Clara Solozábal

UX/UI Bootcamp adventures

[uxandclara]

Safe and Sound

7/9 | almost there 🔥

Last week (6/9) I didn't have the time and the strength to write the week's summary post, I could only think about the project we had, but yep I delivered it and it wasn't that bad, I have survived our last solo project 🥳

And what can I say about this week, it has been intense, like all of them, few hours of sleep... but at the same time a lot of laughter with my classmates, thank goodness they are there 🖤

Only two weeks left and I'm gonna try to enjoy it, we are already working on our last group project, so let's go for it! 

[uxandclara]

Can’t stop feeling

5/9 | Hard to believe 🤸🏻‍♀️

Another week is over and this time I have felt more relaxed, I have shared a project with two hard-working people and this made all 3 of us feel safe (the truth is that it has actually been a good few days, we have shared our life experiences and we have got to know each other a little bit better). Although it was our first time adding HTML and CSS to a project and it wasn't easy at all, my head still explodes when I think about it.

It's amazing to see how fast we've come this far, maybe the more intense it gets the faster it goes.

4 more weeks ahead to continue learning 🧠

[uxandclara]

A research technique ✨

Remote Contextual Inquiry (RCI) is used to fill the research gap between data collected during remote usability testing and on-site contextual inquiries with end users.

This technique is also known as the participant observation or popularly known as on-site study. RCI is particularly useful for examining end user behavior and software customizations. This technique provides an opportunity to view exactly what our end users see. It allows us to identify the end user’s task flow and the features and functions that may already be available to the user, but are not being used.

Not only this, this technique has many more benefits  and it allows to capture many things. If you would like to know more, check out the article.

I can't wait to start contacting some potential users to apply this research technique and observe their process and behavior. I hope to do it well and be able to get lot of data and information from this.

[uxandclara]

Recovery

4/9 | Unreal 🌝

I don't know how to begin to describe this week, it has been exciting and emotional, there were moments when I thought I wouldn't make it to Friday alive, I just wanted to sleep, but I made it and so did all my classmates. Super proud ✨

By the way, now that I think of my classmates, if I achieve all this it is thanks to them, it seems like I have known them all my life, I am so happy to have opened up to meet them. We have the best laughter therapy. 

I don't believe what I am about to say but I think I will miss this intensity when the bootcamp is over.

Let's go for more!

[uxandclara]

Start with what you know

I have just seen this video: Iterative UI Design and I found the first 3 minutes absolutely necessaries. If you ever get overwhelmed and don't know how to start a project, just watch it.

A little highlight of what I loved:

Good design is not easy. It can see obvious or effortless. 

The questions you have to answer to do a good design are:

What are we making?

Who is it for?

Does it work?

Did we get it right?

These questions do not have obvious answers. They will always be a challenge for all designers. 

‘’Good design can transform an intimidating and difficult task into something simple, approachable and elegant. 

There’s no magic button you can press to turn a bunch of disparate features into a compelling and successful product. Design is not effortless, it takes time, commitment, concentration and rigor. There are ways to make design easier.’’

[...]

It has been satisfying to see how the rest of the video shows moments of what we are learning in the Bootcamp.

Can’t wait to be one of those designers mentioned in the video.

[uxandclara]

iOS vs. Android 💫

Until today, I had never thought about the Interaction Design Patterns  differences between iOS and Android. I know there are, obviously, but I've been an iOS user for years and I've practically forgotten how Android works.

I have been asked to design Mobile e-learning app which will be launched in both iOS and Android. This reason is the reason why I need to know the  differences between the two.

The main difference is the universal navigation bar at the bottom of Android devices, using the back button in the navigation bar is an easy way to go back to the previous screen or step:

On the other hand, on iOS there’s no global navigation bar, users move back using a back button or use the left-to-right swiping gesture in applications to go to the previous screen:

Also, these are the differences between native bottom sheets in Android and action sheets & activity views in iOS. 

Now, at the left the standard Android pickers and at the right the iOS pickers:

When in Instagram, for example, both apps look and behave similarly, but notice how the iconography is different.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Interaction Design Patterns in iOS and Android just check this post, from which I got most of my information, and also this one. 

Bye 🌞

[uxandclara]

We own the sky

3/9 | little by little 

Every week I get more and more tired. Fridays arrive and I just want to watch a movie and sleep. But I feel so alive at the same time, full of new learning and many positive things.

This week has been beautiful, I have been lucky to work again in a team that flows, communicates, listens, supports and, on top of that, laughs.

I am learning a lot about teamwork, which makes me feel more confident with myself — I will always raise my voice until my ideas are heard and considered :)

(us on Friday after the presentation is over ✨)

Are you ready for what’s next?

[uxandclara]

Design is how it works

If you are interested in design you will like this article: learning to see , check it out, you will love it.

I was reading and I couldn't stop highlighting all the interesting quotes the author was using.

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

‘’You need a design eye to design, and a non-designer eye to feel what you designed.’‘

‘’First you need to learn to perceive light and shadow as they really are, not what you think they are.’’

(and many many more...)

But there is one part of what he said that I really liked and thought it was important.

‘’Part of our job is to make the invisible visible, to clearly express what we see, feel and do. You can’t expect to sell what you can’t explain’’

I think it's something we should never forget as designers, I wish I could get a tattoo of it to refresh my memory when I need to.

I will certainly read this article calmly from time to time.

[uxandclara]

Don’t stop me now

2/9 | second week is over 🥳

(the countdown will become more and more exciting!)

What an intense week.

I am proud of myself and all my classmates, we have overcome our first solo project (really good ones) and we still look fantastic. 

At some times I feel that I am already giving 100% of myself, but I know that I will have to give much more as the days go by. When I think about it I get scared, but just a little. Despite this, I love the feeling of my knowledge and skills improving and also I am glad to be able to keep up with the pace.

One of the things I’ve been able to do this week and definitely MUST continue to do is: good use of time - make the most of it!

Let's get ready for the next week!

[uxandclara]

I am friend with ‘Crits’ now

How great it is when you share your work with your classmates

Today I had the opportunity to receive great feedback from them (and the teachers). I had never thought about how useful it is, it motivates you and helps you to keep projecting your ideas.

But, how complicated has been do the opposite in the right way... when you are the one providing feedback you have to do it being very conscious, not everything that comes to your mind can be said :)  

For the next session I hope to be able to ask the right questions 

[uxandclara]

I know I will survive

1/9 

My only word for this week is: surprised.

I am surprised the first week is over. I am surprised of how much you can learn in just 5 days. I am surprised that we are now called The UXicorns - I voted for Sketch me if you can, but you can't always win :(

Well, I am really excited about all of this and I feel positive today so I will not say how rough this is (I just said it :) ).  Also, my classmates are great, I am learning A LOT from them and the teachers are so warm, I feel comfortable with them.

Btw, this is not maybe the coolest thing I learned these days but I was amazed about how important interviews are. I've always found them bored, yet If you ask the correct questions they can save your life, yep.

Tip for myself: try to talk more, participate and be proactive (all this will be hard)

Let's go for the second week!

[uxandclara]

I've made it through the first day, yay!

I woke up at 7am, the alarm was set up at 8am, I was anxious and nervous for starting the Bootcamp.

I knew I would have to introduce myself to the whole class, in English of course, I couldn't stop thinking about it, as I said before I am very introvert. At this moment, lots of many more things I could have said about myself are coming to my mind, anyway I think it went well.

In fact, everything about today went well!

We have to spend a lot of time in front of a screen (I’m really hoping to get used to remote classes in this pandemic time) I ended up the day more than tired - yes, I know it's only the first day - but I can firmly say that it will be totally worth it!

By the way, everyone in the class seemed nice and I don’t know if I tend to divergent or convergent yet ;) 

See you! 

Clara

[uxandclara]

Something good is just about to happen...

Hi! How's it going?

I’m Clara and I'll tell you a little about myself.

I used to have tumblr and i was very hooked, it has been a few years... 

I'm 26 years old. I've been living in Barcelona for 2 years, but I was born in Zaragoza. Since I was 15 years old I knew that was not my place, and Barcelona was my city dream - not too far, so easy to achieve - I had the opportunity to study at university in Barcelona but I didn't feel prepared, so I stayed in Zaragoza and chose a Tourism Degree - I liked languages and of course traveling so why not - well I didn't enjoy the degree very much but from very early it offered me many job opportunities - especially in hotels - and I always chose towns in Catalonia to work, until I ended up studying a Master's Degree in Event Management at the University of Barcelona! This made very happy, until I realized that I didn't like Event Management and I felt I little bit lost and frustrated, well, as if that were not enough, Covid-19 arrived...

I had to reconsidered my work life and understand what I like to do.

 I started by getting to know myself a little...

‘’I am an introvert person, I like to go unnoticed. I love to stay at home, but I perfectly know when to be social (I like to think that not being social made me chose better friendships), I really really love cinema, my hobby is watching movies. Like many people, I enjoy graphic design, drawing and art.’’

Finally, I hope I’ve found my vocation. Tomorrow starts my adventure as a UX/UI Design Student at Ironhack Barcelona - coming back to Tumblr is one of my first tasks ;)

I am very excited and nervous, but above all I am anxious to know if I have finally found my passion and ‘my future’. 

Thank you for reading!

Clara