Personal Case Study Video

Transcript

Hi, my name’s Alex, and I’m a UX Design student at Falmouth University.

Prior to this course, I didn’t think I was all that creative and was intrigued by the many cognitive processes involved in creativity. I’ve always thought of myself as a practical person with an urge to be more creative. It transpires that people’s perception of creativity differs vastly, and, like me, some wouldn't consider their work creative when it is (TEDx Talks 2015). What’s more, I was surprised to learn that, with practice, you can improve your creativity!

Establishing a good work-life balance has been challenging, especially while studying and working full-time. I’ve learnt some crucial time management skills through making good use of my calendar and adopting Agile methodologies. I didn’t expect to find Agile as interesting as I did and due to failure being a feature of Agile (Digital.ai 2021), I found myself challenging a past belief that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Our main task throughout the module was to keep a critically reflective journal to record our thoughts, feelings and learnings. I chose to use Driscoll’s (2007) model of reflection which helped examine all aspects of my experiences and frequently led me to perspectives I otherwise wouldn’t have considered. I became more aware of my thought processes throughout and built a deeper understanding of how I reach conclusions.

Alongside the core topics of the module, we had two rapid ideation sessions where we were given a prompt and tasked with creating an artefact. I was eager to foster my creativity using methods like brainstorming and opposite thinking and found these helpful in facing my vulnerabilities to unlock my creativity (Brown 2013).

After receiving the prompt for the first rapid ideation, I recorded my immediate ideas, which amounted to an unorganised jumble of notes and sketches. This later proved detrimental when navigating my notes, and I vowed to record my ideas in one place from then on. However, I was happy with my dyslexia support app and learnt so much through my research. I’d love the opportunity to develop the app further in future as I believe it could really benefit those in need of support.

Moving into the second rapid ideation, I proposed an app to record your carbon footprint by interpreting data from various sources. As with the first artefact, I used Balsamiq to create wireframes showing the app’s features and successfully kept my notes in one place using Google Jamboard. However, by iterating using one platform, I fell victim to scope creep, which ultimately led to the downfall of my project. I’d failed to plan my time and spent too long focussing on the finer details. Had I utilised the User Stories technique that I learned a few weeks after, I could have better understood my target market and perhaps mitigated the failures I experienced.

Towards the end of the module, I used a kanban board to coordinate my work and was impressed by how well it worked, making me wish I’d used it earlier. I was drawn to the visuals of progress and found that working on one task at a time sharpened my focus and increased my productivity, thus avoiding burnout.

Community engagement proved a pivotal factor throughout, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning through the forum, engaging our Discord chat and exploring the UX Collective blog. I aim to continue building my online presence and engage more with my peers to gain their feedback as I frequently learn from their differing perspectives. What’s more, by interacting with accessibility-related content on UX Collective, I can use it to stay updated on trends and to supply inspiration for future research.

My interest in accessibility will be the basis for my research going forward. Being dyslexic, I’m well aware of the trial and error in finding assistive technologies and tools that worked for me. Despite the variety of options, the selection process is tough, especially without support later on (Jamieson 2007). As such, I’d like to focus my future research on the pain points experienced by users in need of accessibility options, with the aim of establishing the groundwork for seamless designs that are innately inclusive. This would involve the progression of my research and reflection skills and would set me on the path to becoming a UX Researcher.

In considering research ethics, I was initially surprised to learn that research involving mental health and learning difficulties is classed as high-risk (Falmouth University 2019). I’m particularly interested in exploring human-centred research methods to build a more robust understanding and now appreciate the implications for harm and distress. It’s clear why mechanisms for mitigation are required and is a consideration I’ll make before pursuing such research.

To take my personal development forward I’ve created smart goals to help with this:

• The first is to review the use of my three days off each week with the aim of dedicating two of these to studying and course-related tasks. During these days, I’ll leave my house and visit an environment conducive to studying.

• The second is to be kinder and more supportive of myself by using a kanban board to plan my time and workload, therefore reducing potential stressors. The kanban board will be updated on a weekly basis to reflect my outstanding, progressing and completed tasks.

Thanks for listening!

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References

BROWN, Brené. 2013. The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connection, and Courage. Available at: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/The-Power-of-Vulnerability-Audiobook/B00CYKEBVI [accessed 8 Oct 2021].

DIGITAL.AI. 2021. 15th Annual State Of Agile Report. Available at: https://digital.ai/resource-center/analyst-reports/state-of-agile-report [accessed 18 Dec 2021].

DRISCOLL, John. 2007. Practising Clinical Supervision: A Reflective Approach for Healthcare Professionals. Available at: https://public.ebookcentral.proquest.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=2072473 [accessed 12 Jan 2022].

FALMOUTH UNIVERSITY. 2019. ‘Research Integrity and Ethics Handbook (for Staff and PGR Students)’. Available at: https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/file/39643/download [accessed 31 Dec 2021].

JAMIESON, Claire. 2007. Managing Dyslexia at University a Resource for Students, Academic and Support Staff. New York ; Routledge.

OWENS, Jakob. 2017. Slate It. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/CiUR8zISX60 [accessed 20 Jan 2022].

TEDX TALKS. 2015. The shape of ideation | Stefan Mumaw | TEDxLawrence [Film]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BErt2qRmoFQ [accessed 2 Oct 2021].