Delaurens

[delaurens]

Week 7

 Finally done with the last “Solo” project. It feels really good to have been accomplishing every step until here.

Last weekend was so hard, from feeling seek to having bad feelings about my job. I worked for endless hours, in my lonely chair but all the effort was paid of with the good feedback on Monday crits session. 

The last sprint till Wednesday was also hard but also worth it, I was ready and prepared for next meeting with the professional.

I got to be interviewed by Eduardo Pla a Senior Produc Designer in Kahoot spain. It was truly the highlight of the week, he was very professional and gave me honest feedback about my project, he even gave me tips in how I could get my product to a next level. Definitely I will take all this advises seriously and improve my project before I ad it to my portfolio.

It was a week of hard work, intense feeling and tight dead lines, but at the end I finished having a rewarding feeling.

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Going Solo!

Last month started, we can see the end of this journey but we are also able to see the amount of work we still have to do.

Planning was the biggest matter during this week, I try to follow the steps we have learned and don’t skip any of them. 

In the other hand I discovered how useful organizing dashboard can be, not just because I am building one, also because I am using one to organize the next 2 weeks project.

The weekend, what weekend? I feel it like the rest of the week, this one was even harder, I have been sick…

Anyway I feel that I accomplished quite enough, Let’s see what is going to happen next week.

[delaurens]

Remote Contextual Inquiries

This type of data gathering is a very efficient way to get direct information from our final software users.

Performing the inquiry remotely gives us a lot of advantages, from doing a bigger amount of tests to reducing the cost of each inquiry.

This type of test can also give us another interesting benefit, like being able to observe the customizations and many other features the final user has to develop the tasks we can see during the test.

It is truly a very efficient tool to perform a big amount of inquiries in a short time and with the actual final user.

I can see the ways I will be using this tool and make an efficient use of the interviews I have to take during my current project. 

[delaurens]

Half way!

Is funny, I have the feeling I learned so much since this started but I also know is not a real thing, in a short future I will realize that as the more I learn about design the more I will get I don’t know a lot of stuff.

Anyway I am pretty passionate about this job, I know I still have so much to learn but I know it won’t be a problem, I am starting to get the feeling for this job, and is a good feeling.    

Working with Clara and Mabel was very easy. I think they are also starting to like our job and that was my biggest win for this week, having people passionate about what they do and sharing that with them is not a job is a hobby.

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Who said  it would be easy?!

Do you know the saying “time is relative”? I felt this week like a month.

It started slowly with a false control of the situation and a panic attack by realizing how clueless I was.

For the rest was a constant fight between things to do and the things I was going to be able to do before the deadline.

Again I cannot say better things about my classmates, we helped each other and tried to calm down the situation by prioritizing and being practical.

I certainly believe that the rhythm of this Bootcamp will make us bombproof for our upcoming design career.

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Second Week UX

Having to confront a single project sounds terrifying, is just been a week! It was nice to see how the lessons learned is such a short time became so productive. 

Feedback from classmates was constructive, we are starting to talk as real pros. Crits turn out to be very helpful, teachers and classmates gave me the conficence I was lacking on.

Finally presentation day. I was full of doubt, even shaking before presentation, presenting it just took me a couple of sentences to relax, I felt good at the end, job done, good week.

[delaurens]

3rd Week Ironhack

Third week second group project. You always have doubts about your new teammates, “is it going to be hard to work with them?”, “Am I going to be at their level?”, there is always doubt. 

So far the reality was quite smooth, my teammates and I performed very well during every step of the design process. We performer as a team an made each other a bit better.

In the other side, I started to feel more confident and a bit more relaxed around the exercises and work. I found teachers feedback very constructive.

So at the end I can say it was a positive and productive week. Just waiting to see what next week is going to bring.

[delaurens]

Interaction Design Patterns (iOS vs Android)

I Just learn all the theory behind these two platforms. Basically, Android uses Material Design principles and IOS does it with  Apple Human Interface Guidelines. They change entirely their navigation systems.

I have decided to use Android for the E-learning project and here are some the guidelines I will follow:

Top Tab Bars to respect the already existing bottom bar menu:

Floating Navigation Buttons to clear the screen when needed:

Gesture navigation to enhance the actions:

Burguer menu for secondary navigation:

Sliding top menu from Material Design:

[delaurens]

Good design is not easy

Is great to see how these two professionals work, you can tell how they love what they do.

In the UX part is interesting to see a methodology I haven’t seen before or at least as simplified. First they list what they think their product is going to need, after they research and ask their potential users, so they add or confirm ideas from their list. Finally they add to the list what they think the product is going to need to achieve their goals, regarding look and feel or business demands.

From The UI part it was nice to see how they ideate and make a bunch of options. After this they both discard (UX and UI designers) from their perspectives and knowledge the options they think are not fitting the final needs of the product.

Definitely good design is not easy, but they made the process a lot more practical and clear. 

[delaurens]

Learning to see

A designer can see and notice little things that can help him as an inspiration, we can train our mind to be more aware of little details, is very exiting to enjoy details that before where unnoticed to our perception. The same way a mechanic can see beauty in an old motorcycle engine, he is able to visualize the internal flow, from the gas pumping inside the cylinder to the smoke going out of the exhaust, somebody else wouldn’t understand the poetry around it.

We as designers are not better than any other person around us just because we can see some little details they cannot. Definitely inspiration can come from anywhere and we will never be able to know everything.

Of course learning the 10 principles of good design can help us get better at our job, along with plenty of other readings, but we should never forget we can always go a little bit further.

[delaurens]

First UXicorns week

Talking to Marco on Wednesday I told him “IS been just 3 days but it seems I know you for a Month”. This would be a good sentence to describe my first week as a UX/UI student.

The team group was really encouraging. We quickly realize how we all where in the same boat, sharing the same problems and anxieties, which was comforting and relaxing.

In funny how in such a short time we can already have this great energy in the class.

I learned so much every day, as more I was I understanding the clear the bigger picture was getting. I am really looking forward to keep having the feeling that every day spend was very useful.

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My first day

Today was a day with a lot of things to absorb, from new working methods, new schedules and new friends. 

I am starting to understand how big UX/UI can get, the amount of techniques can be used for what it seems like a simple question: What the user wants?

I am starting to feel overwhelm, let’s see if I can make it to the end of this month.