The Design Sprint Experience - overall reflection

This semester we went through a three in one challenge to complete three design sprint challenges.

I went through several steps to complete a successful design sprint. These included:

1. Understanding the brief

2. Mapping, Visualising and Reverse Engineering

3. Identifying my own gaps in knowledge

4. Ideating potential solutions

5. Deciding a solution

6. Building a prototype

7. Gaining feedback from target users

My overall reflection places focus on these aspects - what aspects of the project were successful, where could I improve and how would I approach these exercises next time?

Overall Reflection

Design and childhood is an interesting topic to design around where we can entail our own experiences. While thinking back to childhood, it shows how the past can be brought to the forefront of creativity.

From this challenge, I have been able to successfully create the prototypes for an AT mobile kids app, a toy poster for Whack a Mole and an ideal environment for your six-year-old self. The AT mobile app - On Go Kids highlights more personalised and interactive features through its customisable settings and emphasis on safety. The poster design for the Whack a Mole charm toy was another challenge that I was able to utilise practical skills. These include 3D modelling, composition, colour and typography. My poster came out clean, bold and possibly engaging for young children. Using a new platform to create a space, the constructed VR space Dreams and Lanterns was the most difficult on the technical side. This made me redo and simplify the room design three times before it could be exported on Mozilla Hubs.

This experience has been a challenge that has tested our practical skills, time management and design thinking. This exercise has also enhanced my practice in wireframing, versatile skills in different programs, prototyping and various design methodologies. From this exercise, I have become aware of various shortcomings in my design practice. These would include time management, identifying the relevance of different assumptions and understanding the brief concisely to be more efficient with each task. I found myself making incorrect assumptions and overcomplication of the brief. There was also the difficulty of grasping new technical skills when there are time and other technical restraints in practice.

Thinking like this, narrowing priority within prioritised areas is a way to approach projects efficiently. It will be vital for me to spend sufficient time learning different programs and experiment more with various ideas to approach new projects more efficiently. Approaching future projects with a good motive and logical rationality will be a method for me to continue developing as a designer and learn to create designs professionally.

#DES200 #DesignSprint