I had to attend a WIER research study today. It was held on the 7th floor
of S block and the view out of the windows is amazing. I could see right
to the CBD and Yarra River was visible too. That was not why I was there
though. I’ve been requested to attend the WIER research study to improve
the site. WIER stands for Web Industrial Experience Resource and it should
be noted that I am part of the IE team that is actually going to make the
modifications to WIER. I’m rather puzzled as to why we’re asked to attend
since there is a potential conflict of interest. We as the developers
would obviously like the features on the “To Be Added” list to be kept to
a minimum. Anyway, the study only took 30 minutes and it involves me
answering a couple of questions while a tape recorder was running and
doing a couple of tasks in WIER while a video camera recorded the screen.
I got A$10 for participating in the research. A$10 for 30 minutes…hmm, I
just realized that’s the highest wage I’ve gotten to date. Little known
fact about me: I worked part time for a short stint at a Chinese
restaurant last year. The wages are really shitty (below legal minimum
wage) but the upshot is you don’t pay any tax. I did not stay long though,
because I could not write any Chinese and all the cooks can read is
Chinese. My poor Cantonese didn’t help matters either. =D
