Minor Project

28.03.2022 - 15.07.2022 (Week #1 - Week #16)

Seerat Tayyab Mukhtar Qureshi - 0345576 (BDCM)

Minor Project

All progress

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1. Lecture

Week #1: 

This week Mr Mike introduced us to the minor project and the different options we have. There were the following:

NFT Marketing

WaterED Book

Food in The City (West Bohemia University)

Daikin

My groupmates (Emma, Ariessa, Rhyanne, Patricia and Filia) and I picked out Food in The City which is related to composting. 

Week #2:

This week we looked at design thinking and creating personas. Mr Mike introduced us to the concept of how to make personas and how they are beneficial for our project. We looked at some examples of successful projects around the world and what drove them. We identified the target audiences of those projects and the problems they faced.

Week #3:

This week for our lecture Mr Mike introduced us to empathy mapping and how that can help us understand our target audiences better. He showed us a template and then we worked together on our Miro to create an empathy map for our personas. 

2. Instructions

Module Information Booklet

3. Minor Project 

Week #1:

We met the West Bohemia students for the first time this week and we were given the task of collecting and documenting our own bio-waste for a week to see what we produce in our group. We completed our group with 2 students from West Bohemia, Alex and Eliška.

Week #2:

We worked on some individual research in class first. 

Fig 1.0: Individual research

After doing some individual research, Mr Mike gave the lecture on personas. Then we combined as a group and made some personas. 

Fig 1.1: Our group's personas

In Friday's session with the West Bohemia students, we brainstormed questions we could use for the survey. Mr Mike told us just to dump all the questions and ideas we had onto the Miro board. 

Fig 1.2: Questionnaire progress

Week #3:

We worked as a group on our empathy maps. 

Fig 1.3: Our empathy map

There was no session with the West Bohemia students this Friday because it was a public holiday for Good Friday, so Mr Mike talked to us about what to do next regarding our survey.

Fig 1.4: Personas for the survey

Week #4:

This week we finalised our survey and made small changes before sending it out.

Fig 1.5: Survey Questionnaire

Week #5:

We did not reach our target numbers so we researched some groups to join and send the survey to before beginning our analysis.

Fig 1.6: Joining Facebook groups

Week #6:

This week we managed to reach 80 respondents for our survey and proceeded with our analysis.

Fig 1.7: Questionnaire Analysis

Week #7:

This week we worked on our insights discovery using the data from our questionnaire analysis.

Fig 1.8: Our Insights Discovery

After a consultation with Mr Mike, we worked on our problem statement and our how might we statements.

Fig 1.9: Our Problem Statement

Fig 2.0: How Might We Statements

Week #8: 

Although it was Independent Learning Week, we still had a consultation with Mr Mike and worked on our customer journey map.

Fig 2.1: Customer Journey Map

We had to refine it a bit more and come up with more specific touch points.

Fig 2.2: Refined touch points

Week #9:

This week we started on our art direction and logo sketches. We came up with some brand name ideas as well.

Fig 2.3: First Mood board Ideas

Our mood board still needed more work. In the meantime, I worked on the logo designs and brand identity. We also received renders of the composter from the WBU students. However, it was in only one colour so we asked if could get more colours.

Fig 2.4: Composter Renders

Week #10:

This week we finalised the logo and brand identity and worked on the packaging design and other collaterals. We also received the new renders from the WBU students.

Fig 2.5: New Colours

Fig 2.6: Design Process

Mr Mike said the logo and packaging were fine but the posters needed more work and we needed more visual references.

Fig 2.7: Updated Mood Boards

With the new mood board, I reattempted the posters.

Fig 2.8: Poster attempts

Patricia also worked on our social media posts.

Fig 2.9: Social Media Post attempts

Mr Mike said that the posters were looking a bit dated and maybe I should reevaluate my approach.

Week #11:

The logos and brand identity have been finalised. The posters are on their way as well I need to keep working with my references and Rhyanne's packaging design.

Compeasy Brand Guideline by Seerat Qureshi

Fig 3.0: Compeasy Brand Guideline 

Week #12:

This week I tried a new approach for the posters. My group mates also kept working on the social media and instruction manual. 

Fig 3.1: Design Progress

Mr Mike liked the new approach. He said I should use more photos and human elements in order to appeal to the personas we have created. I should address the concerns and pain points in my design as well.

Week #13:

I used more pictures in my posters. Rhyanne helped me find some nice pictures that suited our brand. Ariessa also worked on the website and I helped her with the copywriting.

Fig 3.2: Poster Progress

Fig 3.3: Website Progress

Fig 3.4: Social Media Progress

Emma and Filia worked on finding some stock footage to include in the videos. This week Mr Mike liked the posters and said the images were great. He said, however, that the social media has graphic shapes which make it inconsistent with the posters so we need to rework that as a group.

Week #14 & 15:

We worked on our slides and project document in preparation for the final presentation. I found a template and added some elements from our branding.

Fig 3.5: Final Presentation Slides PDF

Fig 3.6: Final Project Tracking Document PDF

4. Feedback:

Week #2: Mr Mike looked at our personas and explained to us why we have to create them. He mentioned our survey questions should be targeted toward these personas we have created.

Week #3: This week we showed Mr Mike our survey progress and he told us some general ways to improve it. We should number our questions and be a bit more specific for some of the questions. He also helped us with the wording of some of the questions to make them clearer.

Week #4: We finalised our survey with some last changes as advised by Mr Mike. He suggested we add some pictures and visuals to assist our respondents. For the suitable size question, he said to add in a visual to show the measurements and dimensions for easier understanding.

Week #5: Since our survey response was low due to it being a bit long, we consulted with Mr Mike on whether we can make it a bit shorter or not. He said that it would be best not to because we need all the information we can get. He said we should keep pushing it and try and get sufficient responses by next week.

Week #6: After getting sufficient responses, we analysed the results and showed them to Mr Mike. He looked over our insights and said that it was good and we should move on to the Insights and Problem Statement section in our Miro. We worked on that and showed it to him but he said that some of our Key Themes did not make sense. The problem statement also needed more work since it did not go well with our personas. We should rewrite it to suit our personas.

Week #7: We reworked our problem statement and did the How Might We statements as well. They weren't perfect. The HMW statements in particular needed more work as they were a bit repetitive. We need to break them down and use our Key Themes and Problem Statements.

Week #8: We showed Mr Mike our customer journey map and he said that we need to be a lot more specific and really think about the route we want our customers to take and their experience with the brand. We need to relook at some of our personas and make sure it aligns with our brand. We also showed some of our logo design progress and Mr Mike told us to come up with a brand that really highlights our USP.

Week #9: We refined our customer journey map and Mr Mike was happy with the new version since it was more specific and clear. He also liked my Compeasy logo and the meaning behind it so I can proceed with making the rest of the brand identity.

Week #10: This week we showed Mr Mike our designs. He said the posters needed a lot of work and they weren't following a system of any sort. I should make sure I back up my design choices with proper references. Our mood board also needs a lot of work and needs to be refined and made consistent. For our website, a flowchart needs to be done before the wireframe and we need to work a bit faster. 

Week #11: Mr Mike said my posters look a bit dated and the retro approach is not blending well with the rest of the brand. The retro/vintage art direction is quite difficult to blend for a modern look that fits the brand and the product. The packaging design works and looks believable but using the same style for the rest of the collaterals, has yet to be realised. We should also work on trying to obtain the 3D files from the WBU students.

Week #12: The new poster approach is working better. The posters need more humans in them to connect with the personas. Also, I should consider using food-related shots as this is about food waste. Pick more relevant photos that connect well with your personas.

Week #13: The posters are looking fine. Mr Mike said they have improved a lot with the precise use of great photos. The IG is also getting there. However, there are the graphic shapes of the arch window and the squares and this conflicts with the posters. Either they should be everywhere or nowhere.

Week #14: The progress is looking good we can start working on our presentation. Mr Mike advised that we can work on one large deck like our seniors did and then skip the slides we don't want to use.

Week #15: In our final consultation, Mr Mike looked through our slides. He said they were looking good and advised a few small changes to make. He said that the product shots should be a bit bigger since it is the star of the show. We should also crop some of the product images so that the composter is the main focus. The survey data needs to be made a but more graphic and not be presented as bullet points. For our research part, when presenting we should skim through it as it would be very lengthy and boring. 

5. Reflection

Experience: Minor project has kind of been a crazy experience, to be honest. It did not go the way I was expecting it to go at the start of the semester. The experience was a bit similar to the Social Innovation Project module we did but a lot more in-depth. I liked the researching part but to be honest the designing part was a bit of a whirlwind. The experience of collaborating with the West Bohemia students was nice...in theory, I guess? To be candid, it felt a bit underwhelming and not so much of a "collaboration." I wish we had communicated with them more or that we had a larger part in designing the product. Nevertheless, we still had a lot to learn from it, especially on how to work with people overseas and more importantly all the different challenges that arise from it that you can never anticipate or predict. I think the experience could be enhanced a bit more if students had a wider choice of topics to pick from so that they may pick something they are more interested in but then again we only have about 14 weeks so having the topic sorted out is more time-saving.

Observations: I observed that although the structure felt similar to SIP, the approach was a bit different. In SIP we did not actually have to produce all the applications but for Minor Project we did. I observed that sometimes the design thinking process felt a bit boring. Although I did understand its significance in our research and making our work actually useful to people. I observed all the different directions the other Food In The City groups were taking and it was interesting to see that some ideas were similar.

Findings: I found that Minor Project has been an important lesson on collaboration for me. Whether it was the internal communication of our group or with the WBU students, there were hiccups and problems everywhere. I found that it is important to overcome them and problem solve but also to know when to raise concerns and ask for intervention. I have definitely learned a lot more than just about design thinking and product designing from this module. We had our fair share of problems and in the end, we did manage to get through it looking back I can clearly see where I would go back and improve or do something different. I think having this hindsight means I have learnt and grown in the duration of this module and am able to clearly see what I gained from it. 

Overall, minor project has definitely been an educational experience. I have learnt valuable lessons on communication and collaboration and look forward to applying my newfound knowledge and skills.

Thank you, Mr Mike