with Discord features, 34.8% of people chose rating 3, and it seems they feel neutral about the features. 47.8% of people chose rating 4, and it means they are quite satisfied with Discord features but not very much enough to give rating 5. 17.4% of people chose rating 5, which means they are very satisfied with Discord features For this question, the people are asked to rate how likely they would recommend Discord to their friends or colleagues. 4.3% of people chose rating 2, which means they are not likely to recommend Discord to their friends. 26.1% of people chose rating 3, and it seems they feel neutral about Discord are much more likely to recommend than then 4.3% of people who chose rating 2. 43 .5% of people chose rating 4 , it means they are very likely to recommend it to their friend. 26.1% of people chose rating 5 , it seems they enjoy using Discord very much and they have the most likelihood of recommending Discord to their friends.

The purpose of the project manager is to conduct research in order to identify the benefits and challenges of using Discord and how it is used for remote working. The stages of the research project are recorded in Microsoft Project and Microsoft Excel. With the help of these programs, the whole management process has become easier and faster to work on. Carrying out this project has helped me to enhance my project management skills and I learned so many things from it like:

Pace yourself

When I first started doing this project, I wanted to finish it as fast as possible without thinking of risks and other problems I can face but mid-way through the project I learned that good things take time. If I want to make a project that is marvelous and is perfect in all aspects, I need to be patient and go step-by-step.

Learn from your mistakes

Another thing I learned is that, making mistakes is about learning lessons. I was frustrated at first when I made a mistake. However, I have come to realize that without these mistakes I wouldn’t have found ways to make my project better. I also learned that when doing a project with many people, communication is the key. Having a clear communication with all the members of the project made the whole process easier and faster.

Be positive

I also found out that it is also important to stay positive no matter what happens. Instead of worrying about the project not finishing on time and wasting my time, it is better to focus on the task at hand by filling my mind with positive thoughts and feelings. By eliminating the negative feelings and thoughts, I can concentrate more on completing my project and come up with new ideas and improvements for the project. Negativity is bad.

Enhanced communication skills

By having to talk and negotiate with stakeholders and team members daily, it has improved my communication skills and the ability to define clearer standards and objective to the team members which can help project coordination and management.

Leadership skills and stakeholder management

It is true that communication is the key for successful project management. However, it is also crucial to have leadership skills that can improve the communication with the team members and other relevant people even more. The leadership skill has helped me to coordinate, make better decisions and motivate my team members.

Effective resource management

Being a project manager, I have to plan out various strategies that can make the process smoother and more effective. I had to make strategies based on the given time and budget in order to achieve the stated objectives. This has improved my resource management skills and my ability to plan out strategies in difficult circumstances even when I am under pressure.

Mastering information systems

In order to assume the role of project manager, I need to have strong IT skills. To carry out an effective project, I learned to use different computer programs and applications which are utilized at every phase of the project management. These skills are used to track the project process and progress and review the outcomes of the project and how the resources are utilized in the project.

Risk management skills

Being a project manger has taught me to expect the unexpected. It has helped me to take actions to deal with the risks, avoid the risks and reduce the impact of the risks. Every project has objectives and they are what we plan to achieve by the end of the project. It is important to have a clear objective of the project as it can affect every phase of project management. Having a specific objective can help you to complete the project faster and have better project qualities. At the start of this project I stated three main objectives which are: ❖ To learn and understand more about Discord and its features ❖ To identify advantages and disadvantages of using Discord ❖ To increase awareness

Objective 1

The first objective I stated is to learn more about Discord and its features. After completing the project and trying out the Discord features personally, I can confirm that I gained more knowledge about the features and functions offered by the app that I didn’t know about before. I learned how to utilize those features to suit my needs and use it for many other purposes. Not only I gained more knowledge about Discord, I become more aware out about other communication platforms that were created before Discord and how those platforms have developed over the years, how more functions and features have been added to suit the users’ needs and to make the user interface simpler.

Objective 2

Another objective of my project is to identify the advantages and disadvantages of using Discord. In the project tasks, I conducted research on hate and internet culture, community growth and sustaining communities. From those researched