Please help me to accelerate the process! Any idea would be helpful

[Alborz]

Hi everyone,
I’m a non-native English speaker who has started to learn UX design to earn an ability and simultaneously improve my English by practicing and reading the proper resources.
It’s quite a bit challenge!

I decided to start my very first experimental project as an innovative solution, not redesigning a pre-implemented product, so I dived into my country’s various cultural issues and examined people’s behavior. I live in Iran but it has so many governmental and political problems which I consider it has it’s root in society and the people.

So I didn’t have enough time to learn about behavior science, sociology and anthropology but I did wanted to inform misguided people since I believe the outcome would bring peace for the country and the world!

Ultimately, I found out there’s a huge bug in Iranian education system so I have to design a product which brings behavioral change and creativity improvement!

I’ve been working on this project for three months but I haven’t passed the “Ideation” part of my Design Thinking Methodology and I feel exhausted, frustrated and failed. Although I have a mentor but the whole process seems to be not suitable for a one person and solo team!!

Would you guys please help me how can I accelerate the process and actually get into a concrete idea that conducts me to a trustworthy and implemantable product?
I have time limitations and it has to be finished at least 3 months later.

[Kasturika_Ramamoorth]

Hi Alborz @Alborz

Welcome to UX Mastery! I am so happy you decided to challenge yourself both professionally, and personally. I feel quite intimidated to try out a second or third language, and so, So, more power to you

Coming to your journey into UX design, I just wanted to share that I don’t have any formal training in design, and sometimes, it does bother me. Whatever I have learned, has been through working on projects, and reading on my own. However, I’ve realized now that this lack of formal training is our super-power. As Don Norman explains, experts are a problem. Folks with expertise sometimes develop blind spots and are unable to see things from a common person’s point of view. In UX design, curiosity and an open mind are crucial. In design thinking, this is considered a crucial mindset (beginner’s mindset).

Coming to your project, it is heartening to see that you want to apply design principles to solve a big problem. Design leaders around the world, including Tim Brown and Don Norman advocate for designers to tackle major problems.

I don’t know the nature of your project, but I sense that for a first UX project, I think your topic may be a bit too much to tackle. This may explain your frustration. I’m not sure if you have the time to pursue a different topic (I’m guessing not). But even within the topic of your choice, perhaps you can consider taking one small part of the problem space. Your problem definition seems too large - especially for a single person to be tackling.

Also, since you mentioned that you are working solo, I would highly recommend working, or at the very least, bouncing off some ideas with friends or peers. This will help you get fresh perspectives and perhaps prompts for more ideas.

When in doubt, just do it! It is possible that you have some ideas that you are self-rejected. Why not try prototyping an idea (no matter how silly it might seem to you) and testing it out. You’ll move forward, and possibly learn something new after testing it out that might help you generate more ideas.

And finally, sometimes, when you work very hard on a problem, you can begin to miss crucial pieces. Try taking a short break (time permitting, of course) and revisit your problem statement with a fresh pair of eyes. It’s like looking for a pen on your desk, and not being able to find it. And then when you’re not looking for it, you see the pen, in plain sight, right in front of you

Sometimes, trying to rush through a project can end up slowing you down. Try to take a step back and evaluate your progress – you’ve already made it halfway there in identifying the problem space. I’m sure you’ll be able to muddle through and complete your project!

I hope this helps!

[Alborz]

Thank you so much Kasturika,
It was really inspiring, motivational and helpful!
Honestly, I’ve searched for every case study I could find due to the problem statement I defined. afterwards I found an application called " Vroom " which had the exact solution I was looking for.

they even had teams with huge members for research and implementation and had spent years for usability tasting supported by real scientists . so it means that I just have to simulate my users and build my own product following “Vroom” project approach right? as Pablo Picasso says: “ Good artists copy , great artists steal , I might be able to steal some design principals!

I’m not exactly sure is it alright to do such these things? I mean is it common in design specially UX design?

[Kasturika_Ramamoorth]

I’m glad that you found my inputs valuable

Regarding your project - I’m not sure if you’re intending to go ahead and build a product, or wanting to put together a portfolio. If using for a portfolio, I would highly recommend not going into the “great artists steal mode”! What I would recommend, however, is to conduct usability studies on the app, talk to some users, and find out if there’s any way to improve the product. You could create a journey map to identify opportunities that Vroom doesn’t provide. Most importantly, please always credit and acknowledge that you have looked at Vroom, and your case study is trying to improve upon the product.

If you’re going ahead and building a product, then, well, you may be infringing on copyrights or patents. If you can extract design patterns and apply it to your product, then that would be okay. In UX design, reusing common design patterns is a good thing. For example, if the logo of a website is usually on the top left, that’s because users are accustomed to finding them there. Similarly, if you find that a particular application allows users to interact with it without logging in, that again would be worth pursuing. When people expect an application to look or behave a certain way, then it is good UX practice to reuse those patterns. In UX, being different, for the sake of being different is usually not good.

Again, please, please be mindful of copyright laws, and in general, of copying work – none of us would want our work to be stolen. So it is only morally and ethically right that we also respect other people’s hard work and effort.

I hope this helps some clarify your doubts

[Alborz]

Thank you so so much!!!
Your answer was a close solution to most of the doubts I had.

I’m impressed by your simple and direct guidance and it is really encouraging and helpful. I’m extremely satisfied.

I’ve been struggling for almost three weeks. Actually and I feel that I’ve done nothing!
I did research and interviews and even created personas but the next step didn’t seem to be easy.

So I’ve got an idea now, considering that it is an experimental project for portfolio not a product, I may provide some user stories based on used elements of the Vroom website just for verification of my research. Then try to redesign the interface according to my own users and their needs. ( I’ll use your advices right here)

Then I’ll have a low fidelity prototype. Afterwards I can turn it into high fidelity with some interaction between frames.

And I guess thats enough for sending resume and starting an internship, is that right?

[Kasturika_Ramamoorth]

I think that sounds great!

I’m happy you found my inputs valuable Best wishes for your project!