The week passed quickly, proving quite productive in advancing my project significantly. My focus was mainly on completing project 4 to transition smoothly to project 5 without lingering concerns. This week, I successfully wrapped up my user interviews, personas, and the value proposition canvas, aligning it with the personas I created. Despite the productivity, the influx of three guest lecturers was somewhat overwhelming. While their insights into the design world were valuable, the consecutive sessions over three days felt stressful. Typically, I desire more UX design lectures, but the concentrated delivery left me feeling that a better distribution would have been more manageable. The lectures featured Andy Larkin on Monday, Jason Brown on Tuesday, and Harry Brignull on Wednesday. Although all were inspirational, Harry Brignull’s fast-paced delivery made it challenging to take comprehensive notes. I’m hopeful that a recording is available for a more detailed review. Additionally, we had a careers and employability lecture discussing how to create a professional CV, providing valuable insights for enhancing my CV’s professionalism.
I interviewed my Mum, Emily, Max, Saalihah, and James, gaining valuable insights for personas and the value proposition canvas. Their responses shaped my app’s focus on user needs and areas where they lack knowledge or action. The open-ended questions, recorded on my phone and transcribed, allowed thorough analysis. I used ChatGPT to turn speaker 2’s speech into note form, creating bullet points for clarity. An affinity map and categorisation into ‘habits/pleasures,’ ‘pains,’ ‘sustainability,’ ‘thoughts/feelings,’ ‘finance,’ and ‘goals/motivations’ highlighted key points. This process revealed intriguing similarities and differences in user perspectives.
I proceeded to finalise my personas by incorporating insights gained from user interviews, building upon my provisional personas to create comprehensive primary personas that effectively represent the target audience for my app. The user interviews provided valuable real-life examples, enhancing the hypothetical nature of the personas with practical insights and perspectives.
In the concluding steps, I developed the value proposition canvas by selecting one of my personas to populate the grid. The canvas facilitated a dual perspective, considering both the producer and consumer viewpoints. It prompted me to analyze what the app offers to consumers, their potential reactions, and the corresponding emotions. While moderately helpful, I encountered some challenges in executing the grid due to initial uncertainty and a lack of clarity in the provided example.
In my available time this week, once I had completed tasks up to their current point, such as those dependent on finishing others first, I decided to delve into both Project 5 and Project 7. Project 5 involves the design aspect of the app, while Project 7 focuses on the accompanying essay. For Project 5, I initiated research into colour palettes, styles, and fonts, examining conventions used in various apps. This exploration proved highly beneficial. Subsequently, I began sketching initial low-fidelity wireframes on my iPad Pro using Procreate, a method I found particularly useful for its control and freedom from perfection pressure. Moving on to Project 7, I conducted research into the themes selected for my case studies—social media platforms. Specifically, I chose Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, the three platforms I use most frequently. Creating a Miro board for the three themes, I gathered information from various sources to inform my research. I then commenced writing the first draft of my essay, incorporating the collected information.
In summary, this week proved highly productive, and I experienced an improved mental state compared to previous weeks when I faced more challenges. Seizing this moment of clarity, I endeavoured to complete as much work as possible. I take pride in what I accomplished and am satisfied with the standards I achieved.
