Buying and selling goods online is ubiquitous in our everyday lives that it is often an unconscious behaviour. To better understand the process and how customers use systems you will audit your own behaviours. In this paper you will record and reflect on your own use of eCommerce sites. You will keep a diary for seven days to record your interactions. Based on this information you will then write a 1500 word paper about your experience. Kolb’s learning cycle will be used as a framework.
(source: Kolb DA 1984, Experiential Learning experience as a source of learning and development, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.)
- Concrete experience – Keep a diary
The first step is to keep a diary for seven days. This includes: date, time, duration, what website/app were used and the actions. Many students choose to keep their diary in the form of a table. For example (you may choose different headings).
We are Chinese, please use Alibaba, Tmall, Wechat and Jingdong, Suning(Chinese online company).
You do not need to purchase anything but you must record any browsing or “window shopping” you have completed.
EXAMPLE:
| Date | Time | Website name | OR App name | Action | time spent | Where | Device | Have you bought from there before? | How did you feel about the transaction | |
| Thurs 4 July | 6:30am | Asos | browsed dresses & purchased 4 items | 22 minutes | Bed | Laptop | yes | Easy to use liked the size filters, modern interface | ||
| 6:52am | Looked for vitamins | 18 minutes | Bed | iPhone | no | Didn’t purchase as didn’t know stores. Will get a recommendation from friend. Didn’t trust them | ||||
| Friday 5 July | 7:45am | Bought vitamins | 5 minutes | Kitchen | iPad | no | recommendation from friend so felt happy to buy | |||
| 8:35am | Candy Crush | In app purchase of lives | 8 minutes | Tram stop | iPhone | yes | Love to play so had to buy! Too easy to buy | |||
| 9:30pm | Amazon | Browsed new york best seller books | 45 minutes | Couch | Laptop | yes | So many things to buy and easy to interact. No money left 🙁 |
- Reflective observation – Summarize what happened
You should now be able to comment on your own eCommerce use. While this exercise is not a statistical analysis it is a good way to start by looking at the what, when, how, where and why of what you have used in the week. You may comment on your experiences beyond the week of your diary. The point of the diary is a place to start the discussion, as often individuals do not know how much they use (or how little) until they have to write it down. You should be able to see themes develop from what you use.
- Abstract conceptualization – Analyse what this means
The next part is to analyze what you have found. Reflective practice is a process of thinking about new experiences with a view of learning. It is a form of personal response to new experiences, situations, events or information. What new knowledge do you have in response to this exercise? And what does this information mean? You are expected to reflect at a deep level for this step and not just explain what you do.
- Active experimentation – new action
The final stage is to discuss what you plan to do with this new knowledge. A result of these new insights may lead to a change of thinking or behavior. In what ways? Set yourself some specific (SMART) goals. (These goals will be explained in class lectures)
The formal citation of sources is not required, but specific reference to your own experiences must be made. You will not pass this assignment if you only describe what you use and how. You must go ‘deeper’ and analyze why you do what you do.
Assessment criteria
You will be assessed on whether you have met the following criteria:
- Demonstrated understanding of learning cycle/reflection model.
- Ability to explain and analyze your own usage of eCommerce giving specific reference to your own experiences.
- Evidence of changed thinking and/or goal setting due to new understanding of behavior.
- Reflection and analysis of own experiences demonstrating independent thinking and expressing meaningful insights.
- Integration of course material.
- Ability to present (in writing) a clear and logically structured paper
- Seven day diary recorded in appropriate detail.
P(6.u)
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