Susana R

[susanardisseny]

8th Week. El último trago y nos vamos.

We are just in the middle of the final project, and the final week of the Bootcamp, and I’m starting to realize that we are almost done, now that we just started to know more each other and building bonds. I feel like I didn’t have the opportunity to know more about some of my peers, but I hope, after Bootcamp, we can find a way to do it.

In my last post I told you that I will talk more about how Onboarding project will end, so if you are interested, here you can see the final result: RetailOn. Engaging employees with companies

I know that it could be improved and completed with a lot of new features, and maybe after Bootcamp I will do it. 

About the project that I’m working now with the great company of Paula and Vicky, I have to say that I’m more engaged than the last one and very excited about how will be the final result. We are a great team, and all the work looks very easy, but I think it’s because they are doing it easy ;). 

I have too many changes in my life after Bootcamp, and to be honest, I don’t want to think right now in that, so, I’m really focused on what’s going on day by day.

As anecdote, so well are we doing on the project, that I have time to spend on Netfilx. Yesterday I saw Chavela Vargas’s documentary film (It’s on Netfilx). I love her and all her career, and as a little tribute, and I think it matches this last week, I will use her song represent this post. (I know it’s a bit sad, but I feel like a have to do it)

[susanardisseny]

7 week

Onboarding project is over! It has been a long week, working hard, but also for some space to rest. This project could grow in so many ways, so, maybe, after bootcamp, I’ll dedicate more time and include and improve features and new layouts.

Now we are facing our last project, I have the luck to work again with Paula and, as a new teammate, Vicky, so, I think we are a good team. For the next to weeks we will be working hard to improve unTAXme App. An interesting project to continue working on. Let’s go on, it’s the last project! 

[susanardisseny]

6th week on UX/UI Bootcamp at Ironhack

What a hard week. Summer and high temperatures are not helping me to focus on the project. I feel quite tired. We are working on Onboarding WebApp and the research has been hard. Try to find people near to HR and working in August, is a bit difficult, but finally, I managed to get the information that I need to find out pain problems and try to offer an innovative solution to the project. So, I’m only a day late of my original plan. I’ll recover.

We are still working on it, so I hope next week I will be able to show you the whole project :). So sorry, but the deadline is chasing me!

[susanardisseny]

Contextual Inquiry

Interview processes that we have learnt until now usually puts the user in a passive mode. Consumers don't actually know how to articulate responses about their needs in a product or service. This style of interviews can be lacking in producing effective and actionable insights.

Contextual Inquiry gives us the opportunity to improve our approach to user needs.

In a nutshell, Contextual inquiry is a type of customer interview where participants perform tasks to show how they use a product or service. This provides important insights into how a company's product is perceived and valued in a customer's day-to-day life.

Nowadays, we have to adapt this technique to COVID-19 era, and move to a remote contextual inquiry. So, for the new project that we are working on, we need to follow these steps:

Identify my target audience for this project 

Prepare my interview and the explanation to engage my contacts.

Search in my network to schedule the interviews, explaining to them what is about, how much time it takes, and if I could record the session.

After conducting the interviews, the next step is data analysis

It’s important to keep in mind, that It must be clear to the customer where the recorded information will go, how you plan to use it, and any next steps. Especially because we are doing it remotely, and maybe the feeling would be different.

I’ve not decided yet what questions I would be asking, but I have these in mind:

1. What did you enjoy about this product?

2. What issues did you face?

3. When might you use this product?

4. Will you use this product alone or as part of a team?

5. What would make you choose this product over that of a competitor?

What do you think? All ideas are welcome so, if you want to add something, please, do it!

So, next week I’ll tell you how I manage to do it.

[susanardisseny]

Wooow, 5 weeks! I can’t believe it!

Well, last week we went through team projects. We have to redesign a small business website. It was nice that we can propose some websites to redesign because, in my case, we got La Raposa del Poble Sec website, which it’s a place that I love, so the project I was more engaged.

Having Fabi and @paulazabalaux as teammates it was really nice, they are so hard-working and easygoing that the whole week feels good, good vibes make the hard work more lightweight. It was a great opportunity to know more about each other.

Personally, I went back to some coding knowledge, refresh them, and I tried to apply them to the risky design we went for. So finally, I think we got a website that we liked it and could work. For me, coding it isn’t the most enjoyable part of redesign a website, and sometimes it’s exhausting, I mean, when you get stuck at some point, it could be frustrating.

So for next week, It’s one of these projects that I feel scared again, it looks like a big challenge, but interesting at the same time.

[susanardisseny]

Travel App UXUI Design

Next project it’s here! Travel App! It’s an individual challenge for this week! 

Also, it’s incorporate a new few things to consider, like being aware about the platform we are designing for.

I’ve chosen Sofia as my proto-persona, that she’s and Android user, so I decided to go for Android platforms as the primary.  

So, I’ve some important things to consider at the moment of designing for Android:

1. Navigation Patterns

Navigation Bar

On Android operating systems is common to use the back button in the navigation bar is an easy way to go back to the previous screen or step, so, it’s not necessary to add back arrow on the top.

Hamburger Menu

A common practice is to use the hamburger menu as secondary navigation where options are destinations or features that are important for users only in certain circumstances. 

Top Tabs

On Android, different areas of the app are tabs on the top. So here will be the main tabs for the App.

2. Action Buttons

Floating actions buttons will be for the primary actions and placed on the bottom-right of the screen.

3. Date picker

Android users aren’t familiar with the slot machine reel-style date selector that’s common in iOS. So I’ll use a typical calendar for Android.

4. Material Design uniformity

I’ll follow material Design guidelines to maintain uniformity, using same icons, typography, buttons, and animations. For instance, uppercase for buttons, Roboto for typography...

5. Sharing options

To maintain Android uniformity I’ll use the same sharing options. 

[susanardisseny]

Adding a Feature, adding skills

Last Friday we presented the project where we have been working for the whole week. It was about adding a new feature on an existing App. We were so lucky because we could work on the App we liked the most: Spotify App. The new feature was to add Karaoke.

It was the first time that we added Benchmarking in our project, and it was really interesting how other apps are working and get some conclusion for our project.

We started by defining what we would like to know about our users to be able to have our interview goals. Once we had them, we went through nine interviews, it was difficult for us to find the targeted user, but finally, we got it.

We gathered a lot of information, so it was time to do the affinity map and try to find patterns. Also, we discuss how much we needed to do a survey, but we discarded this option. 

The next step was to start ideating with some sketches, sharing ideas to finally arrive to our first sketch. In our firsts testing and CRITS, it was clear that we needed to start again and rethink the flow. And we did it. 

So, after some iterations, we finally get our final low-fi prototype, and we were able to move to mid-fi in Figma. Doing some tests, we gathered important information about how users were interacting with our design. We went through some changes and finally, to our first Hi-Fid prototype. I have to say that it looked so real! 

We worked hard to get our final version. It was my first working going every day to Ironhack campus, and it was nice to share the experience with my classmates. I also played Ping-pong with Valentina :).

Gabrielle worked so hard in spite of her flu, and the final presentation was amazing! 

So it was hard, but I’ve learnt that adding a new feature in an existing App could be really difficult, you have to consider many things that are already working on the app. 

Well, for the next project I’m looking forward to learning more and more and be able to use all the latest learnings better at each time.

Thank you girls for your work, energy and engagement.

[susanardisseny]

Iterative UI Design - WWDC 2016 - Videos - Apple Developer

You're familiar with Keynote for making presentations, but it's also a powerful tool for exploring, iterating and refining user interface...

I found this video very instructive. It explains one of the processes to get a design solution. I think that it’s important that design matters and that it’s not easy. Also, I found interesting to remember who we are designing for, and who is the user.

It’s useful for me now to see how they have built the funnel to define and making decisions, always regarding the main goal of the App. It helps to be focused and methodological on the process. 

It catches my attention when they started with “What I know now”, it looks like a simple thought, but not always I start there, sometimes we try to think bigger, about all the features… and that is quite a good start point.

They say that’s design is not simple, but the video looks like it is. I liked some sense of humor as well.

Well, in conclusion, it’s interesting to know how people work.

[susanardisseny]

Learning to See

Even today after years working I'm still learning to see. The design has always been seen as something without the real value it has by the general public. There is a lot of memes on the internet laughing about it. I'm not the first one who has listened to something like that: “You did it in 5 minutes, so you can do it again (for free obviously)”. But well, our work it’s not only to do the work, but we also have to explain our project and the process to reach the solution in a way that can be understood to our audience. It not only needs to be good, but it also needs to look good.

So, coming back to the main topic of the article, I agree with the idea of designing is the first place is observing and questioning. Many times, when I see something I like, I observe it, with two questions, how it was done, and how it can be improved.

I only have to add, that sharing with other designers made me grow. I’ve learned a lot by sharing, and it’s not easy, it’s something that in this, let’s call it “competitive society”, you need to unlearn first, and start learning again with a new sharing mentality.

Read the article here: https://ia.net/topics/learning-to-see

[susanardisseny]

Second week

This second week has passed like a sigh. I’ve done my first project alone, and I enjoy it. Well, If you’re following my latest posts, that’s a great revelation XD. All went quite fluently, I planned my week following the suggestions and I’ve managed my time very good this time.

The project was to design an app for behaviors. I’m glad about the process I’ve followed, but, I think that It could have got better results, or push myself more to improve them.

  Working alone gives me the freedom to organize my time and to define design solutions. That was cool, but I missed some different opinions or ideas.

The coolest thing that I’ve learnt, maybe are CRITS, or try to give neutral feedback. To me, be able to share your project and get opinions and keep it professional it’s really important. I already know some work ambient, I’ve worked with many people, so I understand why it’s so needed.

I feel that I’m on track, learning new things, and this has only just begun, that the hardest is coming.

What I’m expecting for next week is to be able to work with my team in the new project with the same efficiency as alone, and learn new things to improve the methodology. Also, improve my skills in wireframing solutions in Figma.

So, it was a good week :)

[susanardisseny]

Crits on projects in process

Today in class we have been working on Crits on individual projects. We have been designing an App based on behaviors. We are in the middle of the process, doing usability testing, iterations... and I think it’s the right time to do the crits. Having crits when you are in the middle of the project gives you wide new points of views. It’s a good opportunity to share with your peers in what are you blocked, or struggling, and get some suggestions or questions that you haven’t thought before.

It’s an opportunity to grow together and learn how be open to crits. In my experiences, it would have been great if the whole team was prepared to work on constructive criticism. So, for me, it’s so important to have this “lesson” in class and put it on practice. It was hard at the same time do it in a neutral way. Maybe it was hard in the first try, but nice work you all!

[susanardisseny]

Well here we are, and nobody has died yet. This first week in Ironhack was intense, emotionally speaking, and time absorbing as well. So I passed from the panic of the first day to the engagement of the first team project. There is no time, neither space to remain in fear. So I put my hands in the dough to start working with my team. 

Our first project has been “There is an App for that”. Our team was made up of three people, Carla, Faustine and me. We share our first ideas about what kind of App could be, and pick one.

I did my first approach to user interviews after prework. I’ve learned new skills through being in both places, interviewer and interviewee. So it was an interesting activity. I’ve learned to be patient, not interrupt when someone is talking,  and to start sharing a scenario at the beginning to drive your interview to your goals. I also noticed how important and difficult it is to find the right questions.

The next step was to identify the main pain points we found on interviews, so we went through affinity maps. We used a tool named Mural that it was really helpful to work remotely in teams. Affinity maps help us to group findings and make sense of all it. Affinity map help us to share and communicate our ideas clearly.

After we identified some pain points we moved on to the next question ¿What we can do to solve it? So, it was time to design. To me,  it was the funniest part. We started to sketch our low-fi prototype on paper and sharing our ideas with our team. I’ve to say that it was a bit difficult to do it remotely, but finally, we did it well. 

To share and discuss it we did our first project on Figma by uploading the photos of our sketches. 

Once we had our prototype it was time for our first usability test. So, for me, it’s the most interesting part of the work, because it’s the time when you can see what seems too obvious, it isn’t. So, listening to opinions and feedbacks it was exciting. The results of usability testing drive us to make some changes on our first prototype. Well, we retest and redesign almost 3 times, but finally, we get our final low-fidelity prototype. This took up much of our time and at that point, we were running out of time. Yeap, time management it’s a big challenge as well.

Finally, we go through the app presentation. We all were a bit nervous, but we finally did it. I’ve had to say that I was impressed with the other Apps that my peers have done, congrats to all of you, great job! You have set a very high standard.

For next week, We have the challenge to go through our first individual project, so I hope to put in practice what I’ve learned this week, I’ll try to push myself to do it and get over my own expectations.

I only have to add, that I love Kahoot and drawing every day :). So I definitely feel better than the first day.

Thank you, Carla and Faustine for your work! Nice to work with you.

[susanardisseny]

First panic day

Well, right now I’m a bit tired, and I have mixed emotions. As I told you in the last post, I just left my job (It was like my own company), and I only had two days to try to adapt to my new “normality” and post COVID “normality”. So, well, a lot of emotions. Also, a bit nervous and scared for knowing what is about to come, and because my english skills are a bit rusted. It’s my first remote course, so well, it’s quite a lot for me now. My first WhatsApp audio to my friends it was “I wanna dieeee” (Screaming), and the second one, ¿Why you let me do this? hehe. But they send me back really nice motivation messages. 

I have to say that at the same time I’m excited and glad to be here, I’ll do my best to adapt as soon as possible and enjoy the bootcamp. Knowing you all and the firsts introductions help to face it. 

We don’t have time to lose, so after the initial presentation of the course, we started cross design thinking and heuristic evaluation. We did some activities in groups that let us to know each other a bit more, and absorb this new concepts as well.

I know that maybe it’s exaggerated, but I can’t help it, I’m half Andalusian hehe 

Tomorrow will be better.

[susanardisseny]

Hi!

Let me introduce myself a little bit. I’m a visual designer and web developer. I’ve been working for six years until today, becoming head of a department, managing a multidisciplinary team. My profile is quite an unicorn. In these years I worked many different projects from graphic design to web development, branding consultant, defining marketing strategies, defining products, and applying SEO strategies… so, I know little about a lot of things, maybe quite expert on WordPress, Prestashop, HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, SEO optimization… but I still feel like I have a lot to learn, and it’s time to become an expert in UX/UI. I detect the need of a lot clients that they have a nice website, but still, there is a lack of usability, and the demand is growing fast. So I want to focus on it, and bring solutions to this demanding. 

So, I take a big breath, analyze my situation, I fixed new objectives for my life… and run off of my comfort zone to make a big effort to grow professionally. My workmate was doing web development at Ironhack, and she always talked to me about the way of learning and working, and how Ironhack it’s like a big family. So she wakes me up, I started feeling that it was the moment to do it. So, here I am, abandoning my comfort zone, my stable work, changing completely my life to keep growing, not without fear, but as always, or, as many times as a woman, we have to take the fear by the hand and continue.

I’m so excited to start the Bootcamp and open what's to come.

[celebratingamazingwomen]

Neta Snook Southern (1896-1991) was the woman who taught the famous Amelia Earhart how to fly. She was the first woman aviator in Iowa, and the first female aviator to run her own aviation business.

She had difficulties finding an aviation school that would accept her as a student, on account of her gender, but in the end she graduated from the Curtis-Wright Aviation School. She worked as a mechanic during WWII, inspecting and testing combat airplanes. In 1921, she was the first woman to enter a men’s air race.

[ambivalentlyyours]

Dear Valentine I won’t love unconditionally To lose myself next to you, for you I won’t become a half That needs completion I won’t give you everything To be nothing I won’t stay hurt Stay silent And call it love I won’t love you As an excuse to love myself less 

❤️

My love will be a process Of thought and care I’ll love you whole I’ll be whole and in love We’ll fill in for each other My strength when you are weak Your strength when i can’t sleep I will be everything You will be everything We will be everything Together

[art-and-anarchism-deactivated20]