Changes I need to add

I have not stated where I am going to get the pictures for my website, I am going to take pictures of medical equipment that is used by the people who I know. I can get as many pictures as I need this way and can use these all around my website. I might not have access to some equipment that I may need so I will have to find some stock photos if need be. 

I have not stated how I am going to upload my website to, I will probably use Indesign because I am have had past experience with this site and it also works very well when it comes to setting up interactions. However I might first look at other websites and see if I can create my website through there because that means I will be able to try a whole different experience. I might want to learn what they provide and what I will and will not be able to do through the site.

Doing more audience research is a must, it will allow me to have a better understanding on the types of people who would go to my website and would overall increase their satisfaction. The users satisfaction is the most important thing whenever you are providing a service and the more you satisfy them the more likely the are to come back or recommend the site to a friend.

Reflection on my Presentation

I thought that my presentation went well, I covered everything that I have done so far and made it clear what I wanted to do with the information that I have gathered. I think I could have talked a little more about why I chose my specific topic instead of picking both type 1 and 2 diabetes because everyone that I was presenting to seemed to be quite unsure why I had only chosen type 1. 

Looking back at all of the research I have done so far I feel like I can still do a bit more secondary research on websites and design, just so I can get a clearer view on how I want it to look and how it's going to interact with the user. I think my primary research has gone quite well and I don't feel like I need to go back and add to it because I have got all the information I need from it already. I also might want to do a bit more research on my audience and make sure that I am designing a website to appeal to them the most, they are one of the most important factors of when it comes to designing a website so I need to make sure I hit the nail on the head.

If I was to do another presentation I would try and learn what to say beforehand, just so I can express myself more and make more eye contact with the audience. I used cards just so I could make sure that I would get every bit of information that I needed to the audience. However I feel like I paced myself well and didn't rush my presentation so that the audience could take in everything I was saying. 

How has my research effected what I want to do for my FMP

When I first began my research I was still not quite sure on what I wanted to do, I was sure that I wanted to do something that related to web design or design in general because I have such a passion for that area of Media, so I had a look around a lot of different websites thinking of idea on what I could base my project on. I then came up with the idea of a charity website, at first I thought that this was a great idea but after I looked deeper into it I decided that I wanted to go one step further and make a website that gives people a whole lot more detail about a specific disease than the a website that just spreads awareness.

Diabetes is something that I have always understood, because I know a few people who have the disease themselves . I thought that this would be a great disease to cover because it meant that I could learn even more about it and go to the people that I know so I can find out their view and opinion on it.

The questionnaire was also a big part of my decision, peoples answers have greatly effected everything about my project. The results that they gave me were very important I am now making my website a whole lot more simple to appease the audience and I am going to go into quite a lot of detail when it comes to the actual content on the website, originally I was not going to do this however that is not what a lot of people want. I am also making the whole design of the website very basic so it can be focused more on the actual content on the site, on my questionnaire that is what people seemed to vote for the most. When designing something for a certain set of people their opinion is more useful and valuable from your own because own they know what they want. If I want my website to be a successful I need to appeal to my audience as much as I can.

The Effectiveness of Primary and Secondary Research

If I had not done my research I don't think my work would have been as good. My website would not appeal to the audience that I am trying to appeal to, this wouldn't be good because if you don't appeal to a target audience then people can be confused with a lot of different elements and may not stay on your website for a long time.

Primary research is effective because it allowed me to find the specific information I needed for the task, where as Secondary you can find out the facts from the professionals and can find out information that you my not be able to conduct on your own. So by doing my own primary research I could ensure that I would get reliable/useful information. I was missing some information that I needed so I proceeded in doing my own primary research. I also got a chance to look at charity website designs and evaluated them so I could get a good idea on what I wanted my website to look like. I also made my own questionnaire that people could answer, this allowed me to find out what the audience want when they are looking for my type of website.

I needed to find out information from the young adult - teenage range and that exactly what I got due to my friends ages. The secondary research could have been done a long time ago, but this was useful to find out because I could look at the many articles and books and find out when it was published so I could find out what has changed from people knowledge on the disease. I also could check whether or not the information I was looking at was reliable.

Product Page

My Product Page used images that I had already taken from my photo shoot for my homepage. I had a lot left over that I did not use and I though that they would fit nicely when it came to showing off my product. The only problem was that I had to find the original large sized photos and I only had access to the shrunken down photos at the time. However I managed to find most of them on my computer, this meant the photos were not directly center that was a bit of a pain.

The header and Foot stayed in the same places as they were in for the homepage this was not a problem. I did include a small place on the page where it would show the shopper where they are on the page at the time. I thought that it fit well with the whole website and was easy to understand. Using the colour circles I managed to create shadows around them to give the audience a good indication on what colour they have chosen. I also made the drop downs on the mobile version interactive, I thought that it worked well with the design of the mobile version and it made it flow nice and easy. 


I thought that the product page sticked to the whole theme that I had made when creating the homepage very nicely, and when going from the home page to the product page it did not seem like you had been sent to a different site. The hamburger menu once again worked with the mobile version very well and fit with the theme. It was also very simple and it used the same type faces and fonts.

Primary Research

Survey

I conducted a survey where I asked some questions that would give me a clear understanding on what people like when it comes to the sort of website I am going to be building.

The first question I asked was, 'Where do you usually go for medical information' I got a lot of responses for this and it was very clear on what people wanted the most. Websites got over 3/4 of the votes over book, leaflets and other (Other = a doctor or person), this means that I will still stick with my initial idea of making a website.

I asked a question based on the actual layout and design of the website, I asked whether or not people like simple designs or more complicated extravagant ones. Once again the question had a very obvious winning answer, most people seemed to prefer simple website layouts, meaning that I will have to make sure that my website is easy to operate and easy to use for the audience.

The next question I ask was, 'What information do you find more useful' 'Information that doctors provide' or 'Information from people who have been through it first hand'. These two were quite close with information from doctors receiving only 4 more votes than the other. I think for my websites content I am going to include more pages based on doctors information than from personal information. I think covering a bit on both will be good just so I can appease both audiences.

My last question asked whether or not people like their medical information more simplified or whether they like a more detail explanation. The results are very shocking, it was a complete 50/50 split between both of the answers. This will mean that when I make my website I will probably include the more detailed part of information above a shortened more simplified version allowing the audience to choose what sort of information they will want to see. When people write posts on Reddit that are quite long they usually include a part below that says 'tr;dl' meaning too rambley; don't listen, obviously I won't use 'tr;dl' because it won't relate to what is being said but I will use something very similar that the audience will see and instantly recognize what it means.  

Audience

My project is focused on diabetes, especially type 1. My website is going to be focused on people that have JUST BEEN diagnosed with type 1 and the struggles and hurdles they are going to face. The websites going to include information on what to expect and how to get use to the daily routine. I will also inform them on what to expect later in life, this includes some of the new types of medication they can get hold of and, some of the health warnings.

I website is going to work the same way as a website called, 'First time in Prison' its a place people can go to, to find out information from people who have experienced it first hand. Due to this people are more likely to be more fond of this information because it will be more reliable and something that they might already be able to relate too.

Research

How easy was it to get into the routine of diabetes management?

First of all, I was only 9 years old. So I relied heavily on my parents for support with blood testing, insulin injection ect. It was a huge shock more so for my family as I thought it was quite exciting! I didn't realize what a massive life changing impact it would have on the rest of my life. 

In the first instance I was on two injections a day, of which I used syringes with an inch long needle. I had to draw up the insulin from a vial and mix the long acting the short acting together and then had to flick out bubbles. In addition to this I had to count the carbs in everything I ate (10 gram of carbs was 1 exchange) I was allow 17 exchanges a day and I couldn't eat anything else! I took responsibility for injecting myself from the first day in hospital when I was diagnosed. 

Over the years I have sought support and knowledge from my diabetic specialist to manage my diabetes, However even though this information has been valuable it is really down to the individual to work out how things effect them and what to do to compensate. I am still fighting a daily battle of managing my type 1 diabetes.


Throughout my teenage years I struggled immensely. I would eat what I wanted and only took minimal insulin. Many diabetics go through a stage of denial and this completely normal, you feel angry and lonely and just want to regain control of your life. I made myself quite ill but knew that I was doing wrong but couldn't stop it. I sought help from my consultant and he put me in touch with a philologist. Initially this helped but didn't really get to the core of the problem. I was in this state of denial for about 10 years and have now slowly but surly pulled myself out of it. I have recently gone onto pump therapy and this has given me a lot of freedom. The pump management is much more complex than injecting but this is worth it because it acts more like my pancreas would, and there for gives me better control of my blood sugars which in tern will improve my life expectancy and my diabetic complications later in life ( I.e. retinopathy, kidney failure, amputations ect.).

As I have grown older my attitude towards diabetes has changed, at first it was new and exciting then it became and enormous pain in the bum. Now it's part of me and something I need to work with to maintain happiness and quality of life. 

I believe that the ultimate key to great diabetes management is to ensure good psychological and emotional well being towards the illness. Anyone can learn the physicalities of diabetes management but if the person has not accepted ownership then really all of the blood testing insulin injections and carb counting ect. mean nothing at all. Therefore more psychological /emotional support needs to be provided through out the entirety of a diabetics lifetime.

- Jessica Perfect

Secondary Research

Charity Website

I looked at many different charity websites to find out if there was a theme that they all shared. One theme that I did find that reoccured on all of the different websites was that they used a grid format on their homepage to show all of the different parts of the websites. The different blocks in the grid each had there own photos and this made the homepage look a bit more busy and eye catching. It is also a very effective way of showing the user what the topic is about and what it consists of. Charity's are usually about something that isn't really very happy and cheery but for the main image on the homepage they feature someone smiling and talk about the good things that have come from the charity. I think this is something I will incorporate in my homepage because it seem like it could attract more users.

Every single website had a donate button, some had the button small so it would fit in with the website, others had the button a bigger size or had it on the page numerous times. I think it is down to the how the website looks, if you were to have numerous buttons on a website that is more type based it would look a bit out of place. I think when I design my website I will decide how many buttons I will feature on my homepage. As I mentioned earlier every website had a donate button, this was places on the header meaning that I would be on every single page.

Social Media is a big thing for all charity's because it allows them to reach out to there audience. This was no different when it came to the websites I looked at, some websites featured some of their most recent tweets and posts on their homepage to show their users what they are talking about. The users may decide to follow them because they are interested in what the charity is tweeting / posting about from looking at the preview.


Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is caused by a fault in the body's immune response in which the immune system mistakenly targets and kills beta cells, these cells that are located in the pancreas are responsible for producing insulin.

As the more beta cells are killed off the body begins to lose control of its blood glucose levels and the symptoms of diabetes begin to appear. 

“One of the most difficult things I found that I had to come to terms with when you are newly diagnosed is that diabetes is for life.”

The cause for the fault in the immune system is yet to be discovered, however research has shown that it can be a combination of genetic predisposition with an environmental trigger.

Type 1 can develop very quickly within children and young adults, you are more likely to be diagnosed when you are in this age range. "Only about 10% of all diabetes is type 1 however the number is ever so slightly increasing."

Living with diabetes

Looking after your general and diabetic health is very important, doing this will not only keep you in a optimum health state but it will also make treating diabetes easier and minimize your risk of developing complications.

Eating healthy, having a balanced diet and exercising regularly are all things that can be very beneficial to a person living with type 1. Doing these things will lower your blood glucose level, which is a massive bonus as it decreases your need for insulin. 

With diabetes comes a very big chance of the person developing diabetic retinopathy, a condition that can lead to sight loss if not treated. "If you are 12 or above you should be invited to have your eyes screened once a year."

"Most people will have to take insulin by injection with insulin pens - it uses cartridges that have to be replaced to give your body the insulin it needs. They are very easy to use and are given to people who are young diabetics because they can be used in schools and colleges at ease. On top of all of this the needle is almost painless and is portable and discreet."

The alternative is an insulin pump, you have to fit the eligibility criteria to be able to access one. You have to be educated on how to balance insulin doses with dietary intake and physical activity and how to use blood glucose testing to help control your diabetes.

Learning about Diabetes

When you first get diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, it is very important to spend the first few days learning about ways of controlling and taking note of your diabetes as well as creating a plan for yourself that you are going to stick to. This includes learning about foods so you can figure out the best types to eat in certain situations. A school/work plan is useful so you can make sure that you are prepared and know how to lay your day out around work and physical exertion. Most significantly, you will be dealing with the new emotions that you may be beginning to develop due to all of the drastic changes that Type 1 Diabetes has enforced on your lifestyle.

"One-week follow up, teaching should be done by a dietitian and nurse and a clinic visit with the physician. Here you will learn a whole lot more about food management, insulin actions and regimens along with identifying patterns in blood sugar and knowing when to contact someone if things aren't looking so good."