The Small Talk project aims to break the ice and overcome social awkwardness in the age of digital networking. Its purpose is to facilitate meaningful face-to-face conversations through topic suggestions and aggregation of online news content. Scenarios where this app can be used are endless and can include: first dates, networking events, family gatherings, first day of term and so on.
Ideally, users will need to complete a profile quiz to determine their interests and personality. They will then select their preferred social situation and the target audience (who they will converse with), which is linked to a database of questions. This database will initially be populated with static "core" content such as questions about hobbies, family background, travel and work, but will also be constantly updated from online news sources (such as news.com.au) and scholarly sources (such as Harvard Business Review, nature.com).
The project group in collaboration with myself will develop a user-friendly interface together that does not look conspicuous when accessed in public, as well as a way to aggregate news content and display it dynamically. The data I have includes the core questions for the static database.
Though anonymous, this app will also need to capture data on which questions are the most used/popular in order and map this to demographic data, to produce enough information to compile a report titled "Socialising in a Digital Era".