1.Describe Objectively What Happened
Through the study of professional courses in the first semester, I have a lot of reflections and feelings on the whole learning process. In these short months, I have completed several projects and I think these projects have brought me a lot of benefits. In the first part, I will mainly describe how the process of my works are produced, and how I studied research this semester. First of all, after the release of the project requirements, I need to carefully read the contents required in brief and understand the significance of project design from the scoring module. This reading process is very important because it allows us to determine the direction before the design so that we can confirm the more targeted investigation in the subsequent research process. Secondly, in the online class, the tutor provides us with relevant design theory documents every week. Although all the literature is biased towards theory, I think it is very useful. For example, the “5C” model design theory mentioned by the instructor earlier is actually very practical design thinking. Every time I finish a project, I will review the framework of the “5C” model and reconfirm the design direction with reference to literature. In the process of collecting data, I think it is one of the most interesting processes. I can go out with my camera and record the research content I am interested in or finish a research activity with my friends and their help. For example, in Figure 1, you can see a storyboard that I shot, which I selected according to my friend’s daily activities.
I recorded what I saw and heard, including my friend’s experience through the lens. As one of the powerful forms in primary research, I prefer this research method. At the end of each project, it is often the time when I feel most fulfilled, and I have an impulse to complete my design works. Interaction design is a kind of design that I always want to learn. By completing interesting interactions, I can get complete feedback from users, so I like the test process very much, which is full of challenges and a sense of accomplishment. The whole design process is to combine design theory with practice so that we can complete a better design.
2.Interpret the Events
Described the general learning process in the first semester, and I also had a lot of associations and thoughts in the learning process. In fact, design is not only a process of design but also a process of thinking. Communication design itself is a science, so the images we show through the project not only represent the works but also convey a concept of serving customers to users. According to Teal Triggs, “For communication designers, an expanded practice also suggests the building of knowledge around cultural and social practices and the language which surrounds them. “(Triggs, 2017) Therefore, I think that focusing on social events is a good training method for communication designers. The specific performance is that, for example, in the process of developing software design, the emphasis should be placed on the user’s pain point and gain point. In the class, we will analyze social software, such as Facebook’s shortcomings in advertising processing, and the pain points in visual effects. In fact, apart from communication design, I learned that other designs need to analyze these problems as well. For example, some well-known product designs, the unlisted iPhone 13 exposed some product details and added fingerprint operation to solve the problem that people wearing masks unlocked their mobile phones during the epidemic. Of course, this news is not necessarily accurate, but we can see that according to the development of society and the changes in people’s needs, our design also needs to be updated. Therefore, this may mean that all the changes we have experienced in the design are reasonable, so there is no difference between good and bad results. As long as it serves people and is convenient for people, it is a good design.
3. Evaluate the Effectiveness and Usefulness of the Experience
In this section, I will evaluate through a specific case in my blog tasks. The picture shown in figure 2 is my sketch note about the blog 6 task.
The topic of this blog is the impressions after watching the series of courses on empathy and user experience. While listening to the explanation of the course, I began to record my understanding in a sketchbook in a graphic way. Although the draft is not exquisite enough, it is convenient for me to understand myself. Focusing on the keyword “empathy”, this paper analyzes and interprets the problems and phenomena existing in user experience design. Through different associations, some associations may be unrealistic, but they can bring me unique inspiration. There are physical objects in the picture, and some of them are spiritual. The word empathy itself is an abstract concept, but it is always emphasized in interaction design. As Emily Stevens said, “As a designer, it’s cruel to adopt a design thinking mindset. This means building an opportunity at every opportunity; getting to know your users, experiencing their pain points as if they were your own, and using this empathy to make smart design decisions. “(Stevens, 2018) This means that empathy is actually very important for designers. I recorded any possible results of empathy through the mode of mind map, which undoubtedly improved the imagination of designers in terms of creativity, and more importantly, made my design always surround people. Therefore, I think this blog task is very useful to me, and this design theory has also played a guiding role in my future design career. This experience also serves as my experience value, which makes my design and study life more meaningful. Therefore, I figured out what our design works finally conveyed and what our goal was. On the other hand, by evaluating the practicality of the work, perhaps the degree of completion is not very high, perhaps it is not actual work, but the key point is that I really understand the design theory and whether it will really help me design in the future.
4. Plan How This Information Will Be Useful to Me
Finally, I will summarize the inspiration and help for my future work and life after studying this semester. First of all, this semester’s online courses have helped me a lot on the whole, and I have a good impression of the tutors. The contents in the class are not boring, and I have great interest in learning. I think have a class is the most intuitive way to impart knowledge, and many design theories that I didn’t know before, as well as literature recommended by my tutor, will directly help me. In addition, the instructors will share some visual cases in class, which will undoubtedly attract me and bring great inspiration and inspiration to my own projects. In addition, I also agree with the curriculum. I think it is a challenge to myself to finish a project in a short time and efficiently, and it will stimulate my unknown creativity. The final assignment is published on the website, which will inevitably make us more familiar with website design. Second, a semester’s course will bring invaluable value to my future career. This made me understand my favorite design direction more clearly and made my own design idea more clear, that is, the design that serves people. In my future career, I will also carry out this idea. In addition, my project works can be used as a part of the works set for the job application. In specific work, I will also use useful design theory to guide my work. On the other hand, this learning experience will also have a profound impact on my daily life, such as cultivating my design thinking modes in the details of my life, such as the empathy ability I mentioned in the previous part, which also cultivates my insight, intelligently discovers the pain points of users without doing much work, and quickly makes conceptual plans and design sketches. Therefore, I think the greatest value brought by this learning experience is to cultivate a kind of designer’s ability and habit. Bring this potential professional skill into my life and integrate it into my daily life. Generally speaking, I am very grateful for this learning experience, and I will redouble my efforts and care in my future study.
Bibliography
Stevens, E. (2018) “What Is Empathy In Design Thinking? A Comprehensive Guide To Building Empathy For Your Users” https://careerfoundry.com/ Available from: https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/what-is-empathy-in-design-thinking/ [Accessed: 12th May 2021]
Triggs, T. (2017) “Communication Design: Interdisciplinary and Graphic Design Research [journal] Volume 5 (1+2)” https://www.ico-d.org/ Available from: https://www.ico-d.org/2018/05/07/communication-design-interdisciplinary-and-graphic-design-research-journal-volume-5-12.php [Accessed: 11th May 2021]