I think my biggest issue with reaching out to stakeholders is always based on an underlying assumption that I should know everything beforehand so they actually take me seriously – perhaps it’s an age thing or the fact that their experience outweighs mine and I feel an complex need to prove myself in order to be listened to.
Which is probably good in some way because it keeps me accountable and motivated towards my research goals, but it also creates an immense anxiety of “what if I missed that one website on one particular topic” and not being confident enough to actually reach out to them.
Over the last week I’ve made a conscious effort to look back at my old research notes in the same headspace I was in when I worked on them- and realised how fun it was to actually not know anything and jump feet first into a research area. It’s a bit of a scary experience now, but at the time I remember being so excited to do research within VR and actually have fun doing it, knowing that I could experiment and had nothing to lose.
That being said I’m trying to apply that mindset to the way I approach experts, by expressing that I’m interested in the topic but also being objective in my lack of prior experience within it.
I definitely think the more experts I talk to and the more people I get involved within the project, the more my confidence and creativity will be boosted in terms of achievable goals for this project.
I’ve also seen other people ask the course chat for advice regarding their question, which I really appreciate as it seems to make the process a lot more collaborative and really reaffirms the support we have within the cohort. Perhaps this is a step I should take as well, as there might be a gold nugget insight that may help me with my question and project.