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Research Essay



A major assessment component for the Design, Development and Creativity module was conducting a research essay which involved working individually or in pairs.

Myself and my partner, Beth conducted our research essay on updating a digital product, the UCD student portal through the introduction of a digital collaboration tool as a core offering for all students studying at the University.

This essay involved conducting both primary and secondary research. In terms of primary research, we conducted a questionnaire, interviews and observational research to understand how students currently interact with the UCD student portal and how it can be improved.

Once we understood the problems associated with blackboard and how it could be updated by making it a more engaging site, we conducted secondary research, studying existing literature and case studies on the topics of collaboration and utilising collaborative tools.

Upon decision on the update required, a usability, requirements analysis and feasibility study were conduct to understand the scope involved in embedding such a tool.

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