For me, the hardest part of class this week was figuring what changes needed to be made to my Hack #3 in order for me to really expand upon my first rendition of it. It was challenging for me to try to expand upon my previous project because in order for me to really grow this project, I felt like I needed a lot of other people to interact on it as well, that it could really simulate a social media platform. Unfortunately, I could not get people to help me out and interact with my project as the people I asked for help were very busy with finals work of their own. Instead of just making it “bigger,” I decided to take a step back and look at the main principles of my project. Initially, I wanted to make Google Docs in to a social media platform by utilizing its more playful features. I wanted to do this because I feel like oftentimes, Google Docs is seen in a very serious and professional light. In my first go-around at this project, I realized that in doing this, I completely ignored the whole professional side of Google Docs. I felt like instead of repurposing Google Docs, I completely ignored all of its original features and tools, which is not what I wanted to do at all.

When coming back to this project a second time, I wanted to incorporate features that cater to all types of users. I did some more playing around in the software and discovered even more tools that Google Docs has to offer. I came across the feature called “Smart Chips” that offers so many different types of things to add. Users can tag other people by linking their email addresses, set a timer, add in real locations, make checklists, and more. I decided to utilize most of these features as it allows for users to express themselves freely in just about any they please to, no matter how serious or playful. That is what makes this repurposing so special. Not many other social media platforms allow for this as it is often just intended for a completely social purpose. I really wanted to hit home this message in my revisiting of this project.