Design is not a single object or dimension. Design is messy and complex..- Natasha Jen
This module is drawing to an end and I can’t say I am sad about it. I have been so busy with everything it has been quite overwhelming I have had a lot going on during this module, and so its understandable that I have been feeling overwhelmed. Balancing responsibilities can be such a challenge, especially when everything seems to be happening all at once.
It’s important for me to take a step back and reflect on what I have accomplished during this module, even if it feels like there’s always more to do. I have learned a lot, made progress on goals and developed some new skills.
At the same time, I feel like it’s okay to acknowledge that the workload has been intense and that it’s been a really difficult period. I need to prioritise my well-being. By taking care of myself and acknowledging my accomplishments, even if they fell short of what I would have liked to have achieved.
Book to get – Tom Greevers – Articulating design decisions. What is articulating design decisions, explaining why your proposed solution is the right solution and providing a rationale for justifying your design decisions.
Why you would do this to show that you’re thinking about your design decisions and to get more of your design decisions accepted. And when do you do this? All the time, but definitely when you’re in interview situations and when you’re in client presentations and reviews.
Framework
An insight is something that you know from research and therefore is something that you propose.
Common explanations.
These are the nine common explanations that Tom Griever outlines in his book.
- Facilitates a primary use case, your decision supports an important task.It sounds like “putting recent projects at the top of the home screen will improve data quality because users will have easier access to keeping their data current. So primary use case is how we know this is the primary use case for our design and where we find that information from
- Follows a common design pattern. Your decision makes use of design conventions. So we explain how we know what a common design pattern is and why using conventions is important.
- It meets a particular goal. Your design decision helps achieve a business goal.
- The data supports it. Data from sources like site analytics and business metrics support your decision.
- It complies with a standard. What standards are you talking about? You also need to define those and where you would where you found them.
- Limited by technology. This includes what is feasible for the business and uses. This is often determined in partnership with the engineering team.
- It draws the user’s attention. This is a prime opportunity to educate stakeholders on things like design composition, but be sure to keep it jargon free.
- Creates a flow for the user. How might you improve this example even more? You might want to add why continuity matters and how it decreases form abandonment rates.
- Establishes branding your design decision is supported by the brand guidelines and tone of voice.
Why are stories important, your narrative arc is your superpower. Design creates stories and stories create memorable experiences. The designs in your portfolio have a shelf life. The stories dont. Adapt stories for context, vital for creating good case studies and a good portfolio building trust and good stories captivate. Stories shed light on history but also the future, people want to hear them so figuring out what your story is, is important. Learning derived from well told stories is memorable.
Story structure, one way to add credibility and logic is to add tangable fact based language and avoid jargon. Understand the core message you are communicating. Need to make it accessible for those who may not be in the industry.
Key components attention trust and credibility – Aristotle 3 keys Logic, emotion, trust. Communicating in case studies personal brands, build those three things. Using evidence and data to justify design decisions, build online presence thats consistent with your personality. Detail to capture attention and create emotional connections to build empathy. Context is key.
7 types of stories
Slaying the dragon
Rebirth
Quest
Journey and return
Rags to riches
Tragedy
Comedy
Focus on journey and return for professional stories. Journey towards preferred state.
Call to adventure what is your why
Tests and ordeals Encountering test road of trials each task prepares you for the ultimate goal
Ressurection or return, closure what special thing do I have to offer and what is next.
Personas help with story arcs, for case studies even if project doesnt end well or completely you still need to say what your next steps would be.
1. Summary If the reader reads nothing else besides the summary, they should already have an idea of what the project is, what motivated it, the targeted user-base, and your key deliverables.
2. Introduction Explain the concept you are working on – if you followed the brief, how did you feel about it? And if you worked on your own project topic, tell us where it originated from. Talk us through your initial thoughts about how you might approach the design and development process.
3. Research Include any relevant research you have done. This should include competitor, contextual and user research, along with any requirements gathering for the design. Here are some suggested elements to talk about: personas or jobs to be done frameworks; task analysis; user flows; prioritisation etc. Include examples of methods you used, and how the outcomes influenced your work.
4. Design Tell us about your design decisions. Some suggested topics are: why you chose your colour palette; how you planned for accessibility; whether you took advantage of any design conventions; if your design is for a specific platform, why? Include information on how you went about making these decisions, and how your users reacted.
5. Iteration Outline your approach to design and development so far. Include any early prototypes you might have created. Describe any assumptions you have about the product and then explain how you tested (or intend to test) them. This can be both for the user experience and the visual design aspect.
6. Conclusion Finish off by providing some honest reflections about your thoughts and feelings concerning the project so far. Were there any obstacles to your progress? What were the biggest risks with the project? Did you need to pivot? Do you feel happy with where the project got to during this module? What might your next steps be?
Portfolios are living documents. They are never done, a portfolio is how you show your skills, story telling in a simplistic form to help hiring managers or anyone that is going to be interviewing you. Hiring managers want to see how you think/execute a design challenge, what when and why. Use deliverables to support the story. If there is a major moment in your story that doesnt involve a deliverable you should still mention it. 2 things trailer and a movie. The trailer is explaining about who you are why you are passionate about UX essentially online portfolio.
Case studies, include pdfs etc – dont include anything you cant fully explain. What does it say about you, talks for you. Include, name role contact about cv examples of work.
Intro, process, methods & deliverables, Iterations and validations, Final solution, business impact.
Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That's why it's so hard.
-David McCullough.
I realise how important it is to take a step back and critically evaluate your work. I think when creating a case study, it is important to reflect on the problem, collect data, analyse and interpret the information, and then draw conclusions showing how you worked out or solved the problem. The process of creating a case study requires a deep understanding of the subject matter and the ability to synthesise directed learning, self-directed research, and user feedback I feel like I did that quite well. One of the major challenges was finding the right balance between providing sufficient information without overwhelming the reader and I am not sure if I achieved that. To try to overcome this challenge, I had to go back to my initial objectives and analyse the information I had gathered. This analysis allowed me to determine what was essential and what could be excluded.
Creating a case study allowed me to analyse and evaluate the data collected during the research phase and identify key findings and insights. Overall, the creation of the case study was a valuable learning experience. Through that self-reflection, I was able to identify areas of improvement and develop strategies to overcome obstacles. While the case study addressed all the key domains associated and covered important skills, I acknowledge the need for more holistic exploration in future research. I am aware that ongoing self-criticism and the adoption of SMART goals will be necessary for continued growth and development.
Creating a case study has been a valuable experience in developing my project.While I found it frustrating that my personal circumstances didnt allow me to deliver the full case study in time for the deadline I did go on to complete the entire case study and it is now linked on this site. I am frustrated at myself but It has allowed me to analyse and evaluate how I approached the project and re look at the data collected during the research phase and identify key insights and findings and put it all in one place. I could have been more concise in my case study and perhaps add more things like user journey, I found it hard to not throw everything at it and add everything I did throughout the project so I had to choose the most interesting sections of the project. Overall, I believe that the platform I designed is a good idea and could have the potential to empower, educate, and inspire female-identifying donors and my case study showed this.
The workload has been intense and it’s been a really difficult period but I did the best I could.
If I was to move forward with this project and develop it I would use the research and the case study to refine the platform’s design and features further. I would continue to conduct research and collect data to ensure that the platform meets the needs and preferences of potential users. I could also do things like creating a comprehensive marketing and communications strategy to promote the platform to potential donors and recipient organisations. I managed to create a template for case studies and do plan to use that going forward as case studies and proof of work are something I have neglected which has left me in a position where I have a lot of experience but no case studies to show the work I have done, I intend to always use a case study as a round-up for projects going forward and I am working on a couple of interesting ones at the moment using the template I created
[10-15 minutes]
Jot down a few thoughts about the following questions:
- What does ‘articulate design decisions’ mean to you?
- When does it occur?
- Why is it important?
Articulating design decisions refers to the process of explaining, documenting, and justifying the design choices made during a project. It involves expressing the reasoning behind design decisions, describing the goals, objectives, and constraints that influenced the choices made, and presenting evidence to support the choices.
It occurs throughout the design process, from concept development stage to the final implementation stage. Designers need to continuously articulate their decisions to stakeholders, such as clients, team members, and end-users, in order to ensure that everyone involved understands the design direction and is on the same page.
It is important for several reasons. it helps to ensure that everyone involved in the project understands the design direction and can work collaboratively towards the same goal. It also helps to build trust with stakeholders by demonstrating that design decisions are not arbitrary, but based on evidence and reasoning. It enables designers to defend their design choices in the face of criticism or feedback and make necessary revisions based on informed decisions.
[As long as it takes]
After watching this week’s videos, start building your own case study for your UX Prototype assignment.
You should be in a good place if you have kept up with all the activities and your reflection through this module.
Have a look at the assignment briefs in Assignments to see what we are looking for – it will give you an idea of structure etc.
- Push Conference (2017) Tom Greever on “Articulating Design Decisions” [online video] Available at: https://vimeo.com/192270947Links to an external site. [Accessed 28 April 2023]
- Krause, R. (2019) ‘6 Rules for Persuasive Storytelling’ [online], Nielsen Norman Group, 28 April. Available at: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/persuasive-storytelling/#:~:text=A narrative makes a connection,ultimately leading to buy-inLinks to an external site. [Accessed 28 April 2023]
- Storytelling (2020). Available at: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/storytellingLinks to an external site. [Accessed 28 April 2023]
- Akpem, S. (2015) ‘Designing Case Studies: Showcasing A Human-Centered Design Process’ [online], Smashing Magazine, 12 September. Available at: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/02/designing-case-studies-human-centered-design-process/Links to an external site. [Accessed 28 April 2023]
- Bestfolio (2020). Available at: https://www.bestfolios.com/Links to an external site. [Accessed 28 April 2023]
- The 99U Guide to The Basics (2020). Available at: https://99u.adobe.com/guide/the-basicsLinks to an external site. [Accessed 17 April 2023]
- It’s Nice That (2020) The big reveal: tips for presenting your creative work in the best light [online], 7 October. Available at: https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/how-best-to-present-your-creative-projects-temi-coker-tabitha-park-graphic-design-photography-skillshare-sponsored-content-071020?utm_source=weeklyemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=intemailLinks to an external site. [Accessed 17 April 2023]
The Design thinking playbook
Lewrick, M., Link, P. and Leifer, L., 2018. The design thinking playbook. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.