Week 5
Week 3
Week 3 - Imposter Syndrome
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Week 5 - Design Activities
Category: Prototyping Phase
Blog post 7: UI Update
Since it is the mid sem break, I am feeling really relaxed, but sometimes the thought of my project pops up and I feel the need to keep going. Using this as motivation I have prototyped many different user interfaces on Figma and played around with it a little.
What
Since my previous blog post I was feeling stuck with my designs because it didn’t look as appealing as I wanted it to. The overall layout and elements were not as aesthetic to me and the user experience was not that good. However, I did not know what specific element I should have changed because I had been staring at it for too long. That is when I decided to do some user testing and get some feedback on my designs.
Some of the feedback that I got were:
It's finally mid-semester break, and I can’t believe how quickly the first half of the semester has flown by! Even though it’s the mid sem break, I’m still focused on my capstone project. However, it feels nice to work at a more relaxed pace. So far, I’m happy with the progress I’ve made and excited to keep it going. Time to recharge while staying on track!
Yuka Ochiai | Friday 6th September | 3 min Read
Note: Screen capture of previous app prototype
Figure 1. Previous figma design
After taking all of this feedback into consideration I went back and redid my designs. I felt a huge sense of relief and excitement that I had lots of ideas on how to improve but also excited as it meant that my project was getting better and better. The feedback made me feel motivated as instead of feeling stuck in the moment it turned into an opportunity for me to improve. Getting a fresh perspective was what I needed and it gave me ideas to refine my designs.
So what?
This experience taught me further about the importance of getting outside perspectives and feedback. I realised that when I have been staring at my design for too long, I can become blind to the areas that need improvements. Doing the user tests and getting feedback gave me a fresh set of eyes which allowed me to see where my designs were lacking critiques.
During my process, I was thinking a lot about how the designs could be more user friendly and visually appealing. When I looked at my design, I knew something was off but I wasn't too sure on exactly what it was. Especially the layout and colours of the interface. I knew that my designs were mostly based on gut feelings. However, after getting the feedback, it provided me with a clear direction which allowed me to refine my designs. After iterating my new designs this is what I have come up with
In terms of theory, I can link this to the theory of receiving constructive criticism and how I can improve. Constructive criticism is a key aspect of personal and professional development as receiving feedback that focuses on improvement while being supported is a great way to grow (Ortiz, 2020). It emphasises providing specific feedback instead of undermining individuals confidence. It showed me how I could improve my project, however, this makes me think I could have asked for feedback earlier. This made me realise how crucial user testing which I will be doing often from now on. This experience taught me that I tend to push through my problems on my own for too long when really, getting feedback earlier will save me more time in the long run.
Now what?
Now that I have received feedback and reflected on my issues with my initial designs, I will continue to use this method often even when I feel that it is not useful. I will integrate regular user testing sessions at specific stages of my project to catch any flaws early on.
Next I plan to set specific benchmarks for each part of my app. This could be the interview aspect of it or the wellbeing aspect of the app. I will also prioritise making changes iteratively, as opposed to waiting till I am stuck again. I understand that gathering diverse feedback and opinions will help me avoid getting too attached to my ideas. Finally I will also set reminders to check in on my progress and evaluate how well I am implementing these improvements. Writing these blogs will also help me stay on track.
Moving on
After the mid semester break finishes I will be focusing on the AI and AR aspect of my project. There is only 5 more weeks to go so I have to get started on the other aspect of the project! I am excited to see what I can come up with and see how my project can improve.
References
Ortiz, A. (2020, April 5). Design Criticism: How to Respond and Use It Constructively | The Art Career Project. The Art Career Project. https://theartcareerproject.com/design-criticism-using-constructively/
Note: New iterations of pages for the intervAR app
Figure 4. Current UI designs on figma
Note: Screen capture of the feedback that I got from user testing
Figure 2. Feedback from user testing
