What have I done

GOAL

I created a Figma prototype for my portfolio because it lets me present my personality in terms of designing a website that’s still under my preference. At the same time, here is where I can showcase the learning outcomes I acquired from the whole semester. This knowledge serves as my guide for future creations.

RESEARCH

I used library research for design and layouts specifically, design pattern search and trend analysis. I collected website layouts from Behance, Pinterest, and the Adobe Library to understand what are the trends and applicable design patterns in my website. There is a compare and contrast done for the work and this is to fully grasp the idea of how styles such as minimalism could be effective in creating good UI and UX for my website.

PROCESS

First, I collected inspiration online then compiled it into a mood board. The main theme is ‘Traveling in the Tropics’ that signifies my place of origin, the Philippines and my overall being. Then, I organized the style guide, fonts and colors. The primary colors of the website would be yellow, pink and Tiffany blue; the reason for such a choice is because these colors are common in tropical countries. For secondary, green and brown represents the environment and luscious greeneries. In terms of typography, I used calligraphy font, retro font and San Serif font. I then divided my portfolio into 5 main parts: Home, About, Outcomes, Projects, and Contact to easily navigate and view the website. I also included icons that are adjusted to the theme such as passport stamps, and postcard stamps to add flair to the overall look of the website.

What have I learned

After accomplishing the Figma prototype I felt really happy since from here I have seen how my vision comes to life. Seeing the website progress from a simple mood board to a functional interactive product that reflects my story was a rewarding experience. This process taught me that prototyping is not limited to working in Figma; it also requires research and ideation. I have learned that the small detail allows us to manage the bigger detail in the website. Mood boards set the tone, color, and theme, providing guidance for each page. Furthermore, creating a prototype also involves heavy research, especially in compiling what functional and aesthetic UI will improve the experience of the users of my prototype.

What have I done

GOAL

I aim to create a UX overhaul to further recognize what is a user-friendly design and what is an inconvenient one because I wanted to continue developing websites and applications that are easier to view and use.

RESEARCH

I browsed through Can’t Unsee (https://cantunsee.space/) and User Inyerface (https://userinyerface.com/) to acquire some knowledge, test my skills, and experience some good and bad UX. These sites are very straightforward and helpful in determining the good and bad parts of a UX design.

PROCESS

When I was searching for good and bad UX design, I came across Palma Residences and Philips as chosen websites. For Palma Residences, I revamped its website because it had an uncommon color palette, bad aesthetic and uneven sized buttons. With this, I checked Pinterest and other hostel sites to gain inspiration. Lastly, for Philips, my objective is to downgrade the design so I used an early 2000s UX website because it is not minimalistic as to what style is usually used nowadays. I added hyperlinks as buttons and made uneven sizes to further reduce the quality of design.

What have I learned

This comparison made me realize the importance of good UX design which is: to make it user-friendly and pleasing to the eye. So many changes have been made through the years in utilizing computers in such a way that the standards are getting higher each time. In the future, I want to continue developing websites and applications that have more functions and are even more user-friendly.

What have I done

GOAL

Our goal is to design any type of game out of paper prototypes. It gives emphasis to the purpose of using paper prototypes as a strategic creative process when developing websites or applications.

PROCESS

Our group discussed about the concept we want for the activity. We decided for a strategic game similar to ‘Spaceteam’ but in the field of Mathematics. This is to improve the users’ critical and strategic thinking skills. We made sketches specifically for our ideas. We then used different colors of sticky notes and wrote numbers. Our phones’ calculators became handy for computation. In finality, we completed the instructions for those who would like to play the game where the goal involves carefully strategizing to reach a goal number.

What have I done

GOAL

Our group created a prototype for Geldrops MuziekCorps’ website. Our goal was to improve their website to make it user-friendly, and pleasing to view and navigate.

RESEARCH

We browsed through the internet to search for reference designs related to orchestra. This helped us in finding inspirations aligned with what we visualize for the website to look like. It also served as our basis to create a proper looking website.

PROCESS

First, as a group, we brainstormed for ideas. We then created a paper prototype to guide us along the process. Later on, we constructed our Figma prototype and I was assigned to create the home page. I followed the brand guide that we made with regard to the color palette, logo details, and typography.

I then asked for my groupmates’ feedback and applied the changes from the suggestions I received. Initially, I edited a transparent and a little blurry navigation bar, but I applied changes to the color based on my groupmates’ suggestions. Next, I revised the background color of the orchestra’s brief description for consistency and removed the images on the side. Lastly, I added a sitemap for the website’s footer.

What have I done

GOAL

For this task, I aim to create a persona for the media campaign that we will be conducting. Our main target audience is Dutch nationals, specifically high school students and their parents. The persona will revolve around how these target audiences utilize school websites to guide their education and school decisions and about the social media platforms that they commonly use.

RESEARCH

For the research methodology for our media campaign, I utilized field research, where I formulated questions and surveyed our target audience. To know more about the in-depth details of the research process, kindly click this link to go to Learning Outcome 4.

PROCESS

From the survey, the result gathered reflects with the consensus of both students and parents who participated. This result was done into the persona and it is divided into: goals, motivation, frustration, and background of target audience. This persona serves as our guide for the next steps and decisions that we will make for the prototype. There are two personas produced, which represent the high school students and the parents, respectively.

After creating a rough draft of the persona, I reached out to our teacher for feedback. She told me to summarize and simplify the content. It should be specific, must follow a relatable storyline or cater to the needs of ICT students. With that, I made the persona shorter and more specific. I added information about the student and the experience of the parents. Lastly, I aligned the motivation to the goals of the persona.

What have I learned

I have learned that persona is a key feature in understanding the target audience for our social media campaign. This allowed me to understand their motivation, goals, and even the social media platforms they commonly use, which I can apply to our research. I have also learned that it becomes a guide on how to improve the activity that we are making for specific users because it highlights what type of user will access the campaign. In the future, I will make the persona simple, direct, and cater to the specific needs of the target audience rather than lengthy ones.