A PAR cycle in website design

Hi everyone,

As I write this I am in the middle of a big PAR cycle – done with the intention of putting up a web presence for myself, one that models the complexities my life and who I am. After all, if people want to work with me they deserve to have a fairly good idea of not only my skills but also the ideas and personality I will bring to the mix.

As you all know, I use participatory action research (PAR) for both my personal and professional patterns of research and growth. My move into designing and managing my own site is playing out like a perfect PAR cycle. The graphic above explaining the process was done by Alan Bucknam at Notchcode design for the book we did together on the subject. I’ll take you through how the process has worked for me on this latest journey into web development (remember this is a field in which I am a complete novice).

Diagnosis: For six months or more I have been reading blogs by people who specialize in social media, communicating in business etc. I will have a links page on the new site that sends you off to all of these really great people, for whom I am very grateful. I have hundreds of bookmarks and have spend tons of time reading, thinking, drawing out ideas, feeling frustrated, and then reading again. Throughout my diagnosis of what I want these writers and thinkers have helped me craft my ideas.

When I can get to the point of clearly stating my goals I know I am ready to move into the next phase (action). My goals for this website are to:

1. Encourage rather than discourage exchange of ideas and interactions between people who just happened to stop in and would like to add “their two cents”,

2. Give a format for my writing as I sort and weave together the ideas that are changing my practice as an educator (distributed content and PAR for development purposes).

3. Encourage others to want to consult with me and my associates (who are slowly showing up to work here as well) as they reinvent their personal, professional or global lives.

Action: This particular action cycle feels very big – designing and learning to put up my own website. Fortunately the Measurement cycle that is wedded to it is equally direct. Actions I take either work or they don’t. I can either get into the site or I can’t. Doors to the next step in my thinking and development are either blocked from me or they work and I can test them out. Slowly, (some days two steps back for each one forward) I have progressed (as you can see from the top picture).

The REAL measurement cycle will be when others can see it and interact – if things go well I will cross this bridge in a couple of weeks.

Reflections-could I have learned faster? Perhaps if I had had a local tutor – however the forums have helped and day by day I have progressed. It is possible that the sheer frustration of some days has helped my neurotransmitters reform to embrace new concepts more readily than if I had been taught how to do it. I know this project is helping my brain plasticity.

Will it be all that I want it to be? Probably not even close – but I am far enough into it to see my way clear to wonder why more people aren’t doing some things differently. For instance if we are saying we want to encourage community on our websites, why do we make everyone give away so much of themselves just to begin to talk to us? I would never go over and start a conversation with a stranger in the face to face world by having to give him/her my phone number first and I think online communities request too much too fast and it doesn’t fit the cycle of how people relate.

I want to share ideas first – and I want for you as my reader to be able to hear my reaction in response – then after we have interaction we can decide if we like each other enough to go further.

I also wonder if whether because I come to this as a more chronologically mature person than the majority of designers, if my ideas will be slightly different. Hopefully I will have something to add to the mix (once I get there).

Anyone reading this who would like notification of when the “real deal” website goes online – please email me at james.alana@gmail.com

All the best to you in your lives,

Alana