Learning Journal Alessandra Paras Spring 2022

Goals

1. I will use the Women's Maker Program to learn about how to use different forms of technology and the career opportunities each one of them provide.
2. I will learn how to create prototypes using the technology provided, especially in 3D printing and virtual reality. I will also learn to overcome the fear of making mistakes or of having "imperfect ideas."
3. I will gain connections to other like-minded women by participating in a team, and through that I will learn to think and collaborate with diverse ideas.

Week 1

What I Did

This week, I learned about the design process and how to start turning ideas into reality. Two main ideas in design are the "Design Thinking" process, which focuses on creating solutions that a targeted audience will actually use, and the "Human-Centered Design" mindset, which aims to keep in mind the needs and wants of the targeted audience throughout the whole design process. However, a major hurdle in developing effective solutions is the fact that many people are afraid to fail and experiment. Many of us have had our ideas dismissed before, leading to diminishing creative confidence. By working together and being open to all ideas, we can develop better, more creative solutions to everyday problems.

What is my team role?

• The Documenter: Currently, I think I am best at the documenter role. Ever since I was young, I have always wanted to capture moments of my life and of the world around me so that I would have something to look back on. I was always the friend who would whip her phone out and take pictures of everything my friends would do, and I would encourage them to keep these form of documentation to remember the moments that would make us into the people we are today.
• The Hurdler: One role I would like to improve on is that of the hurdler. A hurdler overcomes obstacles and fights for the needs of their team, no matter the challenges they face. I'm not afraid to try and overcome obstacles and provide what is best for my team, but when this leads to confrontation, I shut down. Fighting for what my team needs or wants becomes extremely difficult for me especially if I need to push back against more experienced or knowledgable people or if the route my team hopes to take seems unconventional.

3 Most Beneficial Things I Learned

• Everyone was born "creative." We sometime just don't have confidence in our ideas because we have had ideas shut down before, which hit our confidence.
• Developing solutions should not just be about what "works." People must actually want to use these solutions if they are to be successfully implemented into the world, so their ideas and perspectives must be taken into account in the design process.
• When creating solutions, the distribution channels must be taken into consideration as well. People must have access to these solutions.

Challenges

• Notion and Adobe Creative Cloud Express had a bit of a learning curve, but with more use, I have learned how to navigate the platforms better.
• I know that running with ideas, even if the ideas originally seem outlandish, can be beneficial. You cannot be sure that an idea will not work if you do not try it. However, this concept of developing from imperfect ideas is still challenging to me, and I hope to work on this throughout my time with the WMP.

Questions

• How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the applicability or the effectiveness of Human-Centered Design and Design thinking? Are these form of design still as effective with a limited ability to have people interact with the prototypes in person?
• How do you know it is time to give up on an idea?

Related Resource

This podcast explains the difference between Human-Centered Design and Design Thinking and applying them to real products. Canales also talks about her journey in a design-focused career.

What do I plan to work on next week?

• I hope to start thinking about ideas for the community project with my team.
• I hope to get to know the other members of the cohort better, now that we are meeting in person.

Week 2

What I Did

This week, I met with my teammates for the first time! We decided on team logistics and started discussing ideas for our community project.

Team building was a topic discussed this week. Having a small, diverse team, who have a routine for meeting helps build team connections.

I also learned about starting to develop an idea for a project, or the inspiration phase of design thinking. The main steps include choosing a design challenge, planning research methods, and building an interview guide. Developing ideas in the form of a physical manifestation (e.g. a wall with sticky notes) can be helpful in this process. When going through theses steps, having empathy for the people we are designing for is also key so that we can develop a product that they will actually find helpful.

I also began exploring the virtual makerspace technologies.

3 Most Beneficial Things I Learned

• Developing products with a beginner mindset or having the outlook that you do not know much about the topic is helpful when trying to create with empathy.
• Documentation is very important when developing ideas. Have a place to visualize and an environment to externalize the process.
• A wide variety of research methods exists. Research doesn't just include asking people if the product would work for them or not; it can take the forms of photo essays, personal diaries, card sorts, etc.

Challenges

• Trying to blend schedules has been difficult for completing the maker challenges.
• Developing a specific idea for the community project that utilizes makerspace technology has been difficult, but we should have a more concrete idea after exploring what the different technologies have to offer.

Questions

• To what extent will we research? How long do we have to complete the research stage?
• Will we have the chance to interact with the people we are designing for in person?

Tip of the Week

My team has made it a point to try to meet in person as much as possible. We feel like we can form better connections and build our team this way rather than talking through a screen.

What do I plan to work on next week?

• I will finish the 3D maker challenge.
• My team will continue to narrow down our ideas for the community project.

Week 3

What I Did

This week, my team and I choose our topic for the community project. We have decided to create a solution for UVA students' excess clothing items. We created a schedule for the project and began researching about the timeline of clothing and the operations of second-hand stores.

Through the reading and videos, I learned about research approaches and the growth mindset. Research is done through core methods, such as expert interviews and analogous setting research, and through other methods, such as journey maps and concept provocations. Each research method looks at the research question in different ways and can be best implemented at different times during product development. I also learned about the growth vs. fixed mindset. Currently, I fall under the fixed mindset category, which believes that there is a cap to potential, with some growth mindset tendencies, which includes looking at challenges as opportunities for growth. This is something I hope to work on throughout the WMP, and I hope to become more accepting of challenges and failures.

In regards to makerspace technology, I began playing with 3D printing and app development. I learned how to create different objects on Tinkercad, and I created a simple login page with Adobe XD. I also used a VR headset and explored its capabilities.

3 Most Beneficial Things I Learned

• Using technology is not always as difficult as it may seem. Especially with certain programs, such as Tinkercad and Adobe XD, creating apps and designing models can be done without much previous knowledge.
• Many people are willing to spread their knowledge. A lot of the people my team reached out to for research gave us a reply and are willing to help us in our process.
• "Yet" is such a powerful word. It indicates progress. A person may encounter an obstacle, but this does not mean that they should stop reaching their goals. They just aren't there yet.

Challenges

• I had some difficulty using Adobe XD because the commands used in the video did not work with my computer, but I was able to use past knowledge of possible commands to figure it out.
• Developing relevant research questions has been difficult, but I am sure that as we continue to speak to different people about our project, the relevant questions will become clearer.

Questions

• Where should the headquarters of our donation service/thrift store be?
• How many people are we going to need to run our community project successfully?

Tip of the Week

Be willing to collaborate with different groups on projects. My team spoke to Student Council about our project, and the help they are willing to offer logistically will take a great load of stress off our plates.

What do I plan to work on next week?

• My team and I will continue to conduct research for our community project.
• I will finish the documentation for my app prototype.
• I will finish the 3D printing challenge.

Week 4

What I Did

My team and I met with Lela Garner to discuss sustainability issues, especially the prevalence of textile waste, on Grounds. She gave us insight to what has worked in the past to prevent such issues and what steps we could take to reducing clothing waste.

I also learned that I should come prepared when conducting interviews. My team and I should set goals for the interview and make sure that the interviewee feels comfortable during the process. Making them feel comfortable can include meeting in a location that they prefer and starting out with broader, less personal questions.

The process of changing one's mindset was also discussed. Just because someone wants to have a growth mindset does not mean that implementing this thought process will be easy. However, the brain is constantly rewiring itself, so it is possible to change from fixed to growth mindsets. Failures are a form of learning, and this process should be celebrated.

3 Most Beneficial Things I Learned

• During observational research, wait to interview users until after they have tested the product to prevent priming.
• If someone does not let themselves fail, they will never have breakthroughs.
• The brain continuously rewires itself, so you can change how it responds to challenges, allowing you to change your mindset.

Challenges

• Time management had become a bit of a challenge for me this week. With impending exams and classes and labs picking up, I found it more difficult to find time to complete my WMP work and meet with my team.
• Figuring out how I wanted to present my documentation for the virtual makerspace challenges was time consuming because now I know of many possible platforms, making it difficult to choose.

Questions

• Is our current project idea unique or exciting enough?
• How do I prevent gaps in my 3D printed models? Some of the layers look like they are caving into the model or aren't connected to other layers.

Related Resource

This video shows how the principles of 3D printing are applied to the culinary world. Sugar Lab uses a form of 3D printing to create uniquely shaped food items.

What do I plan to work on next week?

• My team and I will continue to implement our research plan.
• I will complete the documentation of my 3D printing challenge.

Week 5

What I Did

My team and I revised our interview questions in Notion. We also created the survey to send out for user interviews and set up dates/times for the other interviews.

I also learned about the synthesis process in design thinking. Synthesis is making sense of the information you have gathered. You turn your learnings into ideas. This is why documenting your findings is so important. Having a record of what you have learned will help you see themes throughout your learnings.

3 Most Beneficial Things I Learned

• "How Might We" (HMW) questions aren't set in stone. After interviewing people and finding themes, they might change.
• Choosing the top HMW questions has a lot to do with intuition. Choose questions that are exciting and that have the greatest opportunity for multiple solutions.
• An important stage in capturing your learnings is to document and share inspiring stories with specificity. These stories can elicit both ideas and empathy during the design process.

Challenges

• When creating the survey, my teammates and I found it difficult to know how many opening or comfort questions to ask.
• Finding time to coordinate schedules to find the best time and place to conduct research has also been difficult.

Questions

• What is the name of the website we used when coming up with Cohort Best Practices? I think this could be a useful and portable way to download learnings and pinpoint themes!
• What should you do with outlying information or learnings that don't fit into any of the developed themes?

Related Resource

Here's a video with additional tips for interviewing.

What do I plan to work on next week?

• Kha and I will interview Izzy.
• I will compile our interview information into a comprehensive document.

Week 6

What I Did

This week, my team and I finished up research and worked on ideation for our community project. Kha and I interviewed Izzy about her take on clothing waste as both a student and a student leader in sustainability. SustainabiliTEAM chose our top 3 ideas from the brainstorming session, and we distilled those ideas.

I also learned about the prototyping process. The prototyping process will allow us to test what works and doesn't work in our product. This process is non-linear, so we should expect to revisit previous steps as we test.

3 Most Beneficial Things I Learned

• A prototype does not have to be fancy or in its completed state to get basic feedback. It just has to encapsulate the main idea.
• Prototyping is a non-linear process.
• Having users test multiple prototypes that incorporate different aspects will help us see what works and what doesn't work in the product.

Challenges

Finding motivation this week has been a challenge again this week. With projects from classes being due and an increase in events from clubs, doing all the work for the classes, clubs, and WMP has added up.

Question

• For digital products (i.e. apps and websites) what are the benefits of physically prototyping, like in the video below? ⬇️

Related Resource

This video shows a paper/physical version of app prototyping.

What do I plan to work on next week?

• For this coming week, I plan on using the time during spring break to recharge.
• For the next WMP week, my team and I will start prototyping for our community project.

Week 7

What I Did

This week, the SustainabiliTEAM and I began working on our prototypes. We delegated tasks, such as making different versions of flyers, learning software, and reaching out to people for permission and help for running our project.

Savannah and I also began working on our ideas for the Middle School Girls' Maker Camp. We thought of the idea to use AR to create a choose-your-own-adventure style activity that would lead the girls to a prompt to create their own AR art using Artivive. The choices for the adventure will be based on TV shows and movies popular among middle school girls.

For the Middle School Girls' Maker Camp, I also learned about how to create an equitable lesson plan. Lesson plans should include an overview, learning objectives, ice breaker activity, and the main activity. Programs should also avoid promoting implicit biases, stereotype threats, pigeonholing, imposter syndrome, and differential preparation. When running the Maker Camp, of course I will aim to prevent all of these inequitable practices, but I will focus on reducing stereotype threat. Before I thought that myth busting would be a good way to boost the participants confidence, regardless of the program, but now I realize that myth busting may actually cause the girls to learn or think about a stereotype that they might not have known about or have been worried about in the past.

I also began learning about mini-pilot designs. Prototypes are meant to transform ideas into a form that can be understood by other, and mini-pilot designs are meant to do the same. However, in a mini-pilot, the experience should be closer to the end goal. The product should function without much explanation and provide a fuller experience for users. Having key questions to focus on while running the mini-pilot are also important resources that will help us keep track of what we want to learn from the pilot.

3 Most Beneficial Things I Learned

• Always have extension activities planned within a lesson. The extension activities can be used to engage participants that are having difficulty engaging with the main activity or to continue the lesson if the participants finish the main activity early.
• Context is more important in mini-pilots. The site of the mini-pilot should be relevant to the final location or context of the project.
• The implementation mode of iteration is not a final step. The project can and should evolve after implementation. The product is introduced to the world with its existing and core offerings. With observation over time, the project can be altered to provide users with an even better experience.

Challenges

• When learning how to use Artivive, I had to pay attention to the details in the instructions. When I learn something, especially when it seems easy, I tend to just get the gist of the instructions and try to complete the task from there. This meant that I had to go back through the instructions and read the guidelines multiple times to make sure that my image and video fit the specification. This reminded me to pay attention to even the little things because those can be what make or break a project.
• For the Middle School Girls' Maker Camp, we had a fairly easy time coming up with an idea for the structure of the lesson. However, the challenge came with knowing what exactly catches the attention of middle school girls in 2022, so Savannah and I will do some research on that.

Questions

• What equipment will the middle school girls have access to during the camp?
• How long would you recommend that the lecture part of our camp lesson be?

Tip of the Week

When creating a project, it is inevitable that you will run into some pitfalls. However, if you make the project personal (like when I decided to make an AR image of my graduation), it will feel so much harder to give up when you run into these challenges.

What do I plan to work on next week?

• I will research the shows and movies that middle school girls like.
• I will compile a list of local nonprofits that we can donate the extra clothes to.
• I will begin learning what editing techniques makes a video more engaging and begin to learn about video editing.

Week 8

What I Did

This week, the SustainabiliTEAM and I continued to work on our prototypes. I created a list of nonprofits and charities in Charlottesville that we could donate the clothes remaining at the end of our swap to. I also reached out to OYFA, a club doing a clothing drive for victims of a recent typhoon in the Philippines, to see if they would like to work with us or if we could donate our extra clothes to their efforts. I learned about what makes videos engaging so that I can apply this knowledge to the info video we are planning to create. Videos should be highly visual, attract the viewers within the first thirty seconds, spark the viewers' curiosity, and allow them to feel inspired.

Savannah and I also worked on our plans for the Middle School Girls' Maker Camp and the Final Showcase. We are thinking about allowing the middle school girls to choose from prompts surrounding the topics of TikTok, Movies/TV, and music to guide them in creating their own AR pieces using Artivive. We are also considering attaching videos of the processes of 3D printing, 3D modeling, VR, etc. to pictures of the product for the final showcase to give onlookers insight to the process.

I also learned about design justice, which focuses on addressing the challenges communities, especially the ones we are working for, face. Designs must be centered around those we are designing for. Their voices should be loud and heard during the design process. Designers must focus on the unique perspectives their audience brings, taking note of what works and doesn't work for them.

3 Most Beneficial Things I Learned

• When making a video, you have 30 seconds to hook in the audience. People tend to watch for 30 seconds then decide whether or not to keep watching.
• Adding motion to videos make them look more professional and cinematic.
• Designers are facilitators, not experts.

Challenges

• Both my community project team and my AR team were confused on which parts of the Final Project tab in the slides applied to which team. However, we were able to figure out that the tasks applied to the MakerSpace Deep Dive team.
• Savannah had some difficulty making the plan for our Final Showcase specific, but I am sure that more clarity will arise as we continue to gather information from our community project teams and as we carry out our plans for the community project and the Middle School Girls' camp.

Question

• Is the 50 minute AR workshop the same as the workshop we are doing for the middle school girls, or is it something separate?

Related Resource

This video gives tips on how to make videos that were taken on cellphones look more professional.

What do I plan to work on next week?

• The SustainabiliTEAM and I will begin promoting the clothing swap prototype.
• The SustainabiliTEAM and I will begin collecting clothes for the clothing swap.
• I will begin learning how to use the recommended video editing software.
• I will collect information from my teammates on what they would like to see included in the AR guides for the Final Showcase.
• Savannah and I will continue to specify and improve on our plans for the Middle School Girls' Camp and the Final Showcase.

Week 9

What I Did

This week, the SustainabiliTEAM and I continued planning for our clothing swap. We delegated more logistical tasks, such as determining the budget, distributing flyers, and deciding on a date for the swap. We also decided that for the educational portion of the project, we wanted to create an engaging, voiced-over, animated style of video. After looking into Create Studio, Powtoon, Wideo, and Biteable, we have decided to use Biteable Studio. I am excited to learn how to animate!

3 Most Beneficial Things I Learned

• Location is very important when holding an event! Many students only knew about the event because they saw it as they were passing by.
• For the same reason, advertising, especially on social media is the best way to reach students. Send out constant reminders!
• Having incentives, such as free food, encourages students to participate in events.

Challenges

• Many students had trouble finding their sizes during the swap, so they could not participate in the event.
• The way some of the images for the AR labels printed prevented Artivive from reading the image, so the contrast and sharpness of the image had to be altered.

Question

• How much information should be included on the poster?

Tip of the Week

With one of the clubs I am a part of on Grounds, a posting schedule is sent out to the leaders. With this schedule, a few people post about an upcoming event each day leading up to the event. This pushes knowledge about the event in an efficient manner.

What do I plan to work on next week?

• The SustainabiliTEAM and I will finish our design document and poster.
• I will continue to prepare for the final showcase.

Week 14

What I Did

On April 22, the Women's Maker Program Spring 2022 Cohort held our final showcase and guided tour of Gallery 4.

3 Most Beneficial Things I Learned

• Practice speeches beforehand with all members that are presenting. This ensures that the presentation will not go over time.
• Seeing the culmination of all our work was really gratifying! Displaying all of our work over the semester helped me to realize how far we all have come over the residency.
• Not all panels will or are meant to rip apart a team's work. The panelists gave us positive feedback and suggestions during the showcase.

Challenges

• I did not know how fast I should talk throughout my recording for the interactive wall, so I recorded multiple versions and picked the speed that I liked the best.
• We ran into technical difficulties during the final showcase, but we learned to roll with what was happening.

Wisdom of the Week