What did you learn?
I learned a lot through the entire process: defining the topic, daily practice, systems map, narrowing down the scope, interviews, prototyping and user tests. There was more time to prepare for this topic than the last topic, so I had more space to explore and brainstorm. However, I found this topic much more challenging than the last one, and especially to design from scratch with no actual limitations. The social problems that I care about are all difficult to investigate and design in a short amount of time. It's easier to create from a given topic/keywords, like the first topic.
What feedback did you receive? Any reflections on critique itself?
Did not receive much feedback. One feedback I got was thinking that my final product was not related to my original topic (question raised), did not solve the problem I asked and perhaps should try another approach. Reflecting on the process, I spent most of my time researching on the "elderly wellbeing" topic and did not focus too much on how we can incorporate technology, mainly because wellbeing is the essential intention and users' need, which require a lot of research and interviews to gather information. Technology, on the other side, should be considered in the prototyping stage; it requires technical skillset to be able to build sth with technology. Therefore, my final product is only an idea/concept and a structure of the design framework.
What might you do differently in terms of process or content?
Maybe I should have reconsidered the visual, representative form of my final product - make it more creative? Using a different tone? Rethink of the type of audience? Or maybe also reconsider the main question, narrowing down even more.
What was inspiring? What parts?
Every stage is inspiring, especially the daily practice, system mapping and prototyping. I also spent time looking for exiting products and was inspired from others' designs (mobile app interface, website and voice assistance, AI, etc) - some ideas are great and some designs are beautiful. They already somehow addressing similar topics but not entirely designing for the elderly.
Revisit the assignment prompts: how did your project relate to the original prompts, in terms of critical lens, audience, tone, etc…
I have 2 types of audience (so as the tone) for my final product. One is more of an advertising/introductory webpage, designing for the general public who is interested in the topic and who'd like to help/volunteer. The other is specifically a product for elders; however I only have a website mockup & general idea - incomplete and needs additional work. Though regarding critical lens, both are cohesively relate to my topic but just different approaches.
How did you balance research and experimentation? Which is easier for you? How can you focus more on the areas that you shy away from?
Always research first and then experimentation (perhaps experimentation can also triggers additional research). I think for this topic, research was easier for me, because there's a lot of information available online and interviews are also easy because I have a clear thought on the user type/persona. Experimentation was difficult, because I'm not proficient in any type of technology (best I can do is graphic design/ UI design & mockups), so I had a hard time brainstorming the forms and how I can demonstrate my idea visually & functionally. Maybe I should have self-learned some new softwares, challenge myself a little more and try out something different.