The initial intent of creating a “To-Do” poster was to allow me to stay organized and productive in quarantine. While it was helpful at first, I have noticed that recently, I have ignored my poster and used other ways to track my school assignments. The only aspect of the poster that I have found beneficial is the section for my 30-day workout challenge, as after each workout, I am able to cross off that specific day and see my progress. I also noticed that after creating my board, I was more focused on my fitness and school assignments. While that was part of the initial intent, I think I was so focused on those aspects of the board that I completely disregarded the self-care reminders. I want to create a more balanced routine, where I have time to complete both my assignments and self-care activities. I have decided to transform my board into a health, fitness, and self-care board, instead of a “To-Do” board. While I was interested in having a “To-Do” board that included various aspects of my daily life, I think it was distracting and I ultimately found better ways to organize and keep track of my work online. I was also inspired by some of my classmates’ projects and their focus on self-care. I decided to create a list of 30 activities that I am interested in doing over the next month. I went back to my brainstorm and started creating a list of activities and tasks I want to complete. I also decided to use pictures of each activity instead of using phrases or sentences on my board, as it is more motivating and aesthetically pleasing. This new design will allow me to cross off these activities after I complete them like my workout challenge. I think this will allow me to focus more on myself this summer and feel accomplished after completing a self-care activity. Additionally, after our last class discussion, I was inspired to create a journal and reflect on my day and productivity. While I initially wanted to journal every night, I found myself struggling to remind myself to write every single night. I also did not want to force myself to journal every night, so I decided to only write in my journal on the days or nights that I remembered or wanted to.

My “To-Do” poster has been extremely helpful in increasing my productivity and organization. After completing certain assignments or workouts, I cross off or erase that task. I usually keep a similar to-do list on my computer, however, I have found that the ability to cross off a completed task on paper is more rewarding. I have enjoyed my prototype, as it is a different version of a to-do list that I would normally use on either my computer or planner. The purpose of creating a poster was to ensure that I could always see the assignments I needed to complete and the assignments that I have yet to complete. My prototype has encouraged me to be more productive during the day with school assignments and it has also reminded me of the importance of self-care. With the 30-day workout challenge in the center of the board, it has been a constant reminder to stay active and to also focus on myself during quarantine. The first couple of weeks in quarantine were difficult, as I was unmotivated to do any of my work, however, my experience changed with my prototype, as it made me more accountable for my work and constantly reminded me of what needed to be completed that day or week. 

While using my prototype, I have noticed some flaws regarding my design that I want to alter in the future. First, I decided to use post-it notes to keep track of my assignments. I wanted to use the least amount of paper as possible, so I decided to reuse the original post-it notes for as long as they would stay on the board. I found this difficult, as the post-it notes would easily rip when erasing or fall off the board. I want to use a white-board material, so it is more sustainable and the writing can be easily erased. I also want to make a check-list for my self-care reminders, so it will motivate me to take the time out of my day to prioritize my favorite self-care activities. I think that my next step in my design would be to focus on sustainability, and to incorporate the self-care component more in my design, as it is an important factor that I need to prioritize during quarantine. I think I could also improve on the overall aesthetic and appearance of the board. 

I can improve on the creativity and innovation component on the Design Hierarchy of Needs. I expressed my interest in altering the physical appearance of the board and I think that the creativity component will be extremely helpful for this part of the design. I may reorganize each section by color. For example, I will use blue colors for the school work section, as blue is a more calming and intellectual color, and for the workout section on my board, I would use the color red, as it is more power evoking and energetic. I think that the use of productive and motivational colors would impact my emotions towards each task and section. 

I enjoyed using the design process to create my “To-Do” poster. It was helpful that we broke down each part of the design process, as I think many people tend to skip certain steps or do not recognize the importance of each step in the process. For me, the inspiration and identification stage was the most impactful part of the design process. I was able to think of and connect different ways COVID-19 was impacting different parts of society and the world. The third step, conceptualization, provided a more visual understanding of my ideas from the first two stages. I was also able to reflect on my current state and personal goals during quarantine. When we started this project, I was confused about the prototype that I would ultimately create and its relation to COVID-19. However, after the third stage, I started to visualize different ideas that helped create my brainstorm and three visual concepts. The next two stages, exploration and refinement, and definition and modeling, helped create a more finalized plan for my prototype. However, I had difficulty starting to conceptualize these three concepts. With limited instructions, I was confused on where to begin and how these three concepts could be translated into a prototype. I think I focused too much on the final product in this stage, rather than simply creating a visual representation of my ideas. The final two stages, communication and production, were also difficult to start, as I had three concepts to incorporate in my prototype. However, after I created my prototype I was extremely excited to share my ideas with others and see how it would impact my quarantine experience. I was unable to recognize how each step would impact my final design when completing each step of the design process. However, after completing the design process, I recognized the value of each step and the importance of taking each step seriously as it will impact the final design.