#galightsabers

[inabinaaa]

Annotated User Flow for 2100, circa last week.

[inabinaaa]

MOCKUP ALERT!​

In the fourth project at General Assembly, kelnicvanuxplusdesign and I created a curated, interactive experience to make you care about the environment. The user would go through the city, while listening to a 'podcast' in the form of a radio program, and get sent on survival missions around the city. Through the use of Augmented Reality, the app guides them through the New York of 2100, when climate change has ravaged the city. Maybe someday Radiolab will really produce this for us!

These are the mockups I created for the purpose.

[uxprointhemaking]

Week 1: Complete

So much for blogging/documenting every experience! I had ZERO time this week except for a few photos and tweets that I got in here and there. Blogging takes so much time. Maybe my blog will just be photos. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Hehe, nah I'll try to recap: 

Tuesday: 

We analyzed a restaurant's website and gave suggestions on how to improve it. There is so much bad design out there, it's crazy! I honestly don't know how the web developer thought that what he or she did was ok. It's a good site but the fact that there's even any learning curve is silly, especially for a restaurant site. 

We also redesigned our partner's alarm clock. I got to work with Evan and it was really valuable seeing how differently we use the same product or feature. We both rely on our iphones and while I use all the different features (repeat, label, sound), he doesn't. I like to minimize the number of alarms stored as much as I can. He has every single alarm that he's ever used still in there. This also revealed just how differently we use alarms and how we respond to them. It was a fun and insightful exercise. 

Wednesday (I think):

We narrowed down our project problems into 1-2 sentences. That really helped simplify things. We worked on creating lofi sketches. I think I like a mix of both lofi and hifi. Is there midfi? I mean, I want labels and stuff to help me explain the rough sketch.

We also did flow charts. I don't like them. At least not for PB and J sandwiches. And what is up with people putting PB on just one side? I hate soggy bread so PB should act as a buffer between the jelly and the bread and should be on both sides :)

Oh and I HATE jjg. When it comes to my creative process, I need autonomy. 

I'm still confused about concept mapping and card sorting. 

I like sketching, storyboards and visual user flows. 

Thursday: 

I left GA around 9:30pm and I walked out to the middle of a protest for Michael Brown and Eric Garner. I can't believe those officers weren't indicted! I'm not saying they had the intent to kill but they did kill them. The law should be upheld and they should face consequences for their actions. This is pretty much condoning the use of unnecessary brutal force! Ok, I could go on for much much longer and probably lose my sh*t over this subject so I'll get back to what this space is really for. Anyway, I worked straight through from the time lecture finished (maybe 3:30) to when I walked out of GA and only came up for air for bathroom and water breaks. And I loved it! I ACHIEVED FLOW!!! I love flow. I used to get it when I would stay up late working on impromptu art projects. I love just giving 100% of me into something and losing myself in it. That's what I did today for Project 1 and I loved every second of it. I was kinda of surprised to leave GA before closing time since I'm a procrastinator and usually don't start working until the 11th hour. But I was interested in the project from the get-go and couldn't wait to get started. I went home, ran through my presentation with my bf for his input and to time myself and couldn't wait to present. 

And in class we learned more about paper prototypes and made our first one with POP! That was really cool! We also saw some great examples of paper prototypes. The possibilities are endless!  

Friday: 

Presentation-day! I didn't get much sleep but I didn't feel tired, just excited. I walked in with a giant smile on my face and pretty much kept it all day until class ended when reality hit and fatigue set in. I guess it was adrenaline. The presentations were all very interesting and fun to watch. It's so great seeing how we approached issues differently or similarly and what we all came up with. There are some apps that I wish they existed right now and some would be great money-making ventures. Mine isn't. It's just a reserve alarm clock. I like it and I'm proud of my work but it wouldn't make any money. Not that money is everything but I think I need to become more business savvy. Hopefully, that will come with time too. 

Anyway, I felt super proud of myself! I felt nervous and I could have presented better but I didn't let the anxiety get the best of me and I got some great genuine feedback from many different people. At that moment, I felt that so awesome and validated- that every difficult decision that I had to make up until that moment were worth all the struggles that I endured.

I've never felt more confident in my life until this week. I've got a lot to learn but I know that I can do this, all of this.

Saturday: I did a headstand in yoga today! It was my first time and I did it all by myself! Ok, it only lasted a second but I got it up and without being next to a wall, either! This confidence thing is feeling really good. I hope it's not just temporary :) 

[jessec4]

Day 3: Get to work. But have fun! But seriously, get to work: A story about Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches

I'm finally getting to write about Wednesday day 3... on Saturday. The last couple days have been long, exhausting and overwhelmingly fulfilling. I will touch on them in my next couple posts. We split day 3 fairly evenly between learning about storyboarding and user flows, and applying these new lessons and others to our projects.

Story Boarding comes natural to me, Generally you are attempting to boil down a process to it's most basic, and communicable points, and visualize them for the benefit of your design process, design team, and possibly stakeholders to help anyone involved understand the process better.

The class first created user flows for the process of making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. While I got the gist of the reasoning and details of user flows, I think I need to continue to refine it and practice it to better understand, and make a more valuable tool in my toolbox.

We then storyboarded the PBJ process, here is my full storyboard. The visualization helps me consider areas of my design that perhaps I haven't considered, putting the idea in a physical space.

Once we had wrapped on the Storyboarding we went to work on our P1 Projects for the rest of the day. Day 3 was probably the first time I really started to feel comfortable with my own design process in regards to UX. I have a fair number of tools that I feel comfortable with, but the challenge is adapting and applying those tools to the UX universe. This is why I am in this program. To adapt and evolve.

Laundry Alert has become Suds. Look, there may not be too much in a title... but it is THE first impression. It makes a difference. And Suds fits the feel I am going for perfectly. I am through 2-2.5 iterations. I am sure Janet was sick of me interjecting, and asking her to review a new sketch or design aspect.

I remember leaving my project Wednesday night, feeling happy with my progress, while at the same time having a sense that Thursday would be a MUCH longer night.

[uxprointhemaking]

Week 1 Day 1

Despite setting alarms and checking them twice before I closed my eyes, I woke up in a panic at 5:30 am and couldn’t sleep very well for the remaining time until the first alarm went off. I was nervous about getting to class on time, especially for the first day! Unfortunately, this happens frequently, especially when I have to catch a flight even though I have done so hundreds of times by now. 

But lack of sleep and nervousness couldn’t get me down today! I’ve been continually happy from the first time I came across GA and particularly in the last couple of weeks after handing in my notice.

Being an Executive Assistant taught me tons about professionalism, organization, time-management skills, and just how under appreciated they are, at least in terms of pay. Executives can’t function without them and therefore, the company can’t function without them, so why are EAs one of the least paid? From their job description it may sound like anyone can do it but it really takes a certain type of personality, attitude, mindset, etc. to pull it off successfully (and I argue the same goes for the service industry). I don’t know if I have all that it takes but I’m not sticking around any longer to find out. I’ve got a creative side that’s been dying to be unleashed and appreciated, which is why I’m here at GA. And this is why I mentioned in my self-introduction, “as god as my witness, I’ll never be an EA again!” 

When I was debating between UXDi and WDi, I talked to alumni from both programs and the UXer I met said that she had Dom and loved his teaching style. I totally agree! It’s really hard to continually keep an audience engaged and he does that so well! Thank god I’m a light saber. This feels like fate. 

I felt like we were at an AA meeting but for “lucrative careers”. I think most of us, myself included, spent our twenties (maybe thirties too) trying to find a balance between salary/making a living and job satisfaction. We realized that as seemingly convincing it as it may be, careers can’t be, shouldn’t be, focused around the paycheck (at least not “successful” careers, and not long-lasting ones). So, this is Day One of our “sobriety” to a fulfilling life. 

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Some words to chew on: 

We have to be our own business. To quote J-Z, “I’m a business, man.”

This is a lifestyle. We design for users. We validate with research. We do not design for ourselves. 

UX Designers solve problems. 

Lift while you climb. 

Ask questions, don’t criticize. 

Check your ego at the door (not your confidence). 

Uninformed optimism to informed optimism.

We’re all here; we have good taste. 

Absolutes are for Siths.

Recognize good work.

We have the FREEDOM TO FAIL.

Do or do not. No Try.

"Yes and…." no buts! 

Adult toys (in cereal boxes). 

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Based on our self introductions, particularly our first tape/cd/album that we purchased, we’ve got an eclectic class and I’m so excited for that! There are so many new and different perspectives and experiences to draw and learn from!! This is going to be great! 

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What do you want out of this course? 

I want to learn how to simplify. A simple design is a lasting design. 

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Remember The Gap. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlTRYcFBkq4

Recognize good work. Determine what you like and why. Determine what you don’t like and why. What good design is to you? 

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Project 1: 

My client is Brittany. She’s 25, married, and originally from ATL. She temporarily relocated to NYC just last week and is staying with family in Brooklyn for the duration of the program. She is not a morning person and would prefer to not get out of bed until 10:30 am. She says she takes a long time to get ready in the morning and doesn’t have time to eat a hearty breakfast, which she would like to do. She often doesn’t find time to eat until 2 p.m. and even then she’s usually in a rush, in between meetings and what not. Her husband has a similar morning routine but he often stops by Starbucks for coffee and a muffin, neither of which she is a fan of. On the weekends, they sleep in and cook a big breakfast. She’s also expressed that she has a hard time remembering to call friends and family. 

Problems:

Time-management, unfamiliar with resources of a new city, being away from husband, not remembering to stay in contact with friends and family. 

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Class Rules (my version):

http://lightsabers.bitballoon.com/