It is over and this has been nothing but the journey I needed.š„
A year ago I was lost, scared and insecure. I had decisions to make but I knew that I had to sacrifice my entire life and diverge into a different journey.
Today I am determined, excited and nervous for my new life in Berlin with my partner and my new career. Not everyone gets this opportunity, it wasnāt freeĀ but Iām lucky to actually do this.
This week, our last week, we are finishing a group project with a client about A.I and mental health š¤Æand Iām so stoked to do it next to @mafaldamfranco and @wannabeuxuidesigner, these girls are also making these two weeks fun and memorable.
Are we gonna succeed? Iām sure we are, this is it yāall! āļø
āIf you look long enough into the void, the void begins to look back through youā
Quoting Nietzsche cuz these past two weeks have been as intense as this quote.
If you are familiar with the origin of the gifs on this post, then you probably know what the vibe is and how itās been for me so far.
I got nothing negative to say because thatās just adding fuel to the fire but I gotta tell you that Iāve been entering a void I thought was closed a long time ago and Iāll escape from it, just give me some time.
My final project was about designing B2B Saas software by my own.
byĀ
my
own
aka
I entered that void.
The process?
Amazing
Messy
Fun
Anxious
The result?
decent work with a decent design report
The conclusion?
gotta keep on reflecting on my aspects of my life.
Yea yea, I'm totally yelling this at myself and knowing that authenticity is so hard to achieve.Ā
We get so lost trying to figure our "branding" or "personality" when we start writing a Case Study, and we realise that it ends up looking like the other thousands of case studies out there.
I struggle when writing because I have so much to say, but it's so hard to convert my thoughts into words without sounding too informal or illogical.
Now, y'all get ready for this next word vomit:
I realised with this Bootcamp that my brain wasn't as organised as I thought and that sometimes I just dive into these weird random thoughts (that randomly show up) and end up writing them on my notes app. When I see them, I just see a mix of random words that make sense to me but only to me and (yes, I love random and pointless thoughts and things sis). However, when I try to explain my random thoughts/ideas to someone, I see myself like I'm in a middle of a Dada performance, with people just staring at me, thinking wtf is this girl on?
Hang on, so is this about writing a case report?
Yes, ma'am, and also about avoiding going into this senseless spiral whirl. Yea, after reading this article, I realise that I don't have to commit to being someone else, perhaps embrace my personality a bit more.
Buuuuuut I still have to follow some guidelines and send my message to everyone and whys and the hows.
oh andĀ shoutout if youāre a big Dada fan like me š¤”
We gotta create a B2B SaaS desktop site and sis this is intense as it sounds!
FYI hereās a link to explain what this is all about:Ā https://www.mageplaza.com/blog/what-is-b2b-saas.html
Iām still processing all the data I collected and transfer all my sketches into digital wireframes and start some user flow for my two user personas OH! and start my design report....20 PAGES DESIGN REPORT...are u panicking? u may ask, and indeed I am āš½
I felt like I was saying all of this out loud in one single sentence without breathing but thatās how my brain itās functioning rn...like a machine in autopilot mode.
Letās see what the outcome of this project will be yāall ā”ļø
So I gotta admit that I had no idea what this was about...and Iām still getting the hang of it.
To put you in context a bit:
Saas is a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts the applications and makes them available to customers over the Internet. The customers of SaaS mostly are businesses, not always be the end-users of the apps.Ā
For example: Google drive, Salesforce, Monday, etc.
B2B SaaS refers to companies who provide software (app, extension, add-ons) to other businesses as a service.
For example: Slack, Adobe, Microsoft, etc.
Ā After reading the RCI article along with the Contextual Inquiry video I now have much clearer idea of what I need to deliver in this final design project.Ā
So wth is a RCI? well to put in a simple way, itās a method used to analyse the userās desktop by doing a remote interview to the users who are using the software in order to gather some flaws or improve it by observing their behaviours while using the software.
We should interview two types of users:
the business analyst: user who is involved in customising or adding more features in within the software, this user has a more intimate relationship with the software.
the end user: users who carry out tasks using the software within a company.
One of the several advantages it has is that itās done remotely and more people like developers and other professionals from the field can actually see the testing in action without having to come in person.
This is just great insight and such a useful way to know how to conduct interviews for this next project.Ā
But for now, I have a headache with all this new info I just learned. baaiii
It actually became more complex than that, and somehow, I'm kinda glad it did because it made me realise that we need to empathise with the whole team when working on a product and speak the same language, even though we use different terminologies.Ā
My colleague was just great support, and thanks to him, I was able to see my skills shine. I truly believe I can become what I have always wanted to be. āØ
So week four is over and it has been the wildest one so far š
So creating an e-learning app from scratch using sketches, mid-fi and hi-fi prototypes was the reeeel challenge. I took an entire hour to make a screen on hi-fi (iād even say more than 1hr) because FIGMA is still sth Iām processing and I had way too much pressure on myself (just like everyone i guess)Ā
I literally got migraines from staring at the screen and there was a moment where I thought I was gonna pass out of fatigueĀ no joke, I got a nice 6-7 hour sleep so idk why this was happening.
so the result? I can say that iām content with it, nothing to be crazy about BUT I do have to admit that this is exactly the result I expect since Iām still learning. I donāt assume that I should be delivering perfect results so Iām slowly getting there and I have to admit that Iām proud to see my skills improving.
the goal? to stop messing around with tiny details and focus more on my main priorities. imma try my best. āš½
So whenever I thought of adding more information I found myself struggling because I was afraid toĀ āsaturateā the screen with it. After seeing this tutorial, a newĀ āgateā of solutions have opened up.
The designer respected the color scheme of the app.The use ofĀ ādropdown menusā was the key factor of the redesign, all that information floating around in the beginning ended up inside making it look moreĀ ācleanā for the user.
before
After
He also made changes of the typography, font margin size with boxes and transparency.
before
after
Adding a counter when tracking your workout was a pretty cool idea to motivate the user perform the task in a more visual way.
For the Week Four project, we have to develop an "e-Learning app" forĀ Android and iOS. This project is quite challenging since I've never had another system other than iOS. So I decided to choose the user persona with an Android user as a challenge and to get some new input because I'm a devoted iOS user; though I'd be designing for both systems, I'll focus on Android this time.
Meet my persona:Ā
Her name is Sofia, she likes travelling and her goal is to cook food from different cultures.
As I mentioned, I had to investigate more about Android's user flow and its UI, so I got my hands on it to see what the differences were. Based on this and the articles mentioned, I will keep in mind the following points:
NAVIGATION BAR:Ā Android placed its navigation bar at the bottom of the screen, making it moreĀ accessible for users.
TABS:Ā Android design has moreĀ shadows to show hierarchy,Ā whereas iOS is more "flat" looking. (iOS on the left, Android on the right)
TYPOGRAPHY:Ā Android usesĀ Roboto.Ā ToĀ be more consistent with the UI Iāll keep this choice throughout the project.Ā
ACTION BUTTON:Ā Ā Floating above the interface of an app, it promotes user action. And can only be used for positive actions (e.g. not for cancelling or removing actions)Ā I will take as inspiration the user flow that Evernote has designed for it.
Gesture-Based Navigation: to simplify the user flows and make it more user-centered. I checked Android's flow on it, and they also have implemented it on their systems.
WEEK THREE meant group project and also developing a HI-FI prototype for the first time.
This weekās been a technical challenge (personally) because I havenāt practised enough on FIGMA and also because I felt like I was learning way too slow, so I had to catch up asap.
After having a session about my progress, I realised that it was not only the āproductionā or ātechnicalā part the one I had to work on but also my rational thoughts when connecting research and design and WHY I had to make those changes. This is something Iāve always struggled with. Seeing it so obvious and tangible makes me happy to know that I can have the opportunity to change it and thrive personally and professionally.
Our work had flaws, as a group, we were aware of the fact that we need to organise our ideas more and we also knew that our planning and timing was a key factor to avoid the mistakes we made. We all agreed that we need to work on this, especially after seeing the critiques and how we knew our points to improve were the things we didnāt put much attention to in the beginning.
The group I was assigned with made this week so fun and lit, I got to know these two girls even more and we worked in an open and tolerant environment. We were all equal when doing tasks, accepted critiques openly with no resentment and disagree and agree in such good vibes, everything just developed organically. Teamwork is not an easy thing to achieve but u gotta be tolerant and open and just keep nourishing that.
āIt is not the hand that makes the designer, itās the eye. Learning to design is learning to seeā
Now, this is the deal-breaker here. When doing my research about UXUI before joining the course, I had a vague idea of what this job might be about. It was probably something about researching (UX) and creating interfaces (UI) on a program, basically what I thought.
Wth changed?? The UX part has been a major discovery for me, I had no idea what it was going to involve, and it has brought tons of new learning and self-growth.Ā
So, letās talk about the UI part. I havenāt done design in 2 years, and then I thought Iād be fine in that area....but nope!Ā
Learning to see sounds logical, but in fact, it isnāt! Because itās so obvious we might think that it cannot be done, and to be honest, the only way to do it is by literally checking other designs for inspiration. Iterating that like crazy!
When checking those designs, we can also come to a point when having an opinion about designs that are āgoodā and ābadā. This is connected to having good taste, but I always thought that personal taste is too biased. So, how the hell do I know if I have good taste? well basically, if my design is functional and usable then I guess Iād be on the right pathā¦ and hopefully, after years of experience, I could even develop a āsixth senseā when spotting āgoodā and ābadā design, or how they call it in the field, a FingerspitzengefĆ¼hl skill.
Wow... so the second week went by and Iām mentally exhausted and physically tired, but this is only the beginning so I gotta stay focused and know how to balance my life better. I barely have any social life and asking people to help me out with some surveys and interviews was reeeel challenge.
Week 2 meant working on an individual project with the objective of creating an app to track a habit or routine. I decided to work on a language app to help people make their learning easier because aināt nobody got time to learn darling.
Must admit that Iām not fully content with the results, I tried to keep the prototype as simple as possible (along with my presentation) because I wanted everything to be focused on the usability rather than the interface but apparently nobody got it completely so I...failed...hard šMy colleagues and teachers are dope tho and their support and comments are just what you need to hear as motivation.
Iāll def work on Figma skills and connecting my research to my ideas and hopefully Iāll get to the place I want to. I know Iām very harsh on myself but Iām very self-aware of my weakness and imma try hard to strengthen them.
Now, leaving all this negativity aside, Iām soooooo happy how this week turned out because I learned sooooo much and Iām dead ass ready for this new career change. I know that this is it and iām gonna work my ass off to become the person i wanna be.
