Design. Sleep. Repeat.
If you’re anything like us, you’ve been caught in a whirlwind of fall-leads-to-winter-oh-my-gosh-it’s-almost-the-end-of-the-year-how-the-f***-did-this-happen kind of craziness. Even though we’ve been enjoying many 70–80 degree days up here in Poughkeepsie, the leaves are still in full autumn mode and it’s peak football season (Go Eagles!), so we’ve been embracing all the standard fall activities. In between pumpkin spice lattes, the better of us have completed a few more challenges and have some thoughts to share on how it’s been going so far. (Can you believe we’ve been working on these for 4 months already… eeks!)
Let’s check in on Theresa’s progress!
We asked Theresa what she’s liked about these particular challenges…
I’ve really been sticking to designing for mobile devices, but this time around I tried to create a few designs for the iWatch. It has definitely added an extra element to the challenge having to focus on a different type of screen that will also be used differently than the average cell phone.
Who knows what crazy new piece of technology we’ll be designing for in the future, so I may as well get used to a multitude of screens and devices now.
We also asked her what the most challenging aspects have been to all of the challenges…
As always, time and keeping up with the challenges is just that, a challenge! I’m glad I took some time this week to focus on this project.
Yasmine made a lot of headway recently!
What did Yasmine like about these particular challenges?
During this set of challenges, I really enjoyed the analytics chart and the location tracker. I liked these two the most of this set because it really pushed me. I don’t mean in UX or visual design, but to think of new ideas.
What challenges has she faced?
The biggest challenge for me as I am sure others can agree, has been TIME. Setting aside the time in between school, work, side projects, me-time, is a HUGE challenge. And time management and prioritization is a big life skill. Being a student and working part time sometimes my design challenges have to be on the back burner as much as I wish they didn’t have to.
Check out how quickly Kevin is catching up!
Kevin’s favorite part of these challenges…
I like that we’re being challenged to design a variety of user interfaces. That variety requires us to very closely observe each interface and identify its key elements with the goal of improving it altogether.
The biggest challenges he faced…
Not only has it been difficult to find time for these challenges, but I’ve also had some trouble deciding where to start on some of the challenges because of their general nature. For example, a calculator could be used simply to solve math problems, but it could also record calorie intake or distance traveled. Savvy?
Finally, as we wrapped up this week we had one final question. Just for fun, we asked everyone what they think about the other challengers’ designs…
I think my team just continues to amaze me. With this type of challenge, I’d expect to see a lot of reuse and repetition, but every teammate has so many ideas that each challenge is still fresh and unique. I love it! — Theresa
I always love and appreciate how open-minded all the designers on our team are to feedback and constructive criticism. It was specifically in Adaoha’s design for Challenge #15: I mentioned a small tweak in the visual design that would help differentiate even more when the button was on/off. It was great seeing another designer be so willing to try feedback and send both versions and have us all discuss. This small interaction was a reflection of a large component of a functional team. Being able to collaborate on ideas and work together as a team. — Yasmine
I really look forward to seeing my teammate’s challenge submissions each week. It’s easy to be inspired by their designs because each person is both so talented and so unique. I always find that their work leaves me with a number of lessons learned and tips taken, making this challenge all the more worthwhile. — Kevin
Thanks for your views fellow challengers!
Check back here for the next round of designs and other fun things this awesome team does! Keep up with us on twitter with #designPOK100.
As always, our challenge submissions are all fictional and represent only our own, awesome views!
