an error of strategic proportion

I was surprised in class yesterday when I asked the mentors if any team had consulted with them on project #2 — and their answer was a unanimous “no.” This is a strategic error on your part. The insightful comments they have written in the blogs show that they have a great deal of information and wisdom to share with you. Here are some ways you can involve a mentor:

• Invite a mentor to one of your design sessions. Ask the mentor to observe your discussion and then comment at the end (allow time for this).
• Invite a mentor to review your usability test and provide feedback.
• Invite a mentor to observe your usability test to make sure that you are following good procedures.
• Send an email to a mentor and ask a direct question. You may not get a direct answer, but you will be pointed in a good direction.
• Discuss your usability results with a mentor. See if the mentor’s conclusions are consistent with yours.
• Invite a mentor out to lunch or dinner and learn the “secrets” of doing these projects. Well, they may not tell you secrets, exactly, but they likely will provide useful information and insights.

The point is that these “best in class” second year students are an amazing resource for you. And if you don’t take advantage of them, you are cheating yourself out of part of your education.

How do you know which mentor to contact? I’d say, contact them all at once and see who responds. Be sure to specify the time you can meet so that they know if they are available.

For your convenience, here are the mentors:

Basey, Adam abasey@indiana.edu
Bhandari, Shruti sbhandar@indiana.edu
McAtee, Jamie jamcatee@indiana.edu
Odom, Will wodom@indiana.edu
Onesti, Nina Soo nonesti@indiana.edu
Pace, Tyler M tympace@indiana.edu
Roedl, David J droedl@indiana.edu
Royer, David P.  dproyer@indiana.edu
Shahrani, Adam ashahran@indiana.edu
Thandapani, Selvan selthand@indiana.edu
Thirumaran, Sindhia sinthiru@indiana.edu

If no one responds, then I have a bigger issue!