#te rapunga

[ayeon0307]

Redefine and Idea Remix

20th August (Sun)

Description

So, through Jam Session and ideation, I found that creating a perfect toolkit for ALL CONSUMERS in Aotearoa is challenging for me in this project research limitation and time limitation. So, I decided to redefine my project's limitations and how can I narrow the project's purpose.

Difficulties that I faced from the ideation stage

Age-range

Cultural difficulty

Food product diversity

I reorientated the project around the three main challenges. As a result, the target market for the newly defined project is intermediate to college New Zealand students. The food will be based on the categories of 'Countdown' and 'New World', which are local markets in New Zealand,

Based on the redefined project, I conducted an 'Idea Remix activity', where I mixed and matched the initial ideas selected during the previous ideation process to come up with ideas that could be developed.

-> From the Miro board, the Idea Remix activity

Due to the change in direction of the project, I created an inspirational mood board to explore my own design style and goals while researching the package design, which was a major influence on the project prototype.

-> From the Miro board, Inspiration mood board. All the image links are provided on the Miro board.(1)

Feelings

While working on the Redefine project, I realised I was working on an extensive one. At first, it took a lot of work to think that I had to redetermine and research information about the project. However, because I had previously researched various aspects of the project, the process of redefining the project details was not complicated, and it was good because it gave me a chance to reflect on the project again.

Evaluation

Project process 3/5 - I've gotten a bit behind in the process of revisiting the project, but it's not too late yet. I believe this will lead to a project with a solid foundation.

Time management 3/5 - I didn't work on it for a while because I thought I needed to redefine the project, so I had to do all the work on the weekend.

Project result 5/5 - Now that the project brief and the target market are clearer, I'm looking forward to developing the prototype.

Analysis

I had to redefine my project because I was thinking too broadly about the goals of my project from the beginning. Most of the projects I've worked on as a designer have been aimed at a specific community or a definite audience, which I realised during the redefinition process helped me to create a definite design style as I went through the process.

Conversely, the redefine process was easier for me because I had done extensive research when I was doing the background research for my previous projects. This wide-ranging research allowed me to determine what my project needed most right now, allowing me to make the best choices.

Conclusion

As I went through the redefine for the first time, I learnt that redefining and recapitulation are important in addition to periodic reflection. reflection mostly reflects and investigates a part of the project or a specific element of the project, so I don't think about the whole project comparatively. Therefore, it is necessary to doubt and reflect on one's project at least 2 times, depending on the progress of the project.

It is necessary to have the ability to doubt and reflect on your own project. Of course, I should have faith in my own project, but sometimes, I need to further develop the ability to reflect, which is to judge my own project from a third party's point of view in a sober manner. And I currently have a lack of reflection, so I want to develop it.

Action Plan

This made me realise the importance of reflection, especially the need for periodic reflection on the project as a whole. I think I better understand the process of clarifying a project before development by doing define after the discover phase in the Double diamond process model, the most basic process model of design.

-> Developed by the Design Council, Double Diamond is a design thinking process. (2)

However, in comparison, the Hautū Waka framework I use encourages me to spend the majority of the project in the Te Whiwhinga phase after researching and exploring the Te Whāinga phase. I believe it is essential to reflect on the project as a whole at the same time as researching in the Te Whāinga phase, and when I undertake my next project, I will reflect on this project and include redefining and recapitulating activities in the project process.

-> Hautū Waka framework from Auckland Co-design Lab. (3)

Next Plan

In Week 6, I will begin developing the idea - building on my ideas, hoping for better ideas, and creating something closer to the final.

I will start branding the project before starting the final design for the toolkit.

Reference

(1) Image Link provided in the image

(2) Redspark. (2022). Double Diamond: o que é e como usar?. Redspark. https://www.redspark.io/double-diamond-o-que-e-e-como-usar/

(3) The Lab Team. (2022). Practice Foundations: Hautū Waka. The Auckland Co-design Lab. https://www.aucklandco-lab.nz/resources-summary/hautu-waka

[ayeon0307]

Idea Exploration

18th August (Fri)

Description

In Week 5, I started organising my ideas in earnest. The goal of Week 5 was to identify and evaluate ideas to use as components of my prototype toolkit and to determine the best ideas to include in the toolkit.

Firstly, I used brainstorming to generate a range of toolkit ideas, which were divided into three main categories: literature, physical and digital. Firstly, literature is something that users can read to learn about food safety and how to use the toolkit. Next, physical is how users can learn and practice food safety through hands-on use. Finally, digital is how users can be directed to a website or application through a link or QR code in the toolkit. My idea was to include as many physical ways as possible in the toolkit so that users could learn about food safety while having fun and experiencing it firsthand.

-> From the Miro board, Brainstorming ideas

After organising many ideas, I chose the ones that were suitable for the toolkit and evaluated them for 'Possibility' and 'Creativity'. Possibility is the likelihood that an idea can be made into a working prototype. It is an evaluation criterion that takes into account time, materials, and realisation, and I chose it as an evaluation criterion to select the most promising ideas for a project that needs to be completed within a limited time. Another evaluation criterion, creativity, was selected by my project values and the values of my project partners. One of my project partner's values, Whai māramatanga, means 'We always look for a better way' (1) and one of my project values, Ngā akoranga, means learning (2). I chose 'creativity' as my evaluation criterion because it was the best option for this project and I wanted to make up new ideas, so I wanted to develop the ideas that already existed as much as possible, and also conceive of ideas that didn't exist.

-> From the Miro board, the Idea evaluation chart

Once I had an idea for the toolkit items, I started to think about how I wanted to package the toolkit. The current idea is to create a reusable bag similar to what users are most familiar with when it comes to food delivery.

-> Digital sketch of initial idea prototype 2D and 3D sketch

Feelings

When I started ideating, the project was getting difficult. I thought I had a lot of ideas, but when I tried to consider different situations and conditions, I couldn't come up with a clear idea, which was very difficult and exhausting.

However, when I see each idea developing and becoming clearer, I am hopeful that the project is moving in the direction I want it to go.

In fact, I'm starting to feel a little burned out from constantly pushing the project to the timeline, so I'm planning on using Week 6 as a light break to get back into the swing of things after this week's ideation.

Evaluation

Project process 4/5 - I'm feeling unsure and anxious about how the project is going at the moment, so I will create a more detailed timeline for the next week 6 and the holiday.

Time management 5/5 - I'm respecting and following the timeline.

Project result 3/5 - I'm not terribly satisfied because I didn't get the creative idea I was hoping for, but I can see the results of my efforts, and the project is moving forward.

Analysis

The idea generation was relatively quick, which was possible because I had a clear vision and aim for the project. because I was clear about what I wanted to achieve, I could brainstorm a toolkit with physical products, which led to many different ideas.

However, I still haven't arrived at the idea that I definitely want, and I think that most of the current ideas are advancements of the products and toolkits that already exist. However, I want my ideas to be creative and I want my PHYSICAL ideas to be fun and enjoyable for the users. Therefore, I will not limit my ideas, but will continue to add to them, and I will conduct research in other directions that are not connected to the ideas that currently exist.

I also realise that my ideas cannot cover all users. It was not easy to create a prototype that would be inclusive and understandable to all users of all ages, genders, races, etc. Therefore, my next step will be to redefine the project and create a clear direction.

Conclusion

Ideation is a time-consuming and research-intensive process, and it can also be physically demanding, which is why it's important to allocate a lot of time to ideation and to research more broadly in relevant areas so that you can come up with new and fresh ideas based on a wide range of information.

Action Plan

I had a relatively smooth start to my project ideation, but if I were to do it again, I would start by redefining the project's purpose.

Next Plan

Redefine the purpose of the project.

Idea remix

Reference

(1) Plant and Food Research. (2023). Our strategy. Plant and Food Research. https://www.plantandfood.com/en-nz/our-strategy

(2) John C Moorfield. (2023). Te Aka Māori Dictionary. Te Aka Māori Dictionary. https://maoridictionary.co.nz/

[ayeon0307]

DES302 Presentation Reflection

23rd August (Wed)

Description

This past Monday, I gave a Project Proposal Presentation to my Design 302 class. The purpose of the presentation was to present an updated project proposal for the project we were working on in Design 301. The goal of the presentation was to succinctly communicate the background, problem, and visions of the project and present the project's current progress in a short amount of time. I prepared 7 slides, including a cover and closing page, and a pre-written script of about 5 minutes.

I created my presentation using Canva, using the exact same design as my week 4 presentation for Design 301, but I made sure to include all of the information in 5 slides, so I wrote down the main bullet points and replaced writing with the images.

The presentation went as planned, lasting about 5 minutes, and I was able to verbally explain everything I had written down in the script.

-> Captures of the second page of presentation slides: I used icons and short words for brief descriptions.

And today, I got my grade and comments on my presentation.

-> (1) The comment from tutor Nick. Thank you for the comment.

Through the comments, I realised I had forgotten to attribute the text and images used on each slide as I created them. As a third-year design student, I was embarrassed at myself for forgetting to reference, but this has made me realise that I will never leave out references in my final project presentation.

-> There needed to be more in-slide referencing for the photos used.

Feelings

I was very nervous when I gave the presentation, and there were a lot of changes from my previous proposal report as I worked on the project. There were a lot of changes from my Design 301 presentation in week 4 as well, but I had very little time to familiarise myself with the new presentation information and project.

However, I did a good job with my presentation because I wrote down my script in advance and spent a lot of time trying to familiarise myself with it as much as possible. After my presentation, I felt very proud of myself because I did my presentation without looking at the script as much, but on the other hand, if I had more time, I wish I could have given a smooth presentation without the script.

In particular, I used a lot of Māori in my project and presentation, so I was careful to pronounce the words correctly and supplemented my English explanations to ensure that everyone in the audience understood. I hope that through my presentation, other students will become more familiar with the Māori language and feel a connection to New Zealand and Māori culture when defining their positionality as UOA students.

Evaluation

Project process 5/5 - I recorded all my previous talks, scripts, slides, and other materials I used on my Miro board. This saved me a lot of time when preparing for this presentation, and I was able to improve on my previous presentation.

Time management 5/5 - I prepared my presentation in the allotted time allotted and am happy with the progress of my current project.

Project result 4/5 - It's a shame that I lost points for referencing, but I'm sure this will help me to improve my presentation slides for the final presentation.

Analysis

I think this presentation was more concise than the previous one, but I got high marks because I prepared clear explanations and evidence. I presented the possibilities of my project to the best of my ability within the time limit, and because I prepared as much as I could, I made eye contact with the audience and kept their attention. As such, the most important thing in a presentation is concise delivery and making the audience interested.

However, my main criticism of my presentation was my pronunciation. As English and Māori are my second languages, it took me a lot of time and effort to achieve a natural and authentic pronunciation, but I was still disappointed that I made some pronunciation mistakes during my presentation. In order to make my presentation more natural and professional, in my next presentation, I will practice more by extending the duration of the presentation and substituting other words to explain when I have difficulty in pronunciation.

Conclusion

Through this presentation, I was able to learn some essential tips for my final project, especially what I am weak in when giving a presentation. As English is my second language, I think I need to put more effort into my speaking and pronunciation, and I need to develop to be able to make eye contact and present professionally without being nervous in front of a large audience.

I am also glad that I was able to re-learn the important fact that I should cite sources in my texts and images through my tutor's comments.

Action Plan

If I were to give this presentation again, I would reference my text and images, I would use less writing and make my slides easier to read by using more images and icons.

-> Captures of page 6 of presentation slides

Next Plan

Week 6 is for developing ideas and starting to finalise the final idea. I'll do more research based on the current ideas and find better ideas that I can add to my toolkit.

I'm aiming to start the report and finish the blog post by the beginning of week 6 for the Blog Update 1 submission.

Reference

Structure of Blog Reflection: The University of Edinburgh. (2020). Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle. The University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle

(1) Nick Konings. (2023). Comment. Canvas. https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/86939/assignments/333761/submissions/303462#rubric

[ayeon0307]

DES302 Blog Reflection

16th August (Wed)

On Monday, Design 302's Blog post assignments were marked! I was able to get a full mark and comments that can improve my blog post and reflection skills.

-> I got a full mark, fortunately!

And through this blog post, I will write down the direction of the blog in the future, reflect on my blog and what areas I should improve.

Look harder for challenges and weaknesses and consider how I can do things differently next time. -> Identify the challenge and weaknesses of methods, tools, and processes used every week, and reflect on them by writing down different directions assuming what if.

Look at the Reflector Handbook(1) to see where improvement can occur. -> I reflected on the 'Gibbs' Reflective Cycle(2)' that I used before. I thought my blog lacked 'feeling and thinking' and 'analyzing'.

More consideration of my feelings and thoughts about the challenges. -> I'm going to include more personal thoughts, and I'm going to add something that I personally found difficult about the challenge. Also, there is still inconvenience in writing down emotions, but I will make it easier to express my feelings by writing down blogs.

General reflection, the methodologies etc. -> I will do an overall reflection, especially the weekly tools, as well as an evaluation of the overall flow and the timeline and method used.

The font Size is too small. -> I increased the font size of the blog and expanded the overall screen width.

Helpful title posts that can help the user navigate to the posts. -> Therefore, in the future, I will write down what I have worked on in the title and add the date immediately below so users can know when this work has been done.

Referencing directly. -> I chose a method that can be easily read by adding numbers to the phrases and pictures with reference.

Caption my own images as well. -> I decided to put a caption in each image.

Reference

(1) The University of Edinburgh. (2021). Reflecting on experience. The University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience

(2) The University of Edinburgh. (2020). Gibbs' Reflective Cycle. The University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle

[ayeon0307]

13th August (Sun)

Description

Week4 was the last research phase before entering the direct ideation part. First of all, I considered research questions as the 'outsiders', not as a 'project designer' while working on the project.

Education Efficacy

Cultural Practices

In particular, I investigated who is the main target of the food safety education courses in New Zealand and what kind of education is being conducted. As a result of the research, education was generally conducted for people in the food industry, and most of them were digital or articles. In addition, most of New Zealand's current food safety education tools for 'teachers' in the school curriculum and the proportion of kits seen and learned indirectly through posters and videos rather than direct education toolkits.

I analyzed the situation in depth using the toolkit based on the research. The name of the toolkit used is 'find issues, uncover needs', In the Collective action toolkit, a group of people write the different approaches to the problem and discuss it together. However, since I am working on a solo project, I investigated the problem by setting four personas and setting and writing down scenarios.

I created four scenarios in which four hypothetical people of different gender, ages, language, etc., could experience food safety difficulties or problems.

Finally, at the end of the week, I used the toolkit 'we saw, we head' to select the three most interesting pieces of information from the research and write down ideas on how to develop them.

Reflection

I've done various research, but I still think it's not enough to organize ideation. I will read more diverse articles and expand my research boundaries through direct experience. However, the current project progress requires initiating ideation, so I will accompany insufficient research as we begin constructing ideas.

Also, I think it is useful because I was able to get new information thanks to the use of the toolkit. However, since the collective action toolkit is the best toolkit for group projects, it was regrettable that the contents of the toolkit had to be modified for personal projects.

Evaluation

Project process 3/5 - I found that many students are currently in the ideation phase. I will recheck my timeline and plan a detailed schedule to complete within the time limitation.

Time management 2/5 - The extended break after the DES301 presentation led to a large amount of project processes over the weekend. From Week 5, I will make a detailed progress plan in advance on the previous weekend and proceed with the project through appropriate distribution.

Project result 5/5 - After Week 1 and 2, I already did research, but I got new information and various related information by using new tools.

Next Plan

Starting Ideation brainstorming and sketches for Week 5

Design 302 presentation preparation

Reference

David Sherwin. (2023). frog's Collective Action Toolkit. DAVID SHERWIN. https://www.davidsherwin.com/collective-action-toolkit

[bee-capstone-blog]

Blog no.7 07/08/23

Te Rapunga phase guiding questions (from Auckland Co-Design Lab)

What supports us to spot tohu?

My positionality, which I want to continue to reflect on will heavily impact what tohu I notice in the research. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as my project should be aligned with my interests in order to be motivated and feel pride in my work. However, the tohu I miss because of lack of personal connection could mean I miss a more fruitful path towards a better outcome.

When researching, capturing quotes that stand out to me and saving them to reflect on later is a good way to make sure I'm actively engaging with the research. As a visual person, I feel that making mood boards and analysing precedents in that way, could enable me to spot more tohu than just reading texts.

Although I can't offically talk to outside stakeholders, I want to keep touching base with people in the trans community to make sure my approach and tohu are reflective of their lived experience.

What are the capabilities, mindsets, processes, that support us to spot emerging tohu?

[bee-capstone-blog]

Blog no.6 03/08/23

It's been a moment since I've sat down and reflected, but much working and thinking has occurred in the interim. Currently, in Nga Marama Rakaunui, It's a time to be active and put planning into purposeful action. This aligns with my synthesising research, brainstorms and insights into actionable steps going forward. This past week and a half has been the Te Rapunga phase, where I'm diverging and exploring the infinite potential of DEI in the workplace. Because I'm nearing the end of this phase and will be entering the Te Kitenga phase next week, I have started converging a bit based on the tohu I have observed in the research and my own reactions to the research so far. Currently, I'm pretty set on focusing on the nuanced lived experience of Trans and Non Binary employees in the workplace.

We were assigned to scope a, b and c outcomes for our project, I discovered how process-motivated design could occur in the workplace. As well as setting out what an outcome could physically be, I also brainstormed how I would want the outcome to look, feel and sound. This aligns with my mindset focus on lived experience. The list is just my first iteration and will of course change as I speak to people and add their desires alongside mine.

After this I also wanted to investigate the assumptions I made in my projection of a workshop as the outcome of my design process.

This little drawing helps me identify questions that prototypes and testing can clarify.

[bee-capstone-blog]

Blog no.5 24/07/23

From my democratic workplace's "AH HA!" last post, I started to think about which DEI dimension I wanted to have as the lens I designed from and the group I community for. I'm very lucky to be surrounded by some passionate rainbow people in my stream (my own community as a non-binary, queer person), and they shared research they have found around queer experiences in the workplace and that reminded me how important my community is to me. From this insight, I decided to use a queer-feminist lens as my theoretical framework to inform my analysis of the state of the art and my subsequent prototypes. I collected research in three categories: designing for democracy (in the workplace), queer-feminist perspectives on the workplace and democracy and precedents that have in some way provided a solution to my current iteration of HMW: Empower Rainbow employees in decision making processes through democracy in the workplace?

Update: [25/07/23]

After reflection and some reading, democracy might be too ambitious a topic to design for especially as a single person. It would be an injustice to the values of democracy.

So that kind of leaves me at square one. A peer suggested I look back at what I've done before when I was showing them my portfolio, so this prompted me to think how I could use some previous project as a platform for this one. Later on, my partner reassured my anxieties about this project and not being able to design something that has as much fidelity or impact as I want. They reminded me about my previously developed approach, "Process-Motivated Design" which might be a better focus than the outcome since the limitations on collaborators and resources mean my outcome will fall short of my exceptions.

Above is a image of the exhibition I did for my Process-Motivated Design project.

I revisited what I wrote in Local Making about what I coined as Process-Motivated Design: "A way of designing that does not follow steps to a conclusion but uses designerly ways of thinking and doing to facilitate connection, agency, and widening perspectives" and "We did not role-play a potential user’s experience but actively created our own experience through the design process of experimenting, reflecting and developing ideas."

What if I could utilise this way of doing and translate it into an experience that Rainbow employees can benefit from and find agency in creating their own experience. Non-Rainbow employees can be involved, having co-experiences that allow understanding and empathy that hopefully leads to more inclusion, and equity.

And thus my updated HMW is:

HMW: Go beyond optical allyship initiatives and facilitate meaningful connections and empathy between rainbow and non-rainbow employees.

These images was created with the assistance of DALL·E 2

Above, an AI image of an 'inclusive workplace.'