1. Setting the scene
And just like that…it's nearly over! We're fast approaching the final deadline for this module and I'm spending the last few days reading back over my blog entries, reflecting on what I've been able to achieve over the past 12 weeks – and where I'd like to go next.
2. Satisfaction and self-discovery
2.1. My 'satisfaction tracker'
Looking back at my 'satisfaction tracker' – the five-point scale I used to measure my feelings towards the work I produced each week – I feel encouraged and proud to see a general trend of increased satisfaction with my progress as the module went on. In the first 4 weeks or so, I typically start the week feeling 'nervous', 'overwhelmed', and 'anxious'. As the course progresses, however, I use words and phrases like 'excited', 'encouraged, 'enjoyed exploring', and 'pleased with my progress' to describe my feelings towards my learning.
This written sentiment self-analysis matches my overall feelings about my journey through this module. I remember feeling excited to get going – but also experiencing near-crippling doubt towards the beginning about what I was going to do and how I would ever be able to produce the required assignment work. At that point, I was less focused on the learning process and building up my understanding bit by bit, and more on the fact that I wasn't yet already 'good enough' to produce the standard of assignment I wanted to achieve.
In essence, I was frustrated with myself for not being able to run before I could walk, while also failing to enjoy the beauty of the forest by being laser-focused on the trees.
As the weeks have gone on, however, I've noticed a marked shift in my attitude – both towards my learning process and towards myself. Particularly in comparison to the previous module (UX Research), I've felt much calmer and more positive towards my learning. I've begun to lean into and enjoy the process of building up my knowledge bit by bit, rather than feeling I have to know everything about everything straight away.
2.2. Embracing the learning process and tempering my perfectionism
I think this might have happened for a couple of reasons. For one, experiencing a few health struggles during this module has started to shift my mindset from one of (at times relentless) perfectionism towards one of acceptance that nothing is perfect – and that is perfectly okay. Nothing is worth damaging your health for. I firmly believe that I'll always maintain an attitude of wanting to do my best in everything I set out to achieve, from my day-to-day work as I progress in my career, to my personal goals and ambitions. But that always needs to be carefully balanced with what's best for my long-term health and happiness.
Another reason is my shifting attitude towards seeking feedback and sharing my work with others. I find it extremely difficult to show others things that I've produced unless I feel confident that they will react positively towards them. For that to happen, I need to feel positive about what I've created – which is something I've always struggled with. As Kelley and Kelley (2014: 121) remind us, when you're a perfectionist, "you want everything to be “just right” before you commit further or share something with others. That tendency leads us to wait rather than act, to perfect rather than launch." This module, I've made a much more concentrated effort to share my work with peers, even when I don't think it's 'quite right' or 'quite good enough yet'.
The feedback I've received from my tutors, peers, and colleagues has been vital to my learning process. To help me create and maintain a culture of regular feedback in my professional UX practice, I now plan to send out monthly feedback requests on at least one project per month and to review the inputs regularly with my manager.
Finally, starting to think more deeply about what I want to achieve as a result of completing this module – and, indeed, completing the MA as a whole – has helped me to embrace the learning process as incremental and lifelong, rather than a quick-fix solution.
I originally started this Master's with the intention of becoming a UX Designer. Since then, I have found work as a UX Writer, and begun to explore UX Research. I enjoy all of these areas near equally, which has left me less sure about the exact direction I'd like to take my career after my MA is complete. This realisation would likely have filled me with doubt just a few months ago – now, I'm starting to see it as an exciting opportunity to continue to explore all of my interests, looking for the connections between them and figuring out which elements I enjoy the most so that I can craft a career path that works best for me.
2.3. SMART goals
After completing this module, I'm considering taking a short break from my formal studies, to focus on feeling more comfortable and confident in my UX Writing role, as well as to pursue some other personal goals and ambitions. However, there are several learning goals I'd also like to continue to work towards to put myself in the best position for part 2 of my Master's programme:
2.3.1. Get even more comfortable with Figma
While I'm extremely pleased with the progress I've made in getting to grips with Figma's more advanced prototyping and animation functionalities, I want to go even more in-depth into the tool's library and component set features, so that I can create high-fidelity designs supported by professional and in-depth design systems. To solidify my Figma foundations, I plan to complete Daniel Scott's Figma UI UX Design Essentials and Figma UI UX Design Advanced courses (2023) before starting the next module (see Fig. 1 for an example of my course projects so far).
Fig. 1: One of my projects as part of the Figma UI UX Design Essentials course
2.3.2. Deep-dive into content research
As a firm believer in the power and importance of words, I want to dive deeper into the concept of 'content research' to test and iterate on my copy suggestions and ensure I'm proposing just the right words to help users achieve their goals. I've recently signed up for the UX Content Collective's UX Content Research & Testing course (2023), which involves learning how to conduct content research at every design phase, as well as completing a final project by conducting live user tests with UX research platform User Testing. I plan to complete the course before the start of the next module and to apply my learnings to my professional practice on an ongoing basis.
3. Conclusions
I can honestly say that I've really enjoyed the incremental learning process I've followed throughout this module. I hope to continue embracing this much healthier attitude to learning both in my academic and professional career. I know that I'll never know everything – but having an idea of the things I'd like to learn and taking some of the pressure off myself to master them instantly will help me not only to get to where I want to be, but also to enjoy the view along the way.
4. References
KELLEY, David and Tom KELLEY. 2014. Creative Confidence. London: William Collins.
SCOTT, Daniel. 2023. ‘Figma UI UX Design Essentials’. Bring Your Own Laptop [online]. Available at: https://bringyourownlaptop.com/courses/figma-ux-essentials-beginners [accessed 22 April 2023].
SCOTT, Daniel. 2023. ‘Figma UI UX Design Advanced’. Bring Your Own Laptop [online]. Available at: https://bringyourownlaptop.com/courses/figma-ui-ux-design-advanced-training-course-tutorial [accessed 22 April 2023].
UX CONTENT COLLECTIVE. 2023. 'UX Content Research & Testing'. UX Content Collective [online]. Available at: https://uxcontent.com/content-research-testing/ [accessed 22 April 2023].
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