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Category: Ideation Phase
Blog post 5: Design Activities
As I wrap up the fifth week of this semester, I find myself reflecting on the journey I have been on so far. The ideation phase has been both challenging and rewarding, pushing me to explore new designs and refine my concepts which tested my design skills. With just one more week until the mid-sem break, the pressure is there, but so is the excitement to finally start ideating my project. This week has been about diving into the creative process and running into issues surrounding the UI UX ideation processes.
What?
While coming up with UI designs for the app, I found myself stuck during the ideation phase. It was challenging to come up with designs on the spot, especially when there isn’t an existing design system to rely on. I was sitting in front of a blank piece of paper, stuck on coming up with new designs and not being able to choose the right designs. I was trying to achieve an innovative and functional concept for my app for users to use efficiently when trying to practise their interviews. However, after remembering what I was taught by my mentor from my internship about using Crazy 8’s Guerrilla testing and other design activities, I was able to find the most optimal design to use.
The crazy 8’s technique helped me rapidly generate a variety of ideas, while Guerrilla testing allowed me to gather immediate feedback from people to guide me to the most effective design solution. I was successfully able to identify the best idea for the app by getting informed decisions from others. This process helped me narrow down my options towards a clearer and more effective design direction. The situation initially evoked frustration and uncertainty as I found myself stuck on design options. However, even with the rollercoaster of emotions, I was still able to narrow down my designs and give me the clarity I needed. By the end, I was feeling motivated and excited to move forward with a clear direction in mind.
This week has been full of both positive and confusing emotions during my define phase. However, these emotions have settled down a lot when I finally finished my presentation.
Morin, A. (2023). Growth mindset: How to develop growth mindset. Understood.
https://www.understood.org/en/articles/growth-mindset
Weller, C. (2019, August). How to Receive Feedback with a Growth Mindset. NeuroLeadership Institute.
https://neuroleadership.com/your-brain-at-work/receive-feedback-with-growth-mindset/
Yeager, D. S., Romero, C., Paunesku, D., Hulleman, C. S., Schneider, B., Hinojosa, C., Lee, H. Y.,
O’Brien, J., Flint, K., Roberts, A., Trott, J., Greene, D., Walton, G. M., & Dweck, C. S. (2016).
Using design thinking to improve psychological interventions: The case of the growth mindset
during the transition to high school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(3), 374–391.
https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000098
Yuka Ochiai | Friday 16th August | 3 min Read
Figure 1. 3D Image phone
Figure 2. Photo of Crazy eights
Figure 3. Lo-fi designs of UX design
So what?
This experience taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of leveraging the best fitting techniques and tools within my design process. It highlighted that feeling stuck is often a sign that I need to step back and apply structured methods, such as Crazy 8’s and Guerrilla testing to break through the creative block. When stuck, I asked myself was I overthinking things? Should I simplify my approach and I started to feel unmotivated as I could not get to the root problem.
However, I kept a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset, which is a concept that I am learning in my elective course for my business degree. A growth mindset is when coming in contact with a problem; an individual can view that as an opportunity for growth instead of a setback (Morin, 2023). However, a fixed mindset is when an individuals think if a challenge as something that they cannot overcome. I tried to look at these challenges as a chance to grow as a designer and as a person.
These tools, which are also used during the human-centred design thinking process, are said to foster a growth mindset. The reason is that it celebrates the process and not the outcome and gives individuals a chance to think about the root cause, not just the result. It encourages individuals to reflect on why and how they approached their problems to learn from their experiences (Yeager et al., 2016). Also, getting feedback from others earlier allows me to take in the comments and use that to grow my designs (Weller, 2019). I based my actions on the theory I have learned in my courses to think of my problems logically and find the solution. Looking back, there are definitely a few things I could have done differently to make the process smoother such as starting off with my ideation process with using the crazy 8’s and other design activities to foster my ideas.
Now What?
I've realised that I need a more structured approach to my design process when generating ideas. Next time, I'll focus on using specific design activities to enhance my creative process. As a designer, I’ve come to realise that having a clear structure for my ideation phase is crucial when generating ideas. It is easy to get lost in a sea of possibilities or feel overwhelmed by the pressure of the due dates and to create something innovative. To ensure I will keep a growth mindset and think of these challenges as an opportunity for me to grow as a designer. I will keep in mind that when I am stuck I always think of it as a positive as if I never run into problems I cannot expand my experiences and never learn anything new. I will also use it as a reminder that uncertainty is a natural part of creativity and with the right approach, I can transform that uncertainty into a successful design solution and focused which improves both my technological and project management skills.
