Andy Mahood

Download my Curriculum Vitae…

Personalised Advertising and its impact upon User Experience.

It has been observed that relevance of advertising is a key predictor of advertising value. As most online advertisements, including social networking web sites, use consumer targeting; exploiting browsing habits, system setup, and other available information, the value of these advertisements must be considered. In the personal domain of a social network, can profile information be used to personalise advertising towards each user and will this improve user experience.

In this study it is argued that personalised advertising in social networks will increase user experience in comparison with Targeted Advertising. Social network web site Facebook (www.facebook.com) was selected, and its web pages were replicated. User profile information from Facebook with product recommendations from Amazon were used to develop the ‘proof-of-concept’ experimental personalised advertisements integrated into the replica web pages. The system was developed using PHP5 and AJAX; successfully following DSDM principles ensuring that the system was fit for purpose.

To test the hypothesis, users were split into two control groups, one exposed to a static banner advert (Banner Group). The other exposed to the experimental personalised advertising (Personalised Group). 359 participants navigated through the replicated website exposed to either of the two adverts.

This dissertation presents results of the subsequent survey focussing on the perceived user experience of personalised advertising. Subjects from the ‘Personalised Group’ perceived the advertising to be significantly more relevant than those from the ‘Banner Group’, or compared to the current advertising on Facebook. Implications were raised regarding user privacy as a predictor of advertising value. Results are discussed and further work is considered, finally the project is critically evaluated.

A soft copy of my dissertation is available on request:
andyjmahood {at} googlemail.com

UPDATE: As of 07.11.2007 Facebook released Facebook Ads & Social Ads, read more…  

Course: BSc (Hons) Multimedia Communication Systems
Unit: Games Programming
Assignment Number: 3
Unit Leader: Tim Orman
Due Date: 12/03/2007

Scenario:
You are required to design, build and test a small-scale game that will be used to promote a new, pay-per-view digital movie web site. The web site offers customers a chance to view their favourite movies (at a fixed charge) in a proprietary, secure format. Whilst customers wait for the start of their movie to be buffered locally on their PC, they are given an option to play a short game based specifically on the movie they wish to see.

Task:
As a ‘proof-of-concept’ of this idea, you must generate a game prototype based on a movie of your choice (strictly subject to approval by your lecturer). The game itself must at least:

• Have a limited duration (a maximum of 3 minutes)
• Represent characters and scenarios from the target movie
• Include a game ‘intro’ sequence and ‘extro’ sequence
• Include an interactive puzzle or a basic AI technique
• Some demonstration of two-player interaction

76%

Course: BSc (Hons) Multimedia Communication Systems
Unit: Advanced Multimedia Development
Assignment Number: 2
Unit Leader: Tim Orman
Due Date: Week of 11/12/06

Develop an Adobe Flash multimedia application that allows users to load an image/picture and then to add/draw shapes and annotations onto the image.

86%
“An Excellent Application”

Course: BSc (Hons) Multimedia Communication Systems
Unit: Games Programming
Assignment Number: 2
Unit Leader: Tim Orman
Due Date: Monday 11/12/06

Scenario:
It was noted at a meeting of a local association of head teachers for primary schools that many foundation year students have lower than expected knowledge of subjects relating to the school curriculum. It was also noted that these students were often used to playing computer games. The head teachers reached the conclusion that the right type of computer games might help the students catch up with curriculum related knowledge. They intend to commission a developer to produce a series of games and have asked interested parties to design a prototype game called “Shape Blaster”. The aim of the game is to help students with shape recognition.

Task:
Produce some designs and a prototype game based on these requirements. The designs should model the concept, themes and flow of the game. The prototype does not need to be a complete game but should be a working demonstration of part of the game. It should demonstrate your knowledge and skills in the following areas:

• Game Design.
• Game Maths.
• Game Physics.
• Collision Detection.
• Collision Reaction.

70%
“A Very Good Application”
“Good Application of Theory”
“Slick Operation”

Doodles Art is a new art/craft activity class aimed at children under 5 (18 months+). I was asked to develop a website that will enable an average skilled word processing user to update content without requiring programming or web design knowledge.

The Website was developed with a PHP & MySQL backend that allows site admins to modify text and images on the site from home with the aid of a WYSIWYG editor. Within the browser any admin can login and update the pages content almost identically as they would within an word processing package.  Feedback can be sent for review and either accepted or removed.

The website has been live for over one year now is averaging 400hits per month, although a small ratio it has proven to boost attendance and the ability to inform cusotmers of new dates and cancellations allows the company the flexibility to continue growing.

Please visit: http://www.doodlesart.co.uk

Course: BSc (Hons) Multimedia Communication Systems
Unit: Mulitmedia Systems Development
Assignment Number: 2
Unit Leader: Tim Orman
Issued: 2005
Task:
Create an interactive learning aid for children to help promote basic mathmatics, the learning aid must include.

• Animation
• Interactive Menu
• Sound
  • Including Toggle On/Off
• Lip Syncing