Hello, my name is Hannah, and this is my capstone video for the GDO710 module. This video is split into three parts: Development, Synthesis and Projection.
Act 1 – Development
Key skills and domains
I have learned a lot throughout this module; some information I already knew, while others were a complete surprise or added depth to my previous knowledge. Through a student ‘Journal Share’ and peer feedback from Rapid Ideation Two, I learned that my written and visual communication is clear and concise. So, I am using this strength by applying the Three Act Structure from novel writing to the structure of this video (MasterClass 2021).
Author screenshot of the discord comment initiating a peer journal share
Author photo of initial sketches made outlining potential structural options
Author photo of working out the structure and content of the capstone video
Agile methodologies and the Double Diamond technique were entirely new to me, in particular, protecting sprint goals, conducting project retrospectives and combining divergent and convergent thinking as techniques to aid projects (Cho 2010; Silvia 2015; Ball 2019; Schwaber and Sutherland 2023). Of especial interest to me was Ericsson’s Theory of Deliberate Practice (Ericsson et al. 1993), as it highlighted that I am often too focused on ‘completing’ the task rather than finding an innovative outcome.
Research
Combining Ericsson’s theory with the concept that I am at the centre of my learning experience (Hase and Kenyon 2000) has reframed my outlook towards progressing in the course. Pretty Much Everything by Aaron James Draplin has been and will continue to be a big inspiration in this regard (Draplin 2016). Another discovery was ethics in the context of UX design and research. Looking at historical case studies blasted open the importance of ethical considerations in my coursework and future career.
Author photo of inspirational reading, Pretty Much Everything by Aaron James Draplin
Improvements
Bringing these new skills together, I want to utilise agile tools for the upcoming projects, as I find it easy to lose focus. In particular, I want to practice scrum estimation to align the group to the same vision (Srivastava et al. 2017). Moving forwards, I will reframe my skills as a flow perspective so I can share my knowledge with the group by practicing my beliefs and receive knowledge in return because Gray et al. “propose that shifts in competence take place through performance of beliefs as enacted through explicit action.” (2015: 5).
Author Photo of lunchtime reading
Synthesis
Rapid Ideation
When I first learned about design sprints, I was unsure of their efficacy so I spoke to Finlay MacDonald (a digital design lecturer), who broadened my view.
We undertook two Rapid Ideation sessions where we designed and built two artefacts; I aimed to gain a different experience from each. In Sprint One, I worked alone and focussed on a higher quality vertical slice to gain experience in a broad range of UX design tools. I learned that despite setting ambitious goals, I stuck to my schedule and didn’t over scope. However, more robust ideation and research stages would have benefitted the outcome.
With Sprint two, I formed a team with Sarah Gomes Munro as I wanted to practice collaborating in a ‘distance team’. As a result, we had a heavier focus on ideation and learned how to combine our working practices effectively. Turning our sights to the information architecture, we produced a horizontal slice of our artefact.
By approaching the Rapid Ideation sessions differently, I aspired to prove my flexibility and my skill with learning quickly under pressure. Sprint two was the most valuable learning experience as it showcased the importance of coordination, empathy and transparency within the team. We organised our schedule to avoid stress and constructed a supportive environment to share ideas. However, we could have benefitted from a focussed, Scrum approach of short updates and quick decision-making (Schwaber and Sutherland 2023).
Further Research
The community that has developed as part of this MA is quickly becoming integral to my support network while studying. But as this is an online community, I will also join in person UX events to build a local community network as “practice does not exist in the abstract. It exists because people are engaged in actions whose meanings they negotiate with one another” (Wenger 1999: 74). Regarding professional development, I want to expand my knowledge of Dark Patterns, as I don’t want to become an unwitting accomplice in unethical practices through ignorance. (Gray et al. 2018). Additionally, I want to learn more about accessible design such as dyslexia-friendly techniques like using specific fonts (Dyslexia Scotland 2023) and the psychology of how design choices impact users.
Author photo of lunchtime reading
Author screen recording of Dyslexia Scotland
Projection
SMART Goals
Synthesising my desires for development, I have created the following two goals adhering to the SMART framework:
Professional goal
Ultimately, I want to work with a digital design specific company to form a solid foundation for my professional development. To that end, I aim to undertake a 6-12 month internship to gain ‘on-the-ground’ skills to underpin my current theoretical knowledge. As I progress through the course, I will update my CV and portfolio and send them to opportunities in Zürich to land an internship before the end of the MA.
Academic goal
Now I have a basic understanding of the practices that underpin UX design, I will use the rest of the MA to experiment with domains and skills I want to pursue beyond the course material. With each project, I will identify an aspect of UX that I will explore further by reading the academic theory and implementing it into my work. I will reflect on my new knowledge in my project retrospectives.
Conclusion
To round off my experience of the course’s first module in a reflective nutshell, I can only describe my experience as rewarding. By touching lightly on so many topics, I have gained insights into my interests that I would never have suspected before, which has given me clear directions for my professional and academic progress.
Further Reading
Agile Foundations: Principles, practices and frameworks by Peter Measey et al .
Being agile in business: discover faster, smarter, leaner, ways to work by Belinda Waldock
Ethics and technology design by Anders Albrechtslund
The ethics of UX research by N. Bowman
Dark Patterns – User Interfaces Designed to Trick People by Harry Brignull et al.
Social Justice-Oriented Interaction Design by Lynn Dombrowski et al.
The new good: Exploring the potential of philosophy of technology to contribute to Human-Computer interaction by Daniel Fallman
Values at play in digital games by Mary Flanagan and Helen Nissanbaum
Human Values, Ethics, and Design. In The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook by Batya Friedman et al.
Does Technology Have Race? by David Hankerson et al.
Ethics and the user experience—ethics and the individual by N. Kellingley
Digital Civics: Citizen Empowerment With and Through Technology by Vasillis Vlachokyriakos et al.
Evolution of Design Competence in UX Practice by Colin M. Gray
The design way: Intentional change in an unpredictable world by H.G. Nelson and E. Stolterman
Managing user experience: Managing change by C.F. Thompson et al.
Studio life: The construction of digital design competence by M. Arvola and H. Artman
References
BALL, Jonathan. 2019. ‘The Double Diamond: A Universally Accepted Depiction of the Design Process’. Design Council [online]. Available at: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-work/news-opinion/double-diamond-universally-accepted-depiction-design-process/ [accessed 29 Jan 2023].
CHO, Juyun Joey. 2010. ‘An Exploratory Study on Issues and Challenges of Agile Software Development with Scrum’. All Graduate theses and dissertations 599.
DRAPLIN, Aaron James. 2016. Draplin Design Co: Pretty Much Everything. New York, New York: Abrams.
DYSLEXIA SCOTLAND. 2023. ‘TYPEFACE – THERE’S NOTHING COMIC ABOUT DYSLEXIA’. Nothing Comic About Dyslexia [online]. Available at: https://www.nothingcomicaboutdyslexia.com/inconstant-regular [accessed 11 Apr 2023].
ERICSSON, K. Anders, Ralf T. KRAMPE and Clemens TESCH-RÖMER. 1993. ‘The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance’. Psychological Review 100, 363–406.
GRAY, Colin M. et al. 2018. ‘The Dark (Patterns) Side of UX Design’. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 1–14. Available at: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3173574.3174108 [accessed 11 Apr 2023].
GRAY, Colin M., Austin L. TOOMBS and Shad GROSS. 2015. ‘Flow of Competence in UX Design Practice’. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 3285–94. Available at: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2702123.2702579 [accessed 11 Apr 2023].
HASE, Stewart and Chris KENYON. 2000. ‘Moving from Andragogy to Heutagogy in Vocational Education’. Ultibase Articles 5(3), [online]. Available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED456279.pdf [accessed 22 Jan 2023].
MASTERCLASS. 2021. ‘How to Write Three Act Structure’. MasterClass [online]. Available at: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-three-act-structure [accessed 11 Apr 2023].
SCHWABER, K and J SUTHERLAND. 2023. ‘Scrum Guide | Scrum Guides’. Scrum Guides [online]. Available at: https://scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html [accessed 23 Jan 2023].
SILVIA, Paul J. 2015. ‘Intelligence and Creativity Are Pretty Similar After All’. Educational Psychology Review 27(4), 599–606.
SRIVASTAVA, Apoorva, Sukriti BHARDWAJ and Shipra SARASWAT. 2017. ‘SCRUM Model for Agile Methodology’. In 2017 International Conference on Computing, Communication and Automation (ICCCA). 2017 International Conference on Computing, Communication and Automation (ICCCA), May 2017, 864–9.
WENGER, Etienne. 1999. Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. 2004 Reprint. Cambridge University Press.
German vocabulary of the week
Capstone – Deckstein