Individual & Group Takeaways
Individual Takeaways
Individually, I have come to understand design process is a multi-phased one. In order to better design a functional application (and, for that matter, any product or service), one needs to better understand, above anything else, customers for whom an application, product or service is designed. This first step is performed by different means including, for example, market research, field tests or surveys. For our current purposes (and because of our limited scope and resources), my workgroup and I performed both non-participating and participating customer observation activities. By non-participating observation activity is meant watching up close customer behavior. For our purposes, my workgroup and I observed usability patterns of individual users in different settings and group formations. By watching customers (i.e. students) at Student Union, independently or engaged in conversations with others, I have gained further insights into individual user behavior in different group settings. By participating customer observation activities is meant engaging users in order to elicit deeper insights into customer behaviors and habits. This was performed by asking students direct questions about usability patterns.
Beyond observation, I learned, of course, a lot about product and design process as I collaborated with my workgroup members in order to fine-tune our developed applications to user needs. By completing our application project, I learned how to follow up on application / product / service delivery in order to monitor usability dynamics in action. This has been particularly important since I learned how discrepancies could arise between final product implementation and actual "launch" into "market".
Collectively, my workgroup has come to collaborate better in a multi-phased project. By dividing labor between group members, my workgroup has managed to plan, implement and deliver project at hand more effectively. This aspect of my group work has proven particularly significant for better management of members each in her or his respective role.
Second, brainstorming has been a particularly important exercise during our project. By sharing our ideas as well as user ideas, my workgroup has been able to develop much broader sets of ideas compared to ideas developed independently. Further, our discussions resulted in more promising ideas which could be picked up later for future projects.
Third, by engaging students and faculty, my workgroup has enhanced communication skills both for individual members and my group as a whole. By addressing logistical (e.g. approaching specific students for short interviews), organizational (e.g. prioritizing performed tasks) and reporting (e.g. final project delivery format and future suggestions) issues, my workgroup has learned how to enhance group dynamics in order to optimize expected outcomes.
Finally, by developing a cell phone application for more effective (face-to-face) communication, my workgroup has come to learn how to pick projects which are not only rewarding in a narrow sense but ones which are of greater public good. Indeed, by adopting our application (and receiving positive feedback) my workgroup has driven satisfaction which I believe would not have been achieved by meeting a need based on functionality alone.
