Ailsise Burns

So this post is a quick update on what I have been working on in the last month of placement!

So major milestone, I have been working on a project independent from the rest of the UX team and it was super intimidating at first (still is) but I am getting through it, and I haven’t messed up yet! So I have been attending meetings to recognise the pain points for the client, looking at competitor analysis, workflows, personas and empathy maps- I can’t wait to actually do a mini project to show you guys some of my work, layout and technique! I have been pushing myself with communication, with explaining my ideas so I can add context to my questions to show what my understanding, so if the client believes I am incorrect they can tell me what it is I am actually incorrect about.

I have had to better present journeys and bring a professional presentation- so my scratchy drawings are definitely not that! I have tried to take this on like the team generally would , by following the process. I have met all the deadlines to date, and have been explaining the project and giving the team updates on the progress. I am still working throughout the team, switching from project to project, making it a bit easier every day, as I am not just doing the one thing. I have definitely learnt on this project to ask for criticism, in my eyes its better for me to ask my team mates for advice and critique, rather than the client pointing these issues out.

I have also been working on some git just really beginners commands, something where if I get the basics hopefully I will grasp everything else.

I have been consistently working on m placement report, it has been difficult in knowing how I should write it, a lot of people have different approaches and styles with their writing, something I am still trying to figure out myself.

My placement has been extended another three months which is sad, but exciting? I’m overjoyed to be kept on even a bit longer, however, I am sad that I cannot stay throughout my final year- I have enjoyed working at Qarik and loved the opportunities, I will be sad to leave! I am trying to work out how I am going to try get a job, ideally I would prefer to try get one in this industry but as I am not graduated it could be difficult, which will be sad as I would prefer not to go back to hospitality work!

I am aiming to try give my website a refresh, I was initially going to try and do it with a new brand etc but how long that will take I am not sure. If I am unable to find work August would be my aim to try get a whole new site and brand up and running- one of the benefits of that is because I have more resources than I previously knew about on code so I should hopefully find it easier this time round. 

In my own personal life, I finally finished the flower illustration below, I will be continuing to learn more about procreate and will hopefully be aiming to go to some more meets! 

So one whole year of placement! Exactly one year ago was my first day, and I remember sitting in  a ‘stand up’ meeting being super confused and feeling a little intimidated at how the year ahead would look- never in a million years did I think it would fly by as quickly as it did! This post is a reflection of my overall year- don’t worry I will be posting my monthly post on specifically what I have been up to later today!

So originally I should be finishing today, but fortunately my placement has been extended for another 3 months, which is exciting but sad knowing my time at Qarik will be coming to an end.

This year my whole life has been flipped on its head, with changes in family dynamics, struggles of being unwell and living in the middle of a pandemic nobody anticipated! 

First I want to touch on Covid, how it affected my placement opportunities and how it changed the way we all worked. When the pandemic hit, it was a shock, but I seen it as a new possibility, it gave me a drive to become more proactive in looking for placement and without it I may never have landed a role where I could work in Qarik, work at home or push myself as much as I did. It has taught me to adapt and not to underestimate myself- although it has helped me with going to meets which I would usually avoid due to anxiety and had let me to gradually be more vocal and confident- even if it isn’t face to face it is still something. I have missed out on the traditional placement opportunities, such as studying body language, face to face user interviews, travel and actually meeting my co-workers, - something I have still not done one year down the line! But I learnt to interpret things online, become better at verbal communication and it has taught me different skills such as collaborating online only- something previous placement students didn’t have as much exposure to.

Things I have learnt in placement have been amazing, I have tried to take all opportunities thrown my way and really commit to being more versatile and confident in my work. I have learnt new things such as softwares and code, being a part of a professional diverse team and dealing with clients that could range from an everyday user to the owner of a multi-billionaire company. I have learnt that good work should be recognised and rewarded, and to reinvest in yourself- something I did, by buying an iPad and Apple Watch, let's just say it was for work purposes and not because I was dying to get my hands on them!!  I have learnt preparation is the key to success, and learnt to work smarter not harder- so you don’t burn yourself out or waste time on insignificant things, because when it comes to the things that really matter you will be sick of looking at it!

I was taught the UX process as a whole, and now have an understanding on how my tutor’s teachings really come into play in an everyday work environment! I now understand the importance of the user, design for the user, with them in mind in every component, element, layout colour and theme - if you do, your product will be a success - always take their opinions on board and really explain the importance of their input! Make them feel involved and that they have had their say and they will value and appreciate your work a whole lot more!

I wanted to use placement to try absorb all I can- use the time, the resources and the opportunity to better prepare myself for future jobs, clients and university deadlines. I wanted to improve and reinforce my techniques, methods and understanding while not being afraid to put myself out there to try things such as coding and git! A really key thing I learnt as well was take on board what more experienced designers say, use their knowledge and experience to make informed choices, they are a really valuable resource as well!

I have tried to improve areas I was weaker in such as wire framing, simplifying journeys and making it a more appealing for users. I definitely believe my higher fidelity wireframes are a massive improvement, and to be honest I believe all I needed was to dedicate a bit more time and finesse to them.

I have really took on board what other designers and employees have told me - which was life really does run away on you, take the weekends, take those breaks, use your holiday days and chill out- appreciate what's in front of you and try not to burn yourself out- because you health and happiness is key, and taking that weekend off and have a digital detox, it makes you a better worker!

I can definitely say I have a new appreciation for UX and the digital industry, because it isn’t limiting- one day you could be working in the financial sector, next day you could be working with a client who is an online retailer, or a hospitality sector, or something like gaming. It really is limitless, so not only are you learning and practicing UX but your having an exposure to all these other lines of work, your building an understanding and it can be really exciting looking at what they do, understanding your clients and their job.

One thing I definitely took away from uni was the saying ‘say yes and shit yourself later!’ Just throw yourself into the deep end , you only get one placement year, you only get this chance to mess up once. Once you are qualified and in a graduate job you don’t get the luxury to say your a placement student, people don’t have expectations for you to get everything right first go, for you to understand what they are talking about all of time- so ask questions, do that presentation and get nervous and mess up while you can! One thing Qarik has definitely taught me has been to grab every opportunity with both hands and have fun with it! I really couldn’t imagine having a better placement.

Another month on placement, another blog post to update yous all what I have been up to! 

So since the last check in there have been approximately 3 more projects started - which were mainly focusing on the UX team working together with the pre-sales team, when it comes to new clients, what they need from Qarik and what we think are the goals we can achieve by working together. It has been really fun to be apart of this as I have never really thought about what happens before we get a client- what meetings need to be had, what our proposals would be like it has been really interesting and educational for me to find these out and see that how this whole process works.

The new projects called for some independent research, it was surrounding a whole new subject area I have never worked on and never had a lot of exposure - unfortunately I can’t delve deeper into this as I don't want to disclose anything I’m not supposed to. But due to this I did a lot of background research so I could understand the area more- it was really exciting and showed me how UX really allows you to explore different areas and be exposed to new and exciting topics everyday!

Placement Visit was this month! I was really nervous thinking about university and had I learnt enough etc. I ensured I was well prepared by making a slide deck 3 weeks before the deadline, having topics to discuss and examples of my work - wireframes, brainstorms and more professional final product wireframes. By having this ready I was more calm and felt more prepared. Kyle was really impressed that I had used what I learnt in uni, had continued to grow in areas I am strong in, improve the areas I am weakest in and that I had tried new things that uni could not expose me to, as well as improving social and workplace skills, as long as I keep up what I am currently doing final year shouldn’t be as difficult! Something that was music to my ears!

With Uni in mind I have made the effort once placement visit is over, to look at past placement reports, focusing on structure and layout as well as how they incorporate design and the company. I have content sections and what needs to go in each drafted as well as a fully written draft- however, this will need to be amended and improved- nothing is ever perfect!

I have started thinking about uni without it being my main focus, by thinking about future projects and how I could approach the new with new skills and hopefully more confidence in my work, I have began making lists( MY FAVOURITE) on preparing myself going into final year and what the best options could be for me - financially and academically.

I have also learnt a new aspect of UX - SUS scoring which tests usability and gives a score for the product - something I had never come across or ever thought of using! Definitely something to keep in my back pocket for final year.

I have some meet planned - one being with CPHUX - which is based in Copenhagen, but due to remote it gives me the opportunity to join from my own room in Ireland! I can’t wait and will be actively looking for a range of UX meets- surely variety gives me more opportunities and exposure!

I have been working on some illustrations- one completed, another more detailed still in the works.

The above is completed, I am not overly fond as it looks unfinished but I was trying to focus on a range of tools.

Another month of placement, and more things learnt!

We have been focused on an internal project lately, which has been so refreshing after my initial 10 months was focused on one client to a point. It has been really fun and insightful, as we have been working with an external branding team, something I cover in university - but seeing it in practice really shows how effective it is and with a sneak peek into the process has been really different for me.

I have been carrying out some different research techniques, both with the team until I am familiar then Independently. It consists on Competitor analysis, user journeys, user personas and empathy maps. I have always been familiar with competitor analysis and user personas, but they have always been quite vague, this has shown me a new way to do it. I never really did empathy mapping or user journeys, but seeing how one feeds into the other has confirmed why they should all be used in each process.

I have also taken part in project planning, so estimating how long each process will take, what comes next and how setting deadline will be more helpful in motivating yourself- something I think that will be extremely useful in future.

I found that doing this project internally has been really helpful to get first hand experience with the client - yes, it may be our own company- but it shows how their criticism is only constructive and how they like to be involved in the processes just as much as anyone else. It also means you can see it from a client stand point when working with the external branding guys - you get to experience how being presented work is just not enough - you really value being walked through the processes.

We have been also looking into IA (Information Architecture) and you can see that within sites there is nothing more precious- whilst doing competitor analysis you could clearly see how some business’s had a lack of care towards this, and continued to add content upon content and how confusing as a user this can be and how frustrating it is to complete a simple task.

I worked on mood boarding, something I never took a lot of consideration with in my own work - but doing this for a project I will be working on, you can see the value and how inspiring it can be, you think about themes etc. It is done using slides, which is more helpful to the point that you don't worry about whether elements are interactive or not you can still include them - it is also more helpful with theming the mood board sections.

I also participated in a watercooler activity with Gavan - one of the presidents of the company- it was super daunting, but it turned out to be really enjoyable and I learnt alot about him and vice versa - as he originally lived here before moving to America.

I have been trying to keep up with going to local meets - and I went to the Ladies of UX - A very social gathering, it was really fun, but I unfortunately had to drop due to having plans with my family but I still joined for as long as I could, which has to be worth something right?

Unfortunately due to the workload of the new project - Javascript is still on hold, I don't really mind this due to being able to learn new techniques in UX and workshops. I have also been having a crazy busy personal life lately, so illustrations have been on hold as well as personal project of renewing my site - but everything I am learning in work will contribute to it.

So this is definitely a little later than what I would prefer, and I will soon enough be giving my 10 month update anyways! But better late than ever!

So 9 months have come and gone, what have I learnt? I have learnt that speaking up in the workplace helps you find your feet, talking through ideas can be daunting but it is what needs to be done!

The last month we looked at documentation, as we wrap up a large project we must use confluence to show our research and epics points - so the problems we have, how did we solve them and the final outcomes of each! Documentation can be lengthly and slightly boring, but it is needed for the clients, therefore we do it! This documentation is part of our handing off to the client, so as we begin to implement their new systems we must show why and how we got to this point, it can sometimes help with functionality, and how to use it too. We have learnt as a team that perhaps we should do this as we complete these epics, so it isn’t such a long process at the end.

My Javascript hasn't progressed a whole lot since the last update, but thankfully it isn’t negative. I have been super busy working independently and collaborating with the others in the team to finish story points, wrap everything up as well as working on some last minute requests from the clients. 

I definitely feel my work has began to develop and become more professional, especially in the sense that I am thinking more on the user’s journey and how can we make this easier for them, while considering functionality and accessibility.

Planning sessions, especially coming to the end is key to have UX/UI and API teams fully aligned with what needs to be done, and how can we use the simplest ideas for the biggest affects.

So I read this article today, which is so true right now, especially in our industry. I have definitely found since working at home it gives you more time and freedom to learn and develop your own personal skills. 

I have learnt from being on placement, you need to learn to be flexible and saying no isn’t really an option if you want to grow and progress in your field and in your job. In uni I would go for options that would naturally just make me comfortable such as research, but on placement I have been given the opportunity to do more visual work, which has in return taught me to not underestimate myself, what I was lacking in my work was tools, resources and technique on getting more efficient and effective methods of doing wireframes and visual work, and not to overthink!

So another month has flew by, especially because I have had a nice break over Christmas! 

So coding first, I am half through my basics for Javascript coding, it can be a little challenging to wrap my head around, especially when working from home as you can get someone to point to your screen and help where your going wrong, but it is helping me to work more independently because of this. It is more time-consuming this way but I feel like I am actually learning better from this method as there is no real easy way out.

Tools wise, I haven't been using many more, except learning to play about with coding software and learn git and stash a little better, and using good notes for taking notes and brainstorming.

Website updates - I am still working on my rebranding, once I get the colours and brand sorted I feel like I won’t struggle too much getting it up and ready to go.

I have been keeping to my promise to illustrate more, with two new pieces added to my instagram - learning the softwares can be the hardest part, as I know exactly what I want to execute but finding a way to do it is the difficult part. Here are some of my illustrations below.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been at any more meets, Not 100% sure but wasn’t notified for any, but hopefully will be back to it in full swing as life becomes a bit more normal after Christmas!

In regards to actual work, as a team there has been a lot of wrapping up being done with a large project we were all focused on, so some of my main tasks was evaluating it and comparing it to our objectives etc. I also began working separately on a task which allowed me to think of some questions for a questionnaire surrounding the workplace, I don't want to delve any deeper as I am not sure what is /isn’t confidential!

So life as hit the fast forward button and somehow I am 7 months into my placement, I decided to update one some that you may have missed! In August I had a minor op, which sort of knocked me out of sorts for a good few weeks, so since then it’s been catch up and working hard!

New skills 

Since then I approached Chris and asked to learn some code! Which has been super helpful, I have been using coursera to learn some html and css as well as beginning to learn Javascript, I had an understanding of html and css but I have never used JavaScript which has been new and hard for me to learn, so I am taking my time and hopefully by the end of my placement I will be able to contribute to the UI team in Qarik. I have also been getting some tutoring from Claire, one of the UI team members which has been super helpful - I am aspiring to learn to use a terminal more confidently and have a real understanding of git.

I have also had to learn quite quickly how to integrate into another workplaces software, as we are working for a client, we now work off their Jira, email and teams software this allows them to track our work and ensure things are being done to their standard, it has been strange working from two work laptops but it is very useful for me to learnt this in my placement - it also gives me experience in juggling more than one task management software and keeping track to multiple meeting calendars.

Personal projects

Since my last update I have bought myself an iPad Pro! So I have been starting to do some digital Illustrations which are now on my instagram! It was one of my goals to start digital illustrations and buy myself the tools to do so, and no I can happily say I have! 

I have also been making it a goal to attend all external meet ups as much as I can, such as Ladies in UX! 

I have joined a few more slack channels so I can be exposed to different people and what is going on! I have now joined NI design chat, Ladies of UX Belfast, Women in Tech and DesignTrack!

I have also been working on my website redesign, which ties into learning code again, which refreshes me and allows me to work more ambitiously, without worrying whether our not I will be able to do it or not! I will upload some of my brainstorming etc. soon!

Team updates

Another UX designer has also joined us - his name is Clark and he has been a great help since joining, opening my eyes to new tools and methods of UX with different types of workshops and tools!

We have also been doing a lot more retrospectives - which was new to me before placement - this is after every sprint or at the end of a deadline where the team come together to evaluate team work, quality of work, and communication within the team as well as setting some action points to target for the next workload. This has been invaluable to our team and really helps us raise any issues to improve and grow better together!

I have also been exposed to different project work flow management systems, such as how we tackle deadlines - which I didn’t realise was of such importance, but for big projects and big teams it is key to find the one that works the best, there are different types such as Scrums ,Waterflow, Agile, Kanban and Lean.

My work

As I previously mentioned I was working on a scheduler by myself, for functionality and a focus on user experience, I can now happily say that it was tested with clients and the usability tests gave brilliant feedback for me to work on, I made improvements and also was given some help on making it higher fidelity, this has been amazing to help and contribute to the team!

I have also been given the opportunity to work with my UX team members on ideation workshops for components and areas going forward, thinking about user flows, experience, functionality and accessibility, it has been really helpful to allow me to see how this is done in a workplace and what I learn in uni contributes to skills in work!

I have also been given opportunities to work with the client and speak through ideas and concepts by myself and have been able to go back to my team with to really important quotes, feedback and ideas for the team to work on!

My Goals going forward!

So the last while has felt like it has completely flew in so to be honest I don’t even know what week I am currently on! 

So I have been working a lot more on taking what I have learned from my research and putting into practice into my designs- it is definitely helping justifying my design decisions and how it will contribute to the user’s experience. 

I have been using Figma, and learning how to use Material Design System, which is definitely different, it is super helpful and time saving - but I have had to get used to detaching instances, which can be a bit annoying to edit- then having to consider a front end developer needing to make changes to the code and creating a hack so they can change it so it fits the design is super time-consuming, but it is great insight on how everything works between design and developing products.

So I have felt super busy throughout the weeks now- and I am definitely appreciating weekends a whole lot more - I have been doing more design work instead of working on research only- which has been really nerve-wrecking but really worthwhile in learning new methods and gaining more confidence in my work as what I do contributes to final outputs for clients. I have been working on workflows as well as some calendar repeat / schedule work- both things I have never really focused on, which is new and invaluable to learning. 

I have also been listening weekly to the Fire Founderside Talks Chris Murphy has been holding which again are invaluable, as we are being able to speak to designers we may never have had the chance to otherwise- this week was Meg Lewis- by far my favourite talk so far- it was interesting, motivating and such a feel good talk!

I have also been in some more new experiences such as workshops with clients! This had me very nervous- and to be honest still does- but what I am learning from the other designers is super helpful, and helping me understand the client’s needs and wants each day!

This week felt a little slower, due to being more settled in. I finished research in my tables and forms area, and also began looking at understanding table fields more, such as the coding behind it.