Iteration 1 - Findings, next steps, reflection
Card Sort - What do my users have in their pantries?
I am frustrated that it cost this much energy and time to get this far but I also know that I was battling new things on all fronts: new software, new working methods, new information and whenever I do something new it costs me a disproportionate amount of energy to get the job done. Next time all of these fronts will be easier.
I also had to ignore all the rules I had put into place during this module about rest to produce something of the quality I want, this way of working very intensely is something that I enjoy (I can be a bit of an obsessive) but I do know that a crash is coming - I just hope that I can hold out to hand in.
Something that has massively contributed to how much energy this design phase has cost me is fighting my perfectionist tendencies at every turn. I have been learning again and again to let myself try something new, be bad at it and then use that to improve - it is the only way to actually end up being somewhat decent at it. This module and this masters in general have been extremely humbling throughout and clearly I was needing it.
With all this said, I am proud of myself for pushing through the discomfort on all fronts, for learning new software, developing new skills, and picking myself up every time to try again - I haven’t given up on anything yet nor do I intend to. And while it has taken me some time to get into the iterative groove, I am opening up to this way of working and have definitely had many moments of joy both when testing with my users and in finally getting something to behave the way I had envisioned it.