Minor Project
Kyra Binti Rizal Hamzah / 0337085 / Minor Project / August -November 2021
Week 1Introduction to module & briefing regarding all the different projects .
I grouped up with Fazal, Jonathan, Farissa, Han Bo, and Min Feng and we got to pair up with the EAP project Extrash, in collaboration with students from the business school.
Week 2
Lecture on contextual research, which we then had to get started on using Miro.
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| My section of the contextual research. I mainly focused on other apps providing similar services and how their services work. |
The business team provided us with their overview of the Extrash project which also included a mockup that they made, so to get the ball rolling I made some notes on things they included in their mockup - even if i found a lot of the hierarchy to be a little strange it was still really helpful for me to see what they have in mind.
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On Friday we met with the business team for progress updates; for now we showed them our findings and ideas based on the initial mockup they provided - they seem alright with the revisions we have in mind but also need to confirm the features they intend to have in the app which will be communicated to us by Week 4. We also provided some ideas for colour schemes, which they were alright with and just need to decide on.
One thing they wanted to ask us besides all that was a redesign of the logo (rationale and messaging all up to us). Their initial logo features the app slogan beneath it, and they also wanted to know whether that wasa alright or if it was better to leave out the slogan (we all felt as if the slogan was unnecessary)
Week 3
Summary of our contextual research:
Our next steps are to conduct the competitor analysis and create user personas. The competitor analysis will help to decide the features of the app and the personas aid the insight interview.
Week 4
This week we finished up the competitor analysis, user personas, and also the insight interviews. From the interviews we did through Google Forms we found that the age range we used in our initial user personas was not very accurate, so we edited our personas a bit. Besides that we worked together to summarise the data from the survey which took a while as we had a lot of quantitative questions in it.
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| Our interview questions and revisions of it and our revised user personas |
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| We worked on summarising our data within the miro board, separating it into sections to categorise it and using sticky notes to highlight some key points from it. |
During our weekly check in with TBS and SCE we all updated each other on our progress ; business is working on some finance related matters, computing is creating a proposal and a low fidelity prototype, and we're finalising the things I mentioned above.
Week 5
In week 6 we also did our user journey map; our journey had 3 main touch points which were social media, the app store, and the extrash app. Mr Mike asked if we would consider some physical touch points such as flyers, billboards, and so on since all the marketing plans were digital. However, we asked the business team for their opinion and they said they would rather keep it digital for cost efficiency and for easier targeting of the right audience for the product.
Once all of the above was settled we were given the green light to begin the production phase.
Week 6
This week I worked on making the low fidelity prototype while the others started drafting the logo, art direction, and so on. 
Once I finished the first version I also compiled it into a Google Doc so that the business/computing team could access it easily and also leave comments if they wanted to (Figma requires you to have an account to do so)
Once I finished the first version I also compiled it into a Google Doc so that the business/computing team could access it easily and also leave comments if they wanted to (Figma requires you to have an account to do so)
Paulo from the computing team, who has been in communication with me regarding the UI, mentioned that he found a plugin to directly import figma files to Android Studio (and then tested it with the low fidelity )which was relieving to hear as it meant our handover of the assets would be a lot easier.
Week 7
Since the low fidelity prototype was finished, I proceeded to do the user testing and compiled the findings in slides as shown below.
The major things that needed to be changed were text sizes across the prototype, and the layout of the Select materials page. Rather than keep it in a one column layout, I then arranged it in a 2 column grid instead, and made each button larger to accommodate the larger text and also making the icons bigger for more visibility.
Week 8-10
Since the computing team requested for us to finish prototyping as soon as possible, this week I finalised the low fidelity prototype.
After that I also worked on the style guide for the high fidelity prototype. While a few colours were taken from the logo, I got help from Fazal and Jon with some others since they suggested having colour coded buttons for the recycling materials; Fazal did some colour exploration which is what I referred to for the yellow/red/dark blue/purple. Besides that, I decided on a navy blue text colour to complement the greens and blues used in the buttons, while also being not as starkly contrasting as black.
After that I started working on the high fidelity prototype. I started with adding in the colours and adjusting spacing to make sure everything was done right according to the style guide while waiting for the icon and illustration assets done by Han Bo and Fazal. Once they finished I added everything in to finish it up quickly since computing was requesting we finish it by Week 10.
Week 11
The last task for the team that was designated to me was to then make the walkthrough video for the app.
After showing this initial take to Mr Mike he suggested that it could be done better by animating more movement into the characters rather than just have them pop in and out of the video.Week 12
Updated video with animated characters. Havent used after effects in quite a while so was interesting to pick it back up for this...
Updated video with animated characters. Havent used after effects in quite a while so was interesting to pick it back up for this...
And then turns out I needed to refamiliarise with AE even more as we decided that we needed more people involved in creating the How To Recycle explainer video; the first version was a bit rough so we are redoing it with new assets and 4 people working on animation rather than just 1 like we originally did.
Week 13-15
Reflections
Week 2
I learnt how important structure can be for some; the business team made a gantt chart for them, us, and SCE to all update with our timelines. During our meeting with them they were also very pleased when we had given them a structure of our team & timeline breakdown, as well as a brief outline of what our work will look like for the next few weeks, and laying out all these plans made them more confident in working with us.
In the discussion we also found that the business team despite laying out their own branding and marketing ideas, and having their own logo & suggested colour palette, they didn’t really have any reasons for why they made the choices they have so far. However they did have reasons for the choices of social media they intend for us to create content for. I suppose to them the need for reasoning applies more in the execution of ideas and not so much in the philosophy of the project? That means it’s all up to us to figure out said rationale. Besides that, the team was able to divide our workload for the rest of the sem based on our individual strengths which was really cool to me to see as each of us can really bring something different to the table. In the previous semester, I also collaborated with a EAP project during the application design 2 module . However that class only consisted of us New Media students, so when the client/business team requested for help on things such as logos or 3D modelling we kind of fell short and were unable to produce the best quality outcome in those aspects.
The main takeaway for me was that structure is a lot more important to others than it may seem to me and that in working life it would help to be prepared and have a solid plan for everything. I also learnt that even though all 6 of us are under the same Creative Media course, the difference of skill development we each have in the past year of specialisation is really contrasting. Although we haven’t had to use any technical skills just yet as it’s only week 2, the distinction is already visible in the different insights we all have towards this project.
Week 3
This week was quite confusing as it was the first time we met with both the business team and the computing team simultaneously, and we had to juggle both keeping up with the discussions with them as well as our own internal discussions and plan. On our end we spent a lot of time creating the user personas, competitor analysis, and interview questions. I learnt that it’s really really important for us to check on each other as a team and simply dividing tasks and then putting all the work together isn’t enough ; it’s up to us to keep eachother doing our best to make sure the final outcome is the best it can be. That being said, it’s also kind of difficult to keep up with such a large group .Another thing that happened this week was the addition of our seventh member - even 6 is quite hard to communicate with and keep up with online as is. I don’t see how anyone can possibly see virtual meetings as a sufficient activity even beyond the pandemic. If the option for collaborating in person is within reason, it’s so much better since you can literally see how others are doing in front of you. When it’s all online like this, the most you will know of your team, their progress, and even their feelings, is what they say of it in chat or add to Miro.
Week 4
So much happened this week - we had to finalise and start sending out our survey, then summarise the survey information, and do the insight discovery over the weekend as well. It all went pretty smooth and I’m glad that this team is pretty cooperative and motivated. We’re all pretty eager to get past this research phase and start ideation and designs though. I’m really really concerned about the time constraints we have for that, but we’re all managing so far and we’re getting into the habit of trying to do things within the class time (since we typically are free to go as soon as the consultation ends) which makes it way easier for us to coordinate our time to work on things together.
Week 5
We needed to ask Business team some things that they might want to consider. I feel a bit bad cause in our weekly meetings we don’t have much to show/say to them then throughout the week we end up having lots to ask them on WhatsApp - i suppose we could just hold off the questions till those meetings but that would take away some time to actually work on things based on the feedback? During this week’s discussion with the other teams Computing showed us their prototype for the driver app. It was quite unrefined but I’m glad they did it so when we proceed to design it there’s a bit less work in figuring out where each page and function should go.
Week 6
This week went pretty smoothly as we just needed to wrap up a few things in the journey map then kickstart the production process. On my end I managed to make a first iteration of the low fidelity prototype so that during Independent Learning Week (W8) we can have time to test it & make changes. We’re still planning the rest and the instagram content as well as animated video plans are a bit up in the air right now. It may be that we haven’t met to discuss in 2 weeks (only discussing on WhatsApp ,which takes a lot more time) but I feel as if that’s only part of the issue. Be it on text or even when we call, it’s hard to get the whole group engaged and contributing - not so much cause of anyone being uncooperative but just cause there’s so many of us and it’s easy for some to just fade into the background. I think that’s something that can be worked on in all of us together but I feel a bit responsible too as the leader …
Week 8
This week was quite a crunch time for me as the computing team wants the low fidelity and then high fidelity prototype as well, done as soon as possible. So I managed to fit 4 user tests in for the low fidelity prototype then finalised all the revisions that needed to be made this week. User testing low fidelity is kind of hard cause I feel like there is only so many things that will be found from it; high fidelity has all the icons and images included that will give the users the cues they need to navigate an app. I understand the necessity of doing testing for low fi as it does allow you to see how much can be understood without the bells and whistles but it’s still a bit frustrating cause the users testing it had little feedback about a totally monotone screen; they could say things about what was done badly, but not so much about what was done well. The fact that I was working alone on the prototyping was a bit of a mixed bag too. I am definitely comfortable with working alone but I did feel a bit in a bubble compared to the rest of the group who mainly had tasks that were worked on together, and this also made me feel a bit of pressure as all of not only our team, but also the computing and business teams, were relying on me to get this prototype done.
Week 9
Computing team really wanted the high fidelity done as soon as possible so I did that this week, with help from the rest of the team in completing the icons and illustrations to use within the app. Luckily, in the second iteration of the low fidelity prototype I had updated it with the correct typefaces and spacing between assets as I made that at the same time that I was creating the style guide for the app, so it didn’t take too long to make the high fidelity as I mainly just needed to add in assets and change colour palettes for everything. All in all we completed the high fidelity prototype this week and I am very proud of us for it cause the illustrations and icons really really made it look polished and professional, while still having some fun touches here and there.
Week 10
Our initial agreement was to have the high fidelity prototype delivered by the end of week 11, but the computing team requested that we hand it over to them by this week as soon as possible so they can code it, so we delivered the figma file to them on Monday Week 10 to be safe. It was only possible for me to even meet this deadline as my other modules only had submissions in later weeks, so within the time of week 8-10 it was possible for me to arrange my workload as focusing only on Extrash, and pushing my other work to later on, but it was still incredibly stressful to have deadlines pushed earlier and earlier.
Despite the above, they then decided on Wednesday that they would not be doing any coding this semester and would save it for capstone 2, and requested to use the figma file as their final submission for the semester as well. While I’m not so bothered by them using the figma as that was our agreed deliverable anyway, I find that rushing us (as you can see in the past few weeks’ reflections as well, they have been pressuring me for a while) all this while, with the reason being that they needed it in order to do their work, only to change their minds on it AT THE VERY LAST MINUTE after we have already put in so much energy to finish when they requested it , is pretty unprofessional. They also mentioned to the business team that they will be connecting frames to make the prototype interactive however I had already done so way earlier as I needed the prototype to be usable for the user testing back in week 8, and the high fidelity was built on a copy of that file and therefore already had those connections. I understand that within this project they still had their own work to do and to submit but given that this is the outcome I feel as if they did not really collaborate much within this project except for 1) helping with low fidelity for the driver app prototype for me to later make a high fidelity of (which was another thing that was not in the initial agreement, just was added on later on as computing requested it) and 2) telling us not to use animation/video in our app design as it may be hard to implement.
On a positive note, I am really thankful to be surrounded by a great design team who has been super cooperative and leading our team was quite stress-free compared to all the problems I had with the computing team :) I am glad that they were willing to trust the UI with me and that they were supportive along the way (special thanks to Han Bo / Jon/Fazal who had to rush making the assets that went into the app prototype) while still having to complete the other deliverables for our final submission later on.
Week 11
I took a bit of a backseat in discussions this week since I was a bit burnt out from the prior weeks, and also I trusted that the rest of the team would do fine in the things we had to complete for this week (mainly Instagram content and the animated video). Plus, these are all territory that I am not so well versed in and the others had way more input than I did. So this week was a nice learning experience through observation in hearing the others discuss colours and composition and stuff.
I also had to make a walkthrough video of the app which was a bit challenging to get into doing as I have not really touched doing video or animation stuff in quite a while.
Week 12
This week I had to polish the walkthrough video for the app as I did not really add much animation to it and just had some images popping in and out. I was a bit concerned for the overall project and team as we had to rework the explainer video. I could not really lead the team much at this point as moving forward a lot of things are out of my area of knowledge so I was grateful that we have a good mix of skills in the team and Cerene took charge from here on. I realise that personally I am not that great at attention to detail and stuff like that haha. So I am glad that I have teammates that can make up where I am lacking there, and that I can learn from them.
Week 13
Again, very grateful for the team haha. This week we had a lot of tasks to split. Earlier in the semester I feel that we had a lot of points where some people would have more to do than others based on skill but then now that we have the video to fix we had a very balanced split this week I think ; Cerene helped to organise and split the video file for edits (She is so detail oriented and organised I aspire to be like that but I don’t think I’m capable, wow), then Min Feng, Jon, Fazal and I set out to reanimate the video scene by scene while Farissa did audio and Han Bo helped to start making our presentation deck. The task of animating the video was not particularly difficult animation wise but given how long it has been since I last messed around with After Effects it was quite the strain on my mind. I feel that UI work is very iterative and you can just do something first, test, edit, test,edit and keep going. But with animation and possibly other types of work you would have to produce excellent quality in a product as one singular final piece. You don’t go back and update a video like you may do with an app. So making mistakes is scary here haha. Evident in our prior issue with the video it is not so simple to just go back and make a fix and here we are redoing the entire thing.
Week 14 & 15
Week 14 and 15 for me was mostly just looking out for everyone and helping to make sure all our loose ends are sorted, like finishing this document, presentation deck, and so on. Everyone (including me!!!!!!!!!!) is super stressed with all our impending deadlines so even though I had some worries about meeting our deadlines I didn’t want to push anyone much and have kind of been more laid back ; I was worried this would be a wrong move and that I should not slack in leading everyone but a lot of the things that were left anyway were just polishing minor things that I am not very good at spotting. So basically things I realised during this time and honestly throughout the whole semester: 1- Leadership does not always mean needing to micromanage ((( in past group projects I never really had this realisation much cause sometimes… some groups cant be trusted….. )) and sometimes its enough to just be there for everyone. 2-I really really need to learn to be more detail oriented and attentive cause sometimes I don’t notice quality of things until others point it out 3- Even if I felt i had flaws in leading the team there are strengths that I didn’t realise I had too until the team pointed it out, for example apparently I’m good at dealing with Mr Mike, and am fun enough to keep up everyones spirits during stressful tomorrow-is-the-final-pitch-and-our-slides-arent-done meetings.
