<aside> ❓ Consider those who self identify and/or have been diagnosed with alcohol use disorder Links to an external site and/or substance use disorder Links to an external site. Using the research methods that you typically rely upon, write 3-5 paragraphs to define an application/data visualization end-user that seeks to access information about meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous Links to an external site. Invest some time to better understand this community and the support (in the form of data/information) we might be able to offer through better interface and visualization. Elaborate on how these users' needs may differ when planning over various units of time (day, week, year).

</aside>

What makes defining the end-user of an A.A. application or data visualization a unique process is the fact that we can't narrow the audience down by typical demographics. Instead, we have to assume a general inclusive audience whose main common goal is to seek more information about A.A. meetings. Each individual end-user will need a succinct set of filters and options to easily find the meeting that is a best fit for them. When it comes to accessing A.A. meeting information, I narrowed down a list of variables into two categories: logistics and meeting types. Logistics would include day of the week, start time, borough, neighborhood, address, the group's email address, the group's phone number, and perhaps the nearest subway or bus lines. Meeting types would include whether it was an open or closed meeting, in-person/virtual/by phone, and by special interest subgroups (e.g. by gender, by sexual orientation, by language, by step per the Twelve Steps).

The example shared in class already has a good amount of information but the interface and visualization could be improved upon to be more inclusive. For example, it would be incredibly important to make sure the website meets online accessibility standards (high contrast-ratio, larger font sizes, screen-reader capability, keyboard functionality, etc.). It would also be important that the information can be viewed on desktop, tablet, or phone since access to different types of devices can vary from person to person. The information could be more readable by having it in a table format with more columns to include other variables listed above that are also sortable by clicking on the columns. Additionally, it would be useful to have different views of the data by Table, Map, or Calendar.

Users' needs could differ when planning over various units of time. If the end-user is planning for that same day, a sense of urgency could be at hand and an efficient readable interface is key. Does the user quickly need to narrow down the options by time of day, location, or other variables? If the end-user is planning for the week, the sense of urgency is less-so but a good interface is still needed. Perhaps the user needs to "save" or "favorite" a number of meeting groups to help with their planning process, so that they could see all the relevant groups in one convenient location. If the end-user is planning for the year, then the user might need some UI elements that help with top-level information gathering with little to no sense of urgency. Maybe the user could be a newcomer who has never been to a meeting but is curious. Tooltips could help guide newcomers to A.A.-specific terms such as open or closed meetings, or specific special interest groups like Beginners Workshop or Steps 1-2-3. Perhaps each meeting group's page could include a short paragraph about what to expect in the meetings.