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Last project - what?

Time passed fast, emotions are running high - we are now finishing our last project, with a client. 

There’s a lot in my mind, how the future will be, we are so close to finish and at the same time we have to focus really hard in the present as well. 

We are working with someone who’s starting their business and sometimes we feel we are the experts, and not the client - which feels good. 

I am more nervous on what is going to happen after this chapter is over than what is going to happen in the end of this week. We were trained to deliver quality content, and I am sure that we will meet the expectations. 

I also want to cherish this last week with my colleagues as much as I can. Who knows when I am going to be in a learning environment again!

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week 7: a mix of emotions

This past week was a mix of emotions as we needed to present our final individual project, and we were kicking off the last final project!

For the final individual presentation, we had the opportunity to have a 1-1 presentation with a jury from a company. Personally, my experience was not the best or what I expected - although I got constructive feedback, I felt there was a bit of lack of interest from the jury on my work (some behaviors while I was presenting and some other comments when giving feedback that showed he was not paying attention...). But it was good to interact with someone from the industry, and as I mentioned, some constructive feedback was given, so the time spent was productive, nonetheless. 

Very excited with this final project and the nostalgia of finishing this great boot camp experience is already hitting... 

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6th week: ready for the Armageddon

Week 6 went by flying and I felt I have done 0 productive things. 

I, like most people, am very lost in my project and took me a long time even to get here. I didn’t know that you could get more and more confused during the week, usually is the other way around. 

I cannot name one single win for this week - so next week I’ll have to work the double and get 2 wins instead. 

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The Case Study Factory: opinative

I loved this article as it reflects some less positive opinions I have on bootcamps, being it less critical thinking, obsession with the process and inability of improvise. 

I agree is hard to get hooked on Medium articles, and that they are all the same. 

I think that after the bootcamp we will be able to sit and think - after all this is a 9-week madness that leaves few room to anything else - and go through the suggested steps in the article, like defining area of focus or make it personal. 

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Contextual Inquiry & its remote version

After reading and watching the videos, and also taking into consideration that this technique is highly recommended for our current project, I have some notes to make. 

Contextual Inquiry is the observation of the user using certain application or software in their own professional environment. This usually occurs during the early stages of the UX research. 

Direct observations are crucial for a good product experience - specially good to see things you wouldn't anticipate!

But I feel it’s being so hard, as a student, to do these tests - after interviewing I approach people with that possibility and, despite me logically offering to sign all the confidentiality issues, either they reject either I am informed that process can take days (or by other words, too long). 

I hope this trend changes and I can get better research results. 

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And the winner for most chill week of the bootcamp goes to.... week 5!

This week was a group project and I have to say - it was so smooth! 

As a group we got along very nicely and working together resulted very well. We were able to meet everyday’s achievements on time, no stress, sticking to the plan, dividing and conquering. 

I wonder if all this agility was due to the fact of the whole group was on campus (and it was the first time this ever happened in this cohort, so... food for thoughts). 

Another superstar moment of this week was being able to collaborate with the WebDev class, where I really felt like I know my stuff and how the friction between a Dev and an UX/UI professional happens. Very insightful and I hope I had the opportunity to do it again! 

PS- very nervous moment to be the first one to present in from of all the classes... even for me, who feels super comfortable talking in public. I shaken for a bit! Next time I’ll do better.

xx, 

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Week 4

Dear week 4, 

you were a pain in the ass and I can’t wait for you to end. 

You blessed me with high level organization skills and forced me to develop my visual sense of colors and design. 

But you also teared me apart with the overwhelming amount of things to do on a non-stop ticking clock. 

Current mood: I can’t stare at travel booking apps anymore. 

PSA: 90% of times challenging situations will make you step up your game. Be brave and embrace it.

xx, 

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Proto-persona & what it will take

So for the next project my persona is an iOS user. What does that imply?

TABS DOWN: and notice these will have to be labeled. 

BUTTON ON TOP LEFT CORNER: because there’s no universal going back menu.

TYPOGRAPHY: san francisco as is the default by iOS. 

ACTION BUTTONS: in the top

SWITCH: I will try to use them, although I believe checkboxes is a common conception that goes beyond iOS users.

xx, 

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Reacting to Apple’s UI Video

Here you can find my reactions to this great video by the Apple team: 

“Poor design can make the most simple interaction in an awkward experience” - on a personal note, just think of the easiest but most awkward example of them all: do you know when you have to pull a door but you keep pushing? 

“We need to identify and collect all the features we think our app should have - what is obvious and not so obvious” - because sometimes we have to pull off an active listening. 

“Remember you are not THE user” - this for me was an important quote. I could relate it to a personal situation where I was in a birthday party and there was no cava - because the birthday person did not like cava. Does it relate? In my head, it makes sense. Overall, this is not about you.  

but

“YOUR AUDIENCE IS NOT EVERYONE AS WELL” - like selecting good friend, pay attention to what’s important ;) or as they said “focus on the essential characteristics of your target audience” 

“Make the right questions” - golden rule and advise. If you don’t get the importance of making the right question, go and read the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy and thank me later. 

“Business goals describe outcomes of the release ::: app goals describe the qualities of experience you want your users to have” - in a perfect world this would 

“You might already know Keynote as a great presentation app, but it's also a great app to draw UI.“ - brilliant way to sell. 

“But how do we actually know if this first design is the right design? Well, I can tell you from experience it's probably not.” - remember when you got to the Crits and had to change everything? Yup, I felt that pain too. 

“Give yourself the time to explore, iterate and critique your designs.” - this summs up the importance of planning. You are your best friend and worst enemy - chose to have the time to be your best friend with some extra time to self-criticism. 

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Week.. 3?

This week was tough.

The goal was to implement a new feature. Is that easy? It depends. On my perspective, it gets easier when you have the visual design set up, and you just have to follow the guidelines. But it gets harder when you have to implement a whole new feature in it.

And also, it was a team project.

I have been past my bedtime every day - I preached to the gods for more patience AND if they could bless me with a 28h day (this last part did not happen unfortunately).

But it was a good week to learn. Was a good week to understand some obstacles and limits.

Even the bad things have a bright side. You just have to know how to use it in your favor.

@Badi i spend a whole week working in something innovative for you. HIRE ME.

xx,

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We were asked to read this beautiful article about design. 

Here are my favourite parts of it:

About business and design - a key point: 

“Designers see more, and more precisely. This is a blessing and a curse—once we have learned to see design, both good and bad, we cannot un-see. The downside is that the more you learn to see, the more you lose your “common” eye, the eye you design for. This can be frustrating for us designers when we work for a customer with a bad eye and strong opinions. But this is no justification for designer arrogance or eye-rolling. 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 can empathize with this frustration - I mean, I have been working in HR for many years, I know what it is to deal with people with strong opinion but no ground base for their argument. As the value of designers as complete professionals is climbing the pyramid of importance, the attitude behind it (and specially in business settings) should be solid and stable enough so that the less-design-educated people will actually take you seriously at first, and not on your third repetition. 

Also, another quoting that I absolutely loved and it makes sense (not only for design, but as en encouragement for anyone who was ballsy enough to learn new things and start a new adventure with little or no fear): 

“beginners in design don’t have the same “finger-tip feeling” as Mr. Tschichold. Also, while your intuition grows with training and experience, your need for conscious control over the design process gets smaller and smaller the better you get at it. It’s like dancing or playing an instrument—the more advanced you are, the less you need to consciously think about it. The less you think about what you do, the more virtuosity you will be able to achieve.”

xx

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-2, on the go

I was excited to work alone. Not because I don’t like to work as a team - because I love to - but because I wanted to understand how far can I go with my skills at this point. 

I was not disappointed but I believe there is always room for improvement. 

It was super cool to manage my own schedule but maybe the coolest was to be able to make decisions faster - like, I want this dropdown menu, so I will spend the next 20 minutes watching a figma tutorial on how to make it because I want to. 

But I am also excited to go back and working as a team. The learning process is completely different, there is more added value! 

Looking forward to seeing what this week will bring. 

xx

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Crits > critiques

Today we had our first round of crits - the time slot where you are able to show your work-in-progress, have opinions from your peers and get something to reflect on. 

On an emotional level, my day was a disaster. I felt under prepared (and god, I was) and that I was not able to pass the message that I wanted (and let’s add the fact that this pre-lockdown situation is not helping at all). 

The group crits made me realize that what is in my head was not matching what people were perceiving and that I was lacking of something. The feedback was so insightful and my group had a great attitude towards it! 

Then something popped up, I rolled up my sleeves and on the following 7 hours I was working hard and now I am at peace with my productivity for the day. 

I am glad this is a weekly ritual - so millennial of me, needing all this guidance and instant gratification. 

Today is going to be a better day :wink wink:

More to come, on the next mandatory homework post! (or will I write something meanwhile?.... stay tuned ;) )

xx

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8 Weeks to go

First week felt like a month. 

Everything went fast and intense. 

I think the coolest thing this week was how dynamic it was - from the UX/UI perspective. I felt a really cool balance and that definitely the start of something new. 

I don’t know if I should expect this balance to happen on the next weeks but I felt like making progress. 

1st week: check! ✅

8 more to go 🚄

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Day 1: Ready, set, go!

This was me. This morning. On my way to this adventure. 

Excited, hopeful, full of energy! 

The first day let the introductions sink and the sun shine - at least we did enjoy a pretty nice lunch at the terrace! 

Going over the ground rules and codes of conduct and finally entering the world of the UX/UI. 

The class ambiance was good and I got a pretty good taste of what the next 9 weeks will be. This is indeed a full-time bootcamp. The amount of energy required is beyond the regular 9-6 job and the attention span tests our limits. 

Just pat me on the back if you see me crying in a corner for 5 minutes while I get my sh*t together, and tell me I got this. 

Is it going to be hard? Yes. But are we going to make it? Abso-fucking-lutely. 

More news to come!

xx

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Hello world!

Hello dear followers/visitor’s. This is my tumblr blog where I’ll document my journey though UX/UI design!

I am very excited but also a bit scared - taking a step forward to change your career and learn a whole new skill set it’s a bit frightening at the beginning. But you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take so why the hell not?!

C’est pas faux - it’s happening!

xx