After using my prototype for a few days, I found myself making changes by essentially just ignoring some of the things I had written down. These ideas either didn’t flow well in my day or they weren’t benefitting me in the way I had initially intended. For example, the routine I strayed from the most was the nightly routine. I didn’t follow much of a schedule or routine at night other than skincare and meditation, which I added in after the fact. I also added more things specific to working out, exercising and diet. I altered the working out aspect of my prototype to make it more specific so I could have a goal for myself that was also realistic knowing my personal habits. I altered that to make it so I was doing it at least 3 to 4 times a week so I wasn’t on a strict daily schedule. Another aspect that was slightly altered was the movie and game time with my family because that is something that is not completely under my control and everyone has to be on board to participate in an activity like that. I also have just not been following it as strictly as I had initially intended, but it has worked out because it has helped me more with possible ideas for what I will do on a specific day within my routine. I also never kept up with keeping a journal as much as I would’ve liked to because I felt like the days began to get away from me. I made changes along the way and they were pretty much unintentional given that I just chose to either create something new or not do something I felt wasn’t helping me. Two other additions I had were painting and cooking, which I added to the “mood lifters” section. These were both things that I have spent a lot of time doing and have enjoyed my time doing them.
I printed out my prototype and put it on my wall above my desk, where I do most of my work and spend a lot of my time during the day. I left it the way it was and didn’t physically alter it at all. If I made changes, they were either mental or I wrote them down on my phone within my smaller and more specific daily schedules. I have definitely found myself taking advantage of the “mood lifters” section within the prototype. When I have had free time, I have either looked at the poster I had put above my desk or thought of something that I had been doing in days past that would be beneficial in my free time. I also found that when using my prototype, it became less focused on my self care and more focused on just having a general organization and routine to my days. Although it has helped significantly with focusing on self care processes and ideas, I found that it was less specific to this area than I had intended. However, I think this was a positive change because I was able to be focused on my life in general, with selfcare leading the way,
This routine and planner has definitely helped me to fill time in my days and has given me something to fall back on. I have been able to use a daily schedule that helps me to feel productive and has benefited my personal self care. I have enjoyed my experience overall and it has definitely helped me get through the weeks. I have turned my prototype into more of a routine and I have taken full advantage of making daily schedules within the ideas in the prototype. Having this prototype has actually changed my experience in small but meaningful ways. It helped me to motivate myself initially and gave me structure and guidance for how I was going to plan out the rest of my semester. It allowed me to really think about and explore new ideas that I had in the back of my mind and finally had the time to pursue them. Without this prototype and the motivation of the design challenge, I probably would’ve just gone through the motions with my time in quarantine.
I think if I were to expand on this prototype I would try to push myself harder to move out of my comfort zone. Instead of changing things on the prototype that I felt I wouldn’t be able to do well or that was too difficult, I would try to push myself to do things that I was somewhat hesitant about initially. Another way I could push myself could be changing the prototype every couple of days or after a week to make it more difficult as I get more comfortable. I would also make categories more specific, like my diet and other specific workout exercises. This corresponds with the proficiency category in the designer’s hierarchy of needs, where I would be consistently trying to make each week better and harder for me so that I actually improve and make progress with what I want to achieve. I also think this relates to the reliability category, because I need to make sure I am making a consistent effort to stay on top of what I am doing each day and week, along with my goals for the near future. The creativity category could help to push me further and make it more challenging for myself in coming up with more unique and creative ideas and habits.
In thinking about the design challenge as a whole, I have enjoyed the way this class and the design process has helped me create a new normal amongst the disruption of COVID-19. Exploring and seeking opportunities for positive change has been extremely beneficial for me and I think I will continue with this design challenge concept even beyond this class. I think I personally work well with attempting to design habits. Specifically with being at home due to COVID-19, it was helpful at the beginning with envisioning the following 6-12 weeks because I was able to map out and think about potential ideas. The concept board was one of my favorite parts of the design challenge as a whole because it made me think of many different ideas that I could potentially pursue during my time at home. In exploring a broader range of ideas, I covered many different areas of my life that I want to improve on or explore. hese ideas expanded beyond my prototype and I have started other projects and pursued other ideas that I didn’t choose to use for my final prototype. Thinking back, the processes allowed me to have something to look forward to and focus on throughout these bad times. It gave me something to be passionate about when many of the aspects of our lives that we are passionate about have been stripped away.
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