You learned to think about how choices made during the design phase of any development project (technology, software, engineered hardware..etc) can have far reaching consequences.

 

Read the story of Florida’s COVID Data Scientist, Rebekah Jones.

Link: https://www.npr.org/2020/06/14/876584284/fired-florida-data-scientist-launches-a-coronavirus-dashboard-of-her-own/

 

You should assume it is you, not Jones, that this scenario is happening to. Then, using what you have learned from the readings this week, you are being asked to create an email response to the following situation:

 

1. A favorite professor from your previous school reached out to you to see how you are liking the job. You respond by describing what happened in Florida, and then you share with your previous instructor what concerns you have related to this project. You should expect to explain the situation, identify your concerns, describe and explain why those concerns are valid, and then volunteer what you see as the decision you have to make moving forward (if any). It is okay if any future steps you want to take are hypothetical.

 

Parameters:

Letters should be 2 pages. They should be in letter format, addressed to a real person. You can exclude addresses.

 

Suggestions for Success:

• Be specific. Use technical terminology when appropriate, and try to use specific terms and descriptors.

 

• Add in links to sources of information, either for more information if the reader chooses to follow them or in place of academic citation. Any information that does not come from your brain needs some kind of reference, and a link is a minimal way to do that. Do not use direct quotes from a source without attributing them(publication name, date published, and author at minimum)

 

• Remember your audience. What will this reader know? What terms will you need to define or explain? What kinds of examples are best for illustrating your position? What concerns will this reader likely have and how can you build a bridge between what you want to say and what you reader might care about?

 

• In your justifications, remember that you may have to convince the reader of the importance of these concerns. This is a key part of this assignment. You need to explain to your reader why this ethical issue was so important that you are willing to take a risk to address it.

 

• Because this is a translation assignment, you will be most strongly evaluated on your ability to explain and justify your ideas to this reader, not on your understanding of argument, public health crises or your previous exposure to UI/UX.

 

• Don’t be afraid to go outside your comfort zone; there is no one right answer to this assignment.