Aspiring data scientist with a human centered approach
Survey Analysis
Given a research question about collaboration in the weight room, I used a survey to get user feedback and then analyzed these results to make the experience for experienced and inexperienced weight room users better. This project developed my skills in data analysis and visualization as well as technical report and presentation writing.
Research Problem and Setup
The goal of this survey was to understand the current forms of collaboration in my university's weight room and how these types of collaboration impact students, negatively or positively, in order to make informed design recommendations that will benefit students health and experience in the weight room. Users were divided into experienced and inexperienced users based on how frequently they go to the gym and how long they have been weight lifting. I used this survey to find where negative forms of collaboration stemmed from in order to make weight lifting experiences more positive.
Finding 1: Productive Forms of Collaboration
This graph shows which form of collaboration in the weight room was most beneficial for users. It was clear that most user's found simultaneously working out with someone as experienced with them and then switching off using equipment were the most efficient forms of collaboration. This finding is important because it shows that it would be highly beneficial to weight room users if the school implemented some sort of program to integrate these forms of collaboration at our school.
Finding 2: Knowledge in Weight Room
This data came from the survey question, "Rate the following statement: It is always expected that I allow others to work in with me and that others allow me to work in with them by switching off using equipment." This question was part of the survey to test the user's knowledge of basic weight room etiquette. I decided to show the difference between experienced and inexperienced users to see if there was a lack of knowledge about weight room etiquette by less experienced users. This graph shows that a higher percentage of inexperienced users *disagreed* with the statement about etiquette, showing they simply just did not know what was expected of them in the weight room. This means we need to find a way to educate all weight room user's about etiquette.
Finding 3: Experienced Learning
This pie chart was useful because it showed the main ways that *experienced* weight room users learned about weight lifting. I wanted to see what an experienced user's foundation looked like so we could understand the most effective ways to spread information about weightlifting to beginner weight lifters.
Results and Recommendations
Given that the most productive form of collaboration is "working with a peer of similar skill set," that meant that I needed to figure out a way to get more weight room users to be of higher skill set in order for overall collaboration to be improved. Plus, our survey question testing etiquette showed that 1/3 of inexperienced users disagreed with a basic rule of the weight room which shows we need to make information more known. Using this information from the data, plus the fact that experienced users mostly learned through having a peer teach them, my recommendation was to implement a UW Weightlifting Club where UW students could come together and learn how to weight lift together between experienced and inexperienced users so that the skill level can overall be raised and collaboration will be fostered.