Q0 — An Understanding of Myself and Others
This first week has already taught me so much about myself and design through expected and unexpected aspects of this one year immersive program. I expected to learn about UX design and best practices to achieve an end product, but I never expected the program to listen and talk about the emotional and mental blocks that can come from this specific field of work.
Having a Growth Mindset:
These past few discussions we’ve had about engaging in a growth mindset is something I’ve come across before and have always struggled to grasp. It’s not that I don’t understand it, but more so it’s extremely difficult to implement in my daily life, especially now at AC4D. As the youngest of the group, I automatically assume I’m the least experienced and constantly feel the need to prove my worth to others. I haven’t let go of this self-concept, but our group discussions about growth mindset showed me that I’m not alone in these thoughts. Knowing that we’re still all learning, whether you’re an expert in the field or a complete beginner, is reassuring. It helps me reframe my current, more self-deprecating mindset to one that promotes acceptance of the unknown to foster growth and development. Ultimately, having a growth mindset makes you more resilient to uncertainty and forces you to get comfortable with failure because, if you let it, it can only make you stronger.
Understanding Your Team:
I’ve worked with teams in the past and it’s never been as involved or close knit as the group I’ve spent the past three days with. It’s insane to think about because I’ve only just met these people, but I’ve already found myself better understanding how others tackle problems. My group in particular spent a fair amount of time learning how we each deal with problem solving, stress, and uncertainty, as well as our differences and similarities in communication styles and thought processes. In my experience, teams tend to jump into trying to find a solution before understanding how each other works– I’m guilty of this. This can lead to uncooperative group dynamics and frustration that isn’t productive or helpful to reaching a goal. I felt this frustration at times in my group, but once we stopped and talked about what was frustrating us and why, it put into perspective how we each process thoughts, ideas, and emotions. There were times when each member of my group would have a different concept of what a task or piece of information meant, so talking it out to make sure we were all on the same page was crucial for us to move forward. Having these discussions are necessary for success and emphasizing its importance has been eye opening for me in the midst of the design process.
Get Out Of Your Head:
I’ve always been someone who keeps their ideas in their head because I’m either too afraid or lazy to actualize it. These past three days have forced me to take whatever musings I have in my mind, no matter how seemingly silly, and put it out in the world, whether that’s on 300 Post-It notes or a messy low-fidelity wireframe on paper. I think of it almost like the phrase “no regrets” because you’ll never know if you don’t at least entertain the idea and put it into some form of existence. Throughout these three days, I’ve learned to not overthink during the beginning stages of the design process and to just throw things at a wall and see what sticks (literally and figuratively). This relates to testing as well because your perception of an idea may very well differ from those of others– you’ll never know until you try. Visualizing my thoughts helps me move forward. Sure, maybe the notion did suck or maybe it didn’t, but at least now you know and won’t keep thinking “what if”.
