Assessment of our progress:

• Planned effectively and learned from our sources, though this efficiency varied throughout the quarter

• Met and received information from our leaders

• Identified gaps in understanding, both organizational and technical

• Worked to overcome roadblocks, and reassess our plans 

Group challenges:

• Communication was our greatest challenge. Communication proved difficult with team members on different schedules and in various locations. Important updates occasionally got lost, and coordinating meetings required significant effort and many reminders. Though we established clear communication protocols from the beginning, this didn't seem to be the most successful approach for us.

• Limited availability was our second greatest challenge. Many team members were managing full course loads and other commitments, resulting in uneven workload distribution. The project would have benefited from more available hours across the team, particularly during critical planning and implementation phases. The direct solution would have been to replace the team members who were unable to meet the needs of the project, but this was not an option.

• These challenges highlighted the importance of continuously reevaluating our planning and flexible project structures that accommodate varying team member availability, given that members were not able to adapt or compromise on timing.

Notable things:

• Answering: is the information presented easy to understand? 

  • We've received feedback from a small number of stakeholders that our information--verbally explained and through the website--is accessible and easy to follow. 

  • We've corrected any mistakes or points that lacked clarity.

• Answering: what is the best way to transfer information to the next people who work on the project? 

  • Most all of our resources are on this website, as well as details of what we've done; this should act sufficiently as a guiding document.

Moving forward:

• We believe this project is able to be continued, especially while Ryan extends his stay in Africa.

• Our recommendation is to follow up with Ryan's trip, and plan with Ryan, in accordance with what further assistance he would like.  

• In the next stages:

  • Scale up this website in order collaborate with and disseminate information to others.

  • Find groups who are appropriate matches to the strengths and weaknesses of DDS. 

  • Focus on outreach to potential groups, and education at a local level to spread information. 

We focused on:

• Connecting with stakeholders

• Defining our objectives

• Making a plan for the quarter

• Creating a website, with an outline

• Made a presentation to display our mission and vision statements

• Received feedback from Professor Schwartz on first presentation 

We focused on:

• Received feedback from the second presentation on the website's flaws 

• Connected to Sangoyan

• Making a plan for the quarter

• Starting a website and working on the framework

• Aiding Ryan with reaching out to Sangoyan to discuss DDS

• Refining the website

We focused on:

• Adding pages to our website

• Addressing flaws in our group communication

• Updating information on the website 

• Reformatting sections of the website

• Adding more information to the simple explaination page

We focused on:

• Connecting with Professor Schwartz for feedback 

• Readdress our goals as a group 

• Address speaking sections to each member of the group 

• Implementing feedback from Ryan and Professor Schwartz, making appropriate corrections 

We focused on:

• Finishing touches on the website format and content

• Preparing our presentation for the class 

• Addressing any final critiques