After completing the first week of my guitar lesson prototype, I realized I underestimated how much I remembered. I quickly got bored with the exercises I was doing and found that I wanted to get right into learning the songs. I decided to change the timeline a little so that the reviewing of chords is only one week rather than two so I can get back into learning songs and doing what I enjoy. I also found that playing songs is great practice for chords and strumming.
My favorite part about the prototype was the journaling aspect which I did not expect. This addition was kind of an after thought, but it was what I looked forward to the most. Listing my accomplishments and reflecting on my struggles made me feel like I was really making progress. Identifying my frustrations helped focus me in my other practice sessions. Another important tool that helped motivate me to practice was my reward/punishment system. On days where I didn’t really feel like playing, I did a 20 or 30 minute workout to get my body moving. Usually afterwards, I felt productive and wanted to do something with my day–namely guitar. Also, to reward myself for practicing, I would eat some ice cream or cookies since I usually practiced after dinner.
My experience with this design was productive and positive. I was reminded of the things I really enjoyed doing, and making that Brainstorming list has really helped me when I catch myself being bored. With 50 items on a list, at least one of them would make me feel better. Moving into the Prototype, I wasn’t really sure how to create something that would truly make me relearn guitar the way I wanted to. Making something aesthetically pleasing and simple seemed the best place to start, and after creating my original timeline I pushed myself to expand on it. I think that this design changed my experience during quarantine because it made me do more with my day than just stare at screens. I could rest my eyes and take pride in listening to music that I am playing with my own hands. Being in quarantine, it is hard to find things to be proud of doing, but playing guitar was extremely rewarding.
I would love to expand this idea into more weeks with more songs that I can add to my skills. Also, implementing review in the plan so that I don’t forget any old songs that I have learned. Also, if there was a way to make this into a challenge with two people, competition would definitely aid in learning quicker and better. Creating a community within this challenge could add a ‘wow factor’ that brings people together in a time of isolated crisis.
My overall experience with the design process was rewarding. I do wish that we had the opportunity to work with our small businesses to create a website, but this was rewarding in a different way. This process gave me an awareness of my own actions and a choice to do more with my day than just watch television and be scared of becoming sick. Beautiful things can still happen and exist among a crisis.
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