Susanna Casali @susannacasali - Tumblr Blog

Penultimate week in Ironhack

We are now at the end of the week, with only one week left to conclude this stage and open a new chapter as a designer in the digital world.

The adrenaline is high, the fatigue is high, but the desire to break through is immense.

What can I say about my seventh week @Ironhack...?

This week has really been a challenge from the first day to the last. Even though I started doing my research last week, this seventh week was literally NOT-STOP. I spent the whole week developing the user interface, the design report and the presentation of my new features for a B2B Web App. What was also new was that this time the final presentation was not in front of our colleagues, but with outsiders working in the digital companies. So... what can I say? That this week was all great: the challenge, the effort and in the end also the satisfaction.

The case study factory

Honestly, the first thing that comes to mind is: do you want to get noticed in the Ux/Ui world? Then follow these simple tips 👇

https://essays.uxdesign.cc/case-study-factory/

All joking aside, I couldn't have read come across this article at a better time than today.

I've just had a bit of a so-and-so week 😖 because I didn't feel like I fit the scheems, but... that's the key! Being different!

Before reading this article, I hadn't thought about the fact that "Ideally, your case study should reflect my personality so strongly that it would feel out of place in any other designer's portfolio".

This article has given me a lot of ideas to work on, it has made me want to start writing my next case study just now. I'm going to write it really about me, about my research skills, about how I find solutions to the problems of the people I interview. I'm looking forward to talking about the things I believe in as a designer: my passions and my thoughts, and finally my insights into what I've learned throughout the research and design phases.

A week of ups and downs

I am not in a position to report on the week at all this time, it would be better to do it day by day.

In fact, this week, I have experienced moments of happiness at the work I have done, and then moments of total discouragement.

What has made me so vulnerable is neither stress nor working under pressure. I am used to it, I have worked many years in fast fashion, where it is 'normal life' 🤯.

What got me down this time was me 😵‍💫.

Even though I discovered that I was good at research because I really enjoy doing it. Even though I had contacted many people I didn't know before Monday and had identified how to develop my project, at some point during the week I started to judge myself without stopping.

I have always been a person with a lot of demands on me, but this time I outdid myself.

I judged myself and my project (not yet fully completed) not to be up to my progress or this course of study.

This idea came about because I compared the type of problem I decided to solve with the problems chosen by my peers.

In fact, reading what I am writing now, I feel quite ridiculous.

When I look at my journey in just six weeks, I am so happy and also so satisfied.

I had no idea, nor did I hope to learn so much in such a short time.

I decided to take a day off, but only after applying some improvements to the prototype: the usability tests done with real users are very useful to me.

I am back to believing in myself and in my project. I feel proud again 💪🏻.

But now it's time to roll up my sleeves and keep learning. My project does go on itself.

Remote Contextual Inquiry... how could I apply it to my next project?

Today I learned more about Ux research and the techniques available.

I had never heard of Remote Contextual Inquiry before, but I must admit that it is a pleasant discovery.

Remote Contextual Inquiry is based on capturing the computer screen of a user 👨🏼‍💻👩🏽‍💻 working with software on their computer. Many times software is customised or modified to suit the user's needs.

This technique provides the opportunity to see exactly what the user sees and the actions they actually perform to achieve their goals. In my case, this information can help me identify problem areas, features to consider and usability and design solutions.

My new project is to find an opportunity to improve a workflow with a bespoke product to be launched as a desktop SaaS web app. For this reason I think it might be interesting to ask my users to share their computer screen with me at an early stage.

If I can monitor their behaviour before sketching my ideas and at the same time that other interviews, I could get a lot of data to have a clearer idea of what my users need.

I know it's an ambitious challenge 🦄, but I'm going to try.

I will keep you updated!

Is it possible to redesign a responsive website in 5 days? In @Ironhack yes!

The fifth week of UI | UX design Bootcamp is coming to an end... and I feel proud because my project @enricabiondiux has rocked it!

During this week we collaborated as a pair to redesign the responsive web of the Yale School of Art.

The challenge we faced during these five days was by no means easy. Even though we had to redesign the website of a prestigious university, the base from which we started was messy and chaotic.

From the beginning, @Erica, we organised ourselves by writing a schedule to follow during the week, which we checked every day and updated when necessary. This helped us to finish the presentation a few hours before the show and to be able to rehearse it several times together, as we only had 6 minutes to present it.

During this week we also practiced tree testing and Benchmark, which helped us lay the groundwork and decide on the main points to discuss, improve and showcase.

The most fun part, though, was the style tyle, where we defined the colours to be used for our redesign, the typography and the words that defined what the Yale Art School site wanted to convey in our opinion.

But this week's project was not only to create something beautiful and functional that respected the Yale Art School website, but also to make this web site responsive. So we reproduced the screens for smaller screen devices like mobile phones, adapting images, icons, text and spaces. And 👂🏻hear 👂🏻hear: we also wrote some code in HTML and CSS.

It took us a few hours but the result was more than satisfactory. We learned how to write code, media query and even how to create shadows on buttons or make images smaller in proportion to the devices they are to be displayed on.

Each week at @ironhack is incredibly more fantastic and amazing than the last. With each passing day I find that I can do things that I would never have imagined just a month and a half ago 🤩.

However, this week has not only been incredible because of what we have achieved (in such a short time, let me tell you), but especially because of how I have been able to collaborate with my fellow student. Even though we come from different professional backgrounds and are very different as people, we quickly found a way to collaborate, support each other, compare ourself and not waste time, even if we didn't need to put in extra hours.

👉🏻I have always been an advocate of teamwork, and this week was further proof of that! 👈🏻

#ironhack #htmlcoding #ux ui design

My brilliant fourth week 💫 @Ironhack

I don't know how else to start this article than with.... "Gosh, has another week gone by already?".

Today is Friday, and for me it is not only the last day of the week, but above all the most intense, tiring but at the same time the most exciting. Because Friday here @Ironhack is the day of the project presentations.

During this fourth week I devoted myself day and night (literally 🥱) to the design and development of a new e-learning app. I started on Sunday by contacting former colleagues, friends and strangers to reach as many contacts as possible and sending out questionnaires, until last night when I panicked because I wanted to present a project that was up to my standards 😎.

During this fourth week I not only did UX research, which has become my passion over the last month, but I also tried my hand at animations and colours in figma. I can't believe how many things I have learned in such a short time. I think I'm good at this job, I know that if I keep studying at this pace I can prove to myself that nothing can stop me.

This week is also over. Now I just have to finish the project by writing an article about the design process and publish it online to let the world know that a new designer is being born 🦄.

E-learning application - a new challenge

The challenge of this week is based on designing a new e-learning app to be launched on both Android and iOS.

My user persona is Alicia, of 31 years old and she working as international Buyer at Mango.

Alicia needs an e-learning application that can help her learn everything she needs. The application I have in mind should be fully customizable according to Alicia's needs.

Alicia is an iOS user, so I will design the application based on the iOS templates first and then adapt it for Android.

Native mobile applications for iOS and Android have special operating system-specific features. Guidelines by Apple and Google recommend to use platform-standard navigation controls whenever possible: page controls, tab bars, segmented controls, table views, collection views, and split views. Users are familiar with how these controls typically work on each platform, so if you use the standard controls, your users will intuitively know how to get around your app.

Below are some of the templates I plan to use.

1. Full-Screen Navigation

This navigation approach usually devotes the home page exclusively to navigation. Users incrementally tap or swipe to reveal additional menu options as they scroll up and down.

When to use: This pattern works well in task-based and direction-based websites and apps, especially when users tend to limit themselves to only one branch of the navigation hierarchy during a single session. Funnelling users from broad overview pages to detail pages helps them to home in on what they’re looking for and to focus on content within an individual section.

Pros: The full-screen navigation pattern is best for achieving simplicity and coherence. You can organize large chunks of information in a coherent manner and reveal information without overwhelming the user; once the user makes their decision about where to go, then you can dedicate the entire screen space to content.

Cons: Prime real estate will be wasted on chrome. You won’t be able to display any content except the navigation options.

Tips: Use a hamburger menu to hide secondary functionality and keep the focus on the main experience.

2. Moving between states / screens

Moving backward and forward between screens is a common action users take on apps.

The approach on iOS every screen of the app must have a button in the top left corner.

Apple also includes a left-to-right swiping gesture in applications to go to the previous screen. This gesture works in almost all apps.

3. App navigation patterns

Apple’s guidelines recommended putting global navigation in a tab bar. The tab bar appears at the bottom of the app screen and provides the ability to quickly switch between main sections of an app. Usually, the tab bar contains no more than five destinations.

4. Typography

San Francisco is the system typeface in iOS.

5. The buttons

Eventually, when it comes time to design the buttons, I will try to shift my thinking to eliminate the concepts of "iOS" and "Android" design patterns, and simply think of our users as "smartphone users", or simply as human beings using a palm-sized touchscreen device. The buttons will be finger-sized. The checkbox (called a switch in iOS) will simply look and behave like a checkbox.

I will sketch all these ideas and try to test if they are the best option to develop a new user-friendly app. I know they are my first project, and before I get to the final design everything can still change, but I think I found the right way.

My 3rd week in Ironhack

As the Italian saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going: this is a bit of a summary of my third week in Ironhack.

Yes... for me it was the hardest week since I started the campus. This week has really been a rollercoaster of emotions and constant questions, confirmations, tests, discussions and trials.

During this week I collaborated on a joint project with other students. As much as I am a lover of group projects and teamwork, I have to admit that in this case there were a few small problems, especially with communication 😬.

Working with people who are very different from me and have a strong character was a big test for me. But all's well that ends well, right? Actually, the result was really good, our differences led to a very good project in many respects.

Of course, we could improve, but we are still learning!

What else can I say about this week... now that I'm writing in black and white and in cold blood, when I think back on the week just gone I can't help but be happy. I was able to focus more on the things I needed to practice and on some of the shortcomings I had. I was able to improve and focus on the research, study and synthesis of the data and the layout and look of the final presentation. I am really super proud and super satisfied. Another week has passed.

Another challenge met 🦄.

#@ironhack #ironhackbcn

Learning to see: what I think.

“Genius or mortal, you need to learn to discern what you see and what you think you see before you can paint either reality. The best way to learn to see is copying the masters. That applies to art as well as to any form of design”

This parrafh is extrapolated from the article Learning to See.

I read this this because suggested from my teacher of UX/UI Ironhack bootcamp. The text is quite longer but it is worth going all the way to the end.

It deals with various topics concerning design, how there is no such thing as good or bad design, but how it all depends on our perception or the use we have to make of it.

[Design] is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. —Steve Jobs

In the case of interface design, for example, we could talk about "functional design" instead of "bad or good design".

Speaking of this special area, it is interesting to note that visual and functional beauty are not completely independent, even though functional design is not completely evident on the object. It shows itself in use and influences the aesthetic perception.

So, it is not just the hand that makes the designer, but the eye and experience. The purpose of design is in fact to make it easier for people to use.

Learning to design is learning to see.

#learning #learningtosee #ironhack

susannacasali

My first App @Ironhack

And here I am writing about this incredible second week. That’s right, in @Ironhack the clock is ticking and you never stop learning. Every day since day one has been a race with myself.

In this second week I put out my first project, and I still can’t believe it. After 205 surveys sent all over the world (literally) and seven interviews, I finally found the way to my App.

During the research I learned how important it is to listen without judging. The data I collected was surprising. I also discovered that I love research, to learn more about people and their behaviour or habits. The research phase helped me to get to know myself better.

But it wasn’t all sparkling during this second week: I can’t deny that I don’t feel comfortable speaking in front of a large audience…. It’s still a big problem for me. However, I know Ironhack will help me overcome it and improve in this aspect as well.

And nothing, now I have to go, the process to become a UX/UI designer is still long and challenging: exercises, articles and a new challenge are waiting for me.

Soon I will write the next chapter of this incredible experience!

My first App @Ironhack

And here I am writing about this incredible second week. That's right, in @Ironhack the clock is ticking and you never stop learning. Every day since day one has been a race with myself.

In this second week I put out my first project, and I still can't believe it. After 205 surveys sent all over the world (literally) and seven interviews, I finally found the way to my App.

But it wasn't all sparkling during this second week: I can't deny that I don't feel comfortable speaking in front of a large audience.... It's still a big problem for me. However, I know Ironhack will help me overcome it and improve in this aspect as well.

And nothing, now I have to go, the process to become a UX/UI designer is still long and challenging: exercises, articles and a new challenge are waiting for me.

Soon I will write the next chapter of this incredible experience!

#ironhack

my first "CRITS day" at @Ironhack

Today I experienced my first "CRITS day" .... I had never heard of anything like this before 😱. The meeting was run by my course assistants and was divided into several parts of 3 minutes each.

The other designers and I only had three minutes to present our research, our ideas and our prototype based on the data collected. But as we learned, and as we are understanding more and more every day, if the design is clear and well defined, a few minutes for a good presentation should be enough.

However, the first three minutes were not the most difficult. The "problems" came when my colleagues had three minutes to ask me questions about my design and I couldn't answer them, it wasn't allowed 🤦🏼‍♀️.

I think this kind of dynamic was useful for everyone, to brain storm and give quick feedback and comments based on first impressions.

Personally I was not familiar with this kind of meeting, but here in Ironhack every day is incredible 🦄, and every day I discover something new and more interesting than the previous one. I am very grateful to be able to study here.

And now... I'm going back to work on my new project because I would like to do it in the best possible way after receiving so much advice.

#@ironhack #@crits #@critsday

1st week at @Ironhack

What can I say? It's Saturday night and I'm here writing my article about my amazing first week in Ironhack.

It's really an incredible experience, time has gone by very fast.

During the first week in Hironhack I learned a lot about Ux research, how to do a good interview, surveys and also about design thinking, affinity maps and usability testing. If I may say, how is it possible to learn all these things in such a short time? I am surprised myself and very grateful to the teacher because the lessons are very clear even for a novice like me.

And the best thing about this week is that my classmates and I also presented our first project! This Ironhack adventure has started in the best possible way.

#@ironhack

My 1st day at @IronhackBCN

Finally, the great day arrived and… flew! 🪂

I woke up slightly nervous because I had no idea what might happen during the first class.

Fortunately, the teacher and teacher's assistants helped me feel more confident and calm.

The class was divided in two blocks: a theoretical part followed by a pratical one.

In that way for me was easier to understand, internalise and apply the studied concepts.

Working in groups helped us students get to know each other better.

Also, was exciting (and a bit scaring) to speak in English in front of an audience 🧑‍💻for the first time!

Today I learned a lot of new things; I’m sure next days will be even better! ☀️

#ironhack

Hey Folks! 👋

I’m Susanna, an Italian Fashion Designer 👗based in Barcelona.

Before moving to Spain, I studied and worked in Milan, the city I was born into. Here I worked as Product Manager and Fashion Designer. While managing a team was a great experience, my true passion is designing and creating things with my hands. I’m a positive soul ☀️, tireless and extremely curious. I love to keep moving and always try new experiences. That’s why I choose to challenge myself and explore Digital Design, starting a new adventure as UX/UI Designer.

My ideal workplace is a place where collaboration and respect between people is strongly encouraged and where continuous learning is promoted. Tomorrow will be a great day, a new chapter of my life and my professional career. 🤩 After many years I will be a student again; I will start to create my future as UX/UI Designer.

Wish me good luck! 🍀

#ironhack #new chapter #ux ui design

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Susanna Casali