This final week has asked me to put in some serious reflections on this project. Looking back on it I feel there were definitely two halves to the module and it was the second half where I felt I struggled. I found it particularly hard to keep up with the workload and maintain a good work-life balance. This was compounded by the fact I was not completely happy with the brief or the persona I had created. I need to remember that, in the future, not all projects I will be working on will be ones I am passionate about. Moving forward, I need to be able to find enjoyment and purpose in the process of identifying the user's needs and delivering a solution to their problems, rather than gaining enjoyment only because I personally can identify with the need.
So why have I found this module harder than any of the others before?
Burn out
I’ve been working at such a frenetic pace these last 16 months that I think it has finally caught up with me. I have achieved such amazing things on the course, far beyond my own expectations and my confidence has increased with each module. This is the last module before I go into GDO750 and my major project work so I also really wanted UXO720 to be a success so I could go into the final stretch brimming with confidence. However, things started to derail early on as I had commitments outside of the MA which was either not present or had been a smaller part of my life in previous modules. As such the time I had to dedicate to this module was reduced and I struggled to reconcile with this new situation, constantly reflecting on what I was able to put into the previous modules. I simply didn’t have the mental bandwidth. This knocked my confidence and had an impact on my mental health, which led to my EC.
Takeaways
Regardless of my grades on this module, I have enjoyed an amazing journey on this course so far. All learning is good learning, so like all the modules, I need to consider what takeaways I can learn from. In the first instance, I need to remember downtime, even if this means walking away for a time. Student services recommended putting a timetable together to ensure that I maintained a healthy work-life balance, which I have tried to stick to and intend to be more disciplined within GDO750. I will also aim to be more efficient with my time in the upcoming module, regardless of whether it's a research thesis or prototype. I need to strike the right balance to ensure my mental health is not impacted. This isn't related to a methodology like the Double Diamond or project management like Agile, but the fundamental discipline of time management itself. To facilitate this, I've started Time Management Fundamentals by Dave Crenshaw on LinkedIn Learning and I plan to continue this between modules.
The Bottleneck in Testing
As mentioned above, there was a bottleneck in the project, causing a delay in having a testable prototype. Looking at my rationale to defer testing seems odd out of context, but I wanted to test functionality that required more sophisticated interactions over simple hotspots, such as drag and drop and multiple screens for every possible combination when deleting. I attempted to do all this without leveraging components in Figma, so it became difficult to manage when one part changed as I would have to update dozens of screens. This significantly delayed the production of testable features and caused undue stress on the project. Having used Figma in previous modules, I simply started using it in a way I already knew, which was a mistake as this was a much larger project. Scaling up meant I needed to scale up my workflow, and I am so grateful I did.
Even though I was behind in developing a testable prototype, I paused production and invested time in learning Figma beyond the basics. Using LinkedIn Learning and YouTube tutorials I learned more sophisticated ways of producing mock-ups and the right way of using Components, Auto Layout, and better flows using prototyping options such as overlay and slide-out features. In doing this, I was able to enrich my knowledge and accelerate my speed, but more importantly, save the project.
Takeaways
A major takeaway from this experience has been to ensure that I am using my tools in the most efficient manner possible, not just using them the way I know how. Although the project did get completed and my knowledge of Figma increased two-fold, the testing side suffered because of it as I was only able to get one official round of usability testing in at a late stage of the project. Which, is unacceptable. There is no question this is a hard lesson learned and I will ensure I am testing much earlier and more often in the next module. I plan to use paper prototypes again really early on to achieve this so I can focus on getting insight before I've even started wireframing. I also plan to use a tool like Balsamiq instead of Figma to ensure low fidelity when moving to wireframes. I may not be able to change my fastidious nature, but I can manage it using the right tools and techniques.
A Disconnect with the User Persona.
As mentioned earlier, I have struggled to maintain objectivity during the project. Although I have often referenced the user persona for many of the design choices I made, in reality, I struggled to connect and empathise with this individual. The user’s motivation of skill seeking felt self-serving at times and caused me to agonise several times regarding the direction of the app.
I considered gamification as a way to engage users, however, there are ethical questions around the use of gamification as a vehicle for engagement in volunteering applications, questioning the type of volunteer this can produce. Further questions are raised about the impact on the organisations that the user would work with. By involving more parties in the design process and approaching organisers of volunteering initiatives, I could have maintained more objectivity and based decision on insights.
Takeaways
There is a key theme - lack of insights. I think initially I simply focused on the weekly activities and didn't think about the wider implication of my choices. I developed a very high-level concept of what I felt that concept should be based on the persona but only validated that in week 10. Although the concept was never disproved I also feel like it was weakened by the usability testing, this came at a very late stage so gave me little room to pivot. The insights did challenge aspects of the persona, such as the focus on building skills for a career as a primary motivator and bringing skills to use whilst volunteering. Motivation for learning skills seemed more nuanced, so taking this concept further, I would delve deeper into the motivations to learn new skills using user interviews, which differs from the first interviews which focused on the motivations to volunteer instead.
What went Well?
A Deeper appreciation of usability testing.
As previously mentioned, this was a tough lesson to learn. Prior to this module, I would have stated that I already knew the benefits of usability testing. However, on reflection, much of the cognitive dissonances I had with the project could have been alleviated with more insights from users. I was dissatisfied with the results of my interviews in week 2 and I was only able to get the insight I really needed in week 10.
A Functioning prototype has plenty of interactivity.
I need to remember that I am still learning my craft. I should celebrate the fact that I was able to produce a 40+ screen prototype which did fulfill the user persona's goal of finding volunteer opportunities to learn new skills.
Once I had a clearer focus and direction after week 10's testing, I was able to produce a prototype that I could be proud of, that used components to deliver richer interactivity. I particularly like the ability to use components in combination with 'smart animate' to produce loaders for content. This project also allowed me the opportunity to add loading animations during the onboarding process. One of my goals for this module was to utilise micro-interactions which I achieved with the congratulation message in the endorsements section (figure 2) as defined below by Alita Joyce when discussing the task management tool Asana:
But by far, my favorite aspect of Asana is the sporadic flying unicorn that soars across my browser when I complete a task. This interaction is an example of a microinteraction.
(Joyce, 2018).
Figure 2: Clarke 2023. micro-interaction on SkillJoy
Joyce's definition of micro-interactions is not what I would classify as a micro-interaction, therefore, I am keen to continue to explore this topic further in future projects, and I've identified a course on Skillshare I wish to take - Advanced Prototyping and Interaction Design in Figma for UI/UX Designers (Ahadzadeh, n.d.)
SMART GOAL
Take the Advanced Prototyping and Interaction Design in Figma for UI/UX Designers course before the next module.
Reflections
This module has been the most practical module to date and has required me to not only keep up with the course content but also apply it to a fully working prototype. At times I had found it hard to see how all the disparate parts of the Double Diamond process fit together, but looking back I can understand the process. Perhaps as a process from start to finish it's hard to articulate without actually doing it and as a Kinaesthetic learner, I should appreciate this more. Now that I've gone through the process, and have an understanding of how one step impacts the next, I will be able to apply this to future projects. Earlier on I compared it to doing a jigsaw without the picture on the box, and I stand by this analogy. Although the process of design discovery is always going to come with a level of uncertainty, was not knowing what the next steps were that seemed to give me some anxiety. Now that I've lived through it I feel better prepared to apply them next time.
Future plans for the project
Develop the Randomiser feature
If I was going to continue to develop this app, I would work on the one very conspicuous addition to the design, that does not work - the randomiser button. I planned to complete this with the submitted artefact but time constraints meant that it wasn't possible. However, I left the button in as I wanted to discuss it in the case study. My idea stemmed from a conversation with Claire Burn about how to make the concept more fun and engaging after the usability testing identified it could use a bit more character. Claire suggested a randomised function for volunteering opportunities based on the user's skill. This aligned with the Game Thinking notion of unpredictable Input/Output (Brown, 2021b) and with variable rewards in Nir Eyal’s Hooked Cycle, which when used correctly has been shown to improve engagement (Eyal, 2014:95).
Clearly, as discussed, I found this module more difficult than previous ones. However, after reflecting on the process and experience, I am proud of what I achieved. There is clear learning to take forward and I am eager to apply these points to my next project.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wife Megan and our children Hannah and Harrison, who have provided me with much support, encouragement, and understanding over these past few months.
References
AHADZADEH, Arash. n.d. 'Advanced prototyping and interaction design in Figma for UI/UX designers: Arash Ahadzadeh, Skillshare'. Skillshare. Available at: https://www.skillshare.com/en/classes/Advanced-Prototyping-and-Interaction-Design-in-Figma-for-UIUX-Designers/1860197949 [accessed: 29/04/23].
BROWN, Clementine. 2021. ‘Week 4:Gamification.’ Canvas Falmouth
University [online] Available at:https://learn.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/283/pages/week-4-gamification?module_item_id=29892 [accessed 29/04/23].
CRENSHAW, Dave. 2022. 'The power of managing your time - time management fundamentals video tutorial: Linkedin learning, formerly Lynda.com, LinkedIn'. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/time-management-fundamentals-14548057/the-power-of-managing-your-time?autoplay=true&u=56738929 [accessed 29/04/23].
EYAL, Nir, 2014. Hooked: How to build Habit-Forming Products. London: Penguin Random House UK.
JOYCE, Alita. 2018. Microinteractions in user experience, Nielsen Norman Group. Available at: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/microinteractions/ [accessed 29/04/23].
Figures
Figure 1: CLARKE, Daniel. 2023. The final Prototype showing all components used.
Figure 2: CLARKE, Daniel. 2023. micro-interaction on SkillJoy
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