Researching and Organizing the Report

As part of Unit 3 we were tasked with researching and planning for the upcoming formal report assignment. For the topic of graph visualization, I found that conducting the necessary research was not challenging. Indeed, the subject matter of graph visualizations for knowledge bases is relatively novel and allows for a creative input rather than dependence on existing research.  What was challenging is designing and conducting polling with the target audience. Since the questions required producing visuals and were targeted at measuring various aspects of perception, designing the questionnaire was a difficult and frankly a procrastination-inducing process. This, coupled with a low turn-out of responses, taught me a few things about designing such polls. First, the questions need to be as simple and clear as possible, and it is not a trivial thing to do. Most of the people who completed the questionnaire and whom I know noted the difficulty of my questions. Second, questions really need to be designed carefully since the data from the answers is the only data that will be available and re-running an updated poll would be difficult. On the other hand, analyzing data and subsequently structuring my report by writing a detailed outline was enjoyable and exciting. The data produced enough of interesting insight to incite my curiosity and motivation.

Writing the Draft

As a logical consequence of planning and gathering data, the next assignment of Unit 3 was to complete an initial draft of the formal report. Out of all challenges, the most difficult thing about writing was battling against procrastination and adhering to a pre-defined schedule. Seeing an empty skeleton of the formal report was the hardest moment to push through. However, having a schedule as well as a detailed outline allowed to eventually get unstuck and get to work. With the outline and the gathered data, writing the first draft was similar to filling blanks on a test and was the least demanding part of the process. In addition, since it was just a draft, the pressure of preparing a full report was taken off, and writing proceeded in a smooth singular stroke, as I knew I could change and improve any part of the draft later. The main things that I learned from that experience was that having a pre-defined structure and content, which included the proposal, the outline as well as the data analysis helps a lot in moving the project forward. However, as it turns out, I still need to develop a skill of escaping the inescapable spiral of procrastination by developing a habit of working in small steps in advance.

Peer Review

In the last part of Unit 3, we were tasked with writing a peer review on a formal report of one of our team members. The review process was different from the previous peer reviews in a way that we were not reviewing the final product, so to speak, but something intermediary and in many respects raw. However, I realized that a lot of review in actual working environment would be just like that – an intermediate step in a multi-stage iterative process of preparing an important document. Reviewing an incomplete work may not offer a full picture but allows for early suggestions of major issues that can be addressed promptly, rather than haphazardly right at the deadline. Another learning point was that a review of a lengthier work, such as a report, has slightly different considerations. It is possible to include only so many little details in a limited space of a review, and a big picture outline is much more valuable and effective. After receiving a review of my own report, I noted similar insights. It was pleasing to read that elements of style and flow were well done, and the content was easy to understand. I felt that that was the result of improving my skills throughout this course and understanding the reader’s perspective better. However, some technical mistakes still remain, though it is clear that none will be hard to fix in the final revision.