Professional Critique Report

What's up, buttercup?

It's been a busy week/weekend for me. I was working on my capstone throughout last week and this weekend since my professor wanted my entire class to have our biggest parts of our projects done for the "monster critique." I'd love to share more about my progress but I will leave it for my next blog post!

If you're new to my blog, welcome! If you'd like to read more about it, you can find my first post here: click me!

My Project was Reviewed by a Professional

My professor kind of dropped the bomb on my class sometime in the beginning of the semester. Basically during capstone, we students would have our projects reviewed by industry professionals. And from what I heard, it would usually take place close to the end of the semester. But this semester, my professor decided to do things a little differently and have our projects reviewed around mid-semester. The purpose was to get feedback on what we could do to improve our projects!

Two weeks ago, on Friday, September 25th, I got the chance to speak to Kess Arnold, a graphic designer from Build-A-Bear Workshop. Kess was my assigned professional that I reach out to and have my project reviewed. She was really cool and extremely kind! At first, I was extremely nervous because I haven't spoke to an industry professional about a project in a while, not since my UX/UI class--which was last year. Kess was really approachable and had a lot of insight about her company, so I felt like I was going to be okay. I also got to know Kess and also a little more about Build-A-Bear. So that was really cool.

So here's what she's had for feedback:

• For the brand/app's logo, she mentioned for me to make something that’s recognizable from a distance. Have a logo that can be changed according to the medium that it will be on (packaging, advertisements, etc). 
• She stated that app icon logo with the panda peeking out is really nice.
• She thought my main character/mascot was really cute and memorable.
• She said it it was good that I have a set list of characters to select from because having too much to choose from will cause the customer to exit out. 
• She thought that the purple and yellow color palette that I chose is a good idea for a gender neutral audience.
• She thinks the “subscription box” part of my moodboard was a good idea since it’s like a gift to oneself. 
• She suggested for me to use Adobe XD to make wireframes and record the prototype to help show how the app is used. 
• She suggested that I could use the font (that I used for my presentation) for the app since it fits with the keywords I chose.
• Overall, I've received really good feedback from Kess. She was really impressed with my presentation. She even said I seemed to know exactly what I was talking about.

To be honest, I think all of her feedback was really helpful and gave me a better sense that I'm heading in the right direction. But if I had to pick, I'd say that her logo feedback, character selection, and Adobe XD comments were really helpful. I wasn't entirely sure if my project would make any sense, but after talking to her, I was relieved that my project was clear and concise. 

Adjustments to My Project

I ended up making a few adjustments to my project since the review:

1. I decided not to go with a purple and yellow palette, but instead use green, pink, purple, and yellow. I felt that having a wider range of colors would allow more diversity. 
2. I decided to create a very simple layout, since I imagine that customers would want a fast and easy experience when using the app. 
3. I also decided to tackle using Adobe XD as part of my project. Originally, I was only planning to use AfterEffects to animate how the app is used. But since it's an app, it only made sense to try to prototype it on XD. 

If I Had to Do It Again

I personally wouldn't change anything about the presentation, but I feel like I could've asked for more constructive criticism. I feel like there may have been some flaws with my project, but I wasn't sure what they were. But at the same time, I didn't have any prototypes made and I was only on the sketching/ideation/research phase. I also would've made a better designed presentation. Mine was rather simple but I feel like I could've added some nice patterns or something. I would've had more official characters made as well, if I had to do it again.

Lessons Learned

I feel like I nailed having a good presentation. If I had learned anything from this experience, it's to have an organized presentation prepared--which was what I did! I had a gut feeling that I should take a little extra time to create an actual PowerPoint presentation, and lay out everything I've made thus far. It actually helped me A LOT. I'm not the type to "wing it" and I prefer to have things written down and organized since it works best with my thought process. I also practiced my presentation with a friend, and three times more after that. I'm really grateful that I took that step. Plus, it left a good impression!

That's it, folks!

I don't have anything else to say for this report in terms of feedback. But, I'm really grateful for the opportunity. Hearing feedback from a professional was a nervous experience but it was rewarding as well. I even asked Kess if there were some internship opportunities at BAB. There wasn't at the moment, but she said if I was looking to work for BAB in the future, she'd give me a good word. Isn't that so cool? I was really surprised when she said that! *I'm still internally squealing and happily jumping about it.* 

Although this was a small part of the project, it was an awesome experience and memory that I'll cherish. 

Thanks for reading! See you in the next post!