To start off, I wanted to clear my head of any doubts I had organize myself. Mentally I wanted to pin-point what I wanted to create, and what I could add in my product that would make my target audience want to use it as opposed to others. I created a main doubts and rectifications page, as well as foundation questions in order to organize and steady myself in order to get into a forward-thinking mindset at the start. The main doubts page helped me acknowlege what obstacles might occur in the duration of this project and how to tackle them, and the foundation questions helped me understand what kind of product I wanted to create.
2. Research
To create my criteria, I had to first complete research about my target audience and language textbooks; when creating a product, it is imperative that you have a criteria that recognizes all points that makes it successful and of a high standard.
I conducted research with extensive use of both primary and credible secondary sources (as shown in the OPVL sheet), after careful deliberation concerning their values and limitations I decided to use them to create my product. Secondary sources have been used to incorporate marketing techniques and consider other elements that could be added as textbook features in order to create a marketing strategy (to attract my target audience). I have noted these down, and have incorporated them into my textbook to attract my target audience . Primary data was used to directly address my target audience, and was crucial as I had to include them directly into my product. I made a list of advantages and disadvantages of both a Japanese textbook (adult-targeted language textbook) and my Spanish (student-targeted) textbook from school from a student’s perspective. I then annotated the cover designs of these textbooks to find the strong and poor points. By doing this I was directly identifying points of improvement from the eyes of a teenager, and could implement alternatives that would help my textbook be successful and appeal better to adolescents.
I needed to produce a product different from regular textbooks, and thought I would do so by adding customization and personalization features (a USP, unique selling point). Students in my selected age range are stressed and busy with multiple projects and tests, if they wanted to pursue personal interests regardless (in this case Japanese), organization would be beneficial and would help remove stress. Realizing this, I understood I could not be the only person providing primary information, I needed to take into account other teenagers perspective and needs. My 1st survey was based on Functionality, Aesthetics (design and colour scheme), Customization (tracker, unit organization structure) and Content (intermediate to beginner or just beginner) using the primary and secondary information I had collected. These four themes were then chosen to be included in the criteria. After this I created a second survey based on draft cover designs to see which was the best for my target audience, as in the first survey over half agreed that aesthetics influenced motivation. All documents are shown below:
3. Creating the Criteria
When creating a product, it is imperative that you create a criteria to follow for success of the product. My criteria focuses on 4 topics: Aesthetics, Functionality, Content, and Customization. I used the extensive amount of research collected so that my product will be assessed by high standards. Aesthetics refers high quality textbook designs that are targeted towards students aged 14-19, this is very important as making my textbook “look nice” is a large factor in attracting and motivating students to study (and is also a part of my marketing strategy). The age range of 14-19 was chosen as these are the ages of students in high school. Functionality refers to the binding to be comfortable and the organizational structure to be easy and efficient. Content refers to vocabulary and grammar, as well as a minimum amount of units and lessons; this is very important as my textbook should have a sufficient amount of information so that consumers can become intermediate. Lastly customization; this is a unique feature in my textbook that makes it different from others. My target audience would benefit from being organized, therefore customization refers to the input of person trackers as well as checklists in my textbook.
4. Learning Japanese
After creating the criteria and having done most of my research beforehand, my goal for the weeks to come was to learn Japanese to an intermediate level. I had classes every Wednesday for one and a half hours from 5:00 – 6:30 pm after school, and afterwards I would ensure that I study what we had learnt throughout the week. However, this lasted only until December as ongoing lessons became increasingly difficult with multiple exams and projects due. After deliberation I switched to self-learning, and found it was more relaxing and efficient. Self-studying lead to the development of my self-management skills; increased self-discipline, and self-management. When I was self-studying, every lesson I would start with introductions and a statement of the time and date in Japanese, to ensure that I had a routine to follow. Then I would progress into the lessons and slowly go through units.
I could not fall behind on studying for school and studying Japanese, and this is where time management became the most important aspect of my process. In addition pandemic amplified the stress I felt towards completing the product and so being organized was key for me; my main doubts and rectifications page helped in this, and my action plan detailed my events and deadlines and so I was able to mentally decide what to do when and by which deadline. With the help of my action plan I was able to catch up on product work, and be efficient. I used the action plan as a sort of checklist and recorder, it helped me mentally with stress as well. The process journal entries of what I had learnt everyday enabled me to mentally sort out where I was in my project, and decreased stress.
I finally finished studying Japanese in January, just in time for me to completely finish my product. I had learnt majority of Japanese to become intermediate, and now I believe I speak well in it. However I must continue my studies if I am to become fluent.
5. Creating the product
The process of creating my product was divided into four parts; planning, designing, writing, and creating the website. When I started off, I utilized my primary and secondary research to plan the 8 units and 36 lessons that comprised the textbook as per the 7-8 level in my criteria in terms of content. However after getting delayed in my progress due to exams, I shortened this to 6 units as per the 5-6 level in my criteria. After finalizing this I quickly began designing the cover, inside layout, and back of the textbook ensuring I was remaining efficient. After the considering the specifications of the criteria, I had come up with 4 cover designs that were both modern and visually attractive. I ensured I was including the positive points I had made out of my annotations. I then created a survey to see which cover design my target audience would like the most, this was a complicated decision, as 85% of the respondents in my 1st survey suggested that aesthetics and visuals were of the utmost importance and served as motivation to study.
The next step was writing, this is writing and formatting my textbook lessons. I had already created a list of the lessons and units I will be including, and so simply followed by action plan to complete. I ensured that I was incorporating my global context “personal and cultural expression” within my textbook; every lesson is culturally significant and could be real events that happen every day in Japan. This is so students can understand Japanese culture and Japanese expression so that when they speak Japanese to the Japanese, they are knowledgeable and know what to expect. Every lesson has been created with the criteria in mind (particularly the level 7-8 aesthetics, customization, and content) to achieve a highly levelled textbook of good quality.
Lastly, I was not able to complete strand 1 of the functionality subject of my criteria, due to COVID 19 regulations and a limited time period. As a result I decided to create a website that will not only provide a free download link but also advertise my product; quick views, the purpose, contact details in case a consumer has a question etc. (photos of my product as well as my website is located in the “Product/Outcome information” tab).