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Minor Project - Project

 

27/08/20 - 04/12/20 (Week 1 - Week 15)
Chan Qian Hui 0334447
Minor Project
Instructions


Lecture Notes

Lecture 1: Introduction to Minor Project
27/08/20 (Week 1)

For our first class, Dr Edwin and Mr. Mike briefed us about the module, what to expect and how are we going to collaborate for the minor project. He presented the five projects briefs that we will be working on and explained what we have to come up with throughout this 14 weeks. 

I teamed up with Kar Yan, Gordon, Abby, Xuan and Joe for this project. After a series of discussion, the project that we chose is the LPG ordering system.

Lecture 2: Tutorial on Miro Learning & Design Thinking
04/09/20 (Week 2)

Mr. Mike introduced us Miro as our main project collaboration tool to help assist our group discussions and brainstorming. Miro is an online whiteboard platform that allows collaboration work to be done efficiently together. Mr. Mike also taught us on design thinking  and presented two design thinking processes, one from Stanford and IDEO.

1. Design Thinking by Stanford - Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test

2. Design Thinking by IDEO - Inspiration, Ideation, Implementation

Minor Project

Group members:
Qian Hui (leader), Kar Yan, Abigail, Wei Xuan, Gordon, Joe



Week 1:
For the first week of the Minor Project, we went through each of the project briefings and discussed the potential workloads and outcomes that were required. After a series of discussions, we decided to choose the LPG project as the brief was direct and we were clear on what to expect, mainly focusing on app UI/UX design.


Before we started working on the project, we set a time for our team to have a weekly meeting at 3pm every Wednesday to discuss our progression and to ensure that everyone is on the same page and not left behind.

Week 2:
We first started out by understanding and analyzing the current LPG delivery system in Malaysia. We look at the current ways of ordering gas and distribute one method to each member to find the necessary data.

Current Gas Ordering System:
  1. Lorry pass by and order on the spot  - Find: Pictures/time/schedules of lorry
  2. Dial and order from the grocery shop nearby - Find: Grocery shops that have gas
  3. Dial and order from the gas delivery man - Make Comparison
Existing Gas Ordering Website & Apps (Malaysia)
Things to take note of: Screenshots, walkthrough UI UX, features, pros & cons, process
  1. Gas Malaysia Website
  2. Miragas Website 
  3. Halogas Website and App
  4. Cari Gas Website and App
  5. Gas Brand Website 
I was in charge of dialing and order from gas delivery man so I conducted my part of research and asked my friends in Sarawak for more details as well.

Link to google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gc9h2bPDGviIF-ML63fcJs2RHu_XNH4a_2091-aGI08/edit?usp=sharing  

Findings: 
-Most of them rely on phone numbers than apps
-Carigas and halogas are our competitors
-The traditional way is not long-lasting and there are no ways to track the delivery.
-Phone numbers too dependent on delivery man's availability & area
-Consumers does not have a system to track when is gas running out (only realizes it when its finished)

Gap to overcome: 
Do people prefer phone calling rather than to use an app? Is it a culture thing? Or is it because they're too used to it and there are no reliable options. Can we change it?also there is prejudice like parents always think online store are all fake

1. sense of familiarity and trust
2. many people are still not familiar with technology
3. gas is not something that is needed frequently so don't know if downloading an app for it will necessary

After showing our research to Mr Mike, he suggested that we should look at other direct competitors and our target audiences. Who are our main target users for the app and to begin surveying data about LPG from them.

Week 3:
For this week, we started creating our questions for the interview and survey questionnaire. 

The job scopes were distributed as below:
Survey Questionnaire: Kar Yan, Abigail, Wei Xuan
Interview Questions: Qian Hui, Joe, Gordon

Link to interview questions:

Link to survey questionnaires:

After our questions were compiled, we had a discussion together and ran through the questions. We discarded these interview questions:
  1. What is their patience level *subjective
  2. What do they prefer for payment *subjective
  3. How do they prefer to use apps? *as easy as possible
  4. What is the reason they chose it *fear in pressing wrong button
  5. What do they prefer to use? Calling or app? *duplicates
  6. What do they prefer in terms of using the app to order the gas? (break it down to layman terms)
  7. What are your expectations if an app is created? (specify what expectations)
  8. Is gas running out ever a concern to you? *subjective
  9. How long are you willing to wait for your gas to arrive? *subjective

Feedback from Mr Mike:
Things to find out/ study:
1. Consumer demographic (target audience)
What is the biggest percentage of gas users?  It might be a younger audience? Find out about it

2.  Study on how other countries do it
How does other countries do it, if its better, learn from them

3. Gas delivery services
How is (carigas & halogas) doing? Find out market reviews on gas in malaysia

4. Gas brands & companies
 Target top 3

What to ask in questionnaire:
1. Identifying their needs/ user experience, wishlist
What is the user experience that they want? On the target segments (their wishlist)

2. Suppliers, delivery man
  1. How do they supply their gas? To who? What kind of grocery shop?
  2. For trucks who doesn't have a shop
  3. How do they keep their gas (storage)? How do they do their business?
  4. Where does he get his gas from? What does he wish to make his business grow? How does he get more money from it? What is it like?
  5. How do you tell if the gas is running out? (weight etc)

Things to think about:
  1. Might not need to target rural people since they won't be using the app
  2. May not need to deal with brands at all, can just be suppliers that deals with gas
  3. How to know if your gas is running out? An indicator to tell, so delivery man can plan their journey (IOT) Can ICT figure out something? App would be beneficial to both seller and buyer, that will be the selling point.
  4. What challenges that will stop us from knowing "when will gas run out"
  5. Are there people who grab gas tanks on their own?
  6. Most ppl will buy the cheapest, is there brand loyalty, is there a brand preference? Do people care about brands? What is the decisive factor?

Overall Feedback:
Headed into the right direction, need the right data, need to be confident & respectful, do not settle for half answered questions

Week 4:
We split ourselves to gather data from our target audience. All of us distributed out the survey links to our friends. For the interview, Xuan successfully called 3 gas deliverymen while Gordon and Qian Hui interviewed grocery shop owners which provided gas delivery.  Meanwhile Kar Yan also did research on overseas LPG apps and how they function.

We also created a separate whatsapp group, one with an IT team and one with a business team to further discuss the project. We had separate meetings with both of the teams to understand what their desired outcomes were and proposed ideas about the project. 

Then we begin by laying out the project proposal to ensure that each team works equally.

Fig 1.0 Team Jobscope Proposal

Feedback from Mr Mike:
  1. Systems to work with: (discuss with Business and IT students)
  2. A system to indicate whether they are wasting money or not (to deliver 2 or 3 tanks to cover the cost of delivery)
  3. A system that compile details every customer he's served
  4. System tell me how far i am from customer
  5. what day/week will the gas run low (so they know when to notify = good customer service)
Week 5:
For the survey we successfully gathered over 160 survey feedbacks
(mainly from targeted LPG consumers) 

Information derived from interview results:

Information derived from survey results:

During the meeting, we analysed the survey data together. However, we realized that it took longer to analyse the data than we expected so we decided to split ourselves into 2 groups:
1. Joe and Gordon will be analysing the grocery store owner interview data 
2. Qian Hui, Kar Yan, Abigail and Xuan will analyse the gas delivery man interview data
We also had a meeting with Dr Edwin to talk about our research findings and his opinions about our project proposal 

Fig 1.1 Survey Data Summary

Fig 1.2 Interview Data Summary (Delivery man)

Fig 1.3 Interview Data Summary (Grocery Shop Owner)

Feedback from Mr Mike and Dr Edwin:
1. Indicator
Dr Edwin denies the idea of indicator not because it is a bad idea but because of the team's capability.

2. Features:
Promotional package with special service/features (a set of things)
Example: Package with the device indicator with wheel, indicate gas running out, gas leaks ensures gas safety 
+ indicator (Just buy from somewhere and put on our brand and sell it)
+ Chain/ wheel to ease the transportation
Have own gas supply 
what kind of bulk range are you offering, get more at a cheaper price

3. Subscription plans for commercial purposes
98% of customer do not know about CariGas / Halogas - good discovery
Creating awareness/ education part is what Design team can do
Urban to Rural Interview which is good, that means anything in between is your thing
  •  20km delivery distance
  • Depends on your real-time location
  • Depends on who's available to deliver to the location
  • First come first serve basis
  • Due to the time to be wait from customer side
  • Anyone who beyond 20km won’t show in the driver app

4. The rate card/ price
Copy from the Halogas/Carigas
The price is already fixed

Week 6:
For this week, Dr Edwin introduced Batch Mode to us. The IT team also sent us their app and website proposal and after we went through the proposal, we realized that the purpose and function of the website was contradicting our research findings. We decided to have a meeting with the IT team to discuss this and they were confused as well with the function of the website and we thought the entire proposal may have to be changed. 

As the deadline for the proposal was cutting close, we decided to have an emergency meeting with Dr Edwin to solve the issue. Dr Edwin explained that the website is more of a backend logic for the app itself and not as a website. We decided to lay out the supply chain of LPG to understand the positioning of our app and website so it would not be confusing as before.

Fig 1.4 App Positioning in Supply Chain

Feedback from Mr Mike:
  • Need a user journey flow to determine your user experience for both the delivery men and the customer
  • Think about the specific steps taken from the delivery men and consumers, all is connected and translated into the user journey map
  • Specify your publicity and explain in detail marketing and promotional strategy
  • Justify the choice of using only social media and word of mouth, explain in detail
Week 7:
We split ourselves into 2 groups, Joe and Abigail will work on the user journey flow for the courier and customer app while Qian Hui, Kar Yan, Gordon and Wei Xuan will work on the brand identity. 

User Journey Flow created by Joe and Abigail

Fig 1.5 User Journey Flow ver 1.0

Brand Identity done by Qian Hui, Gordon, Kar Yan and Wei Xuan

Fig 1.6 Brand Identity

All of us were also assigned to come up with brand name ideas and design references that we think suits the brand. During our meeting, we went through each name, discussed and then shortlisted our top 3 names - Gas Up, MyGas, and Gas Man. 

Fig 1.7 Brand Name Brainstorming

Each of us researched and discussed together on our preferred choice of typography, design shapes elements and layout references.

Fig 1.8 Design references brainstorming

Completed Proposal:


Week 8:
For this week, we had changed our perspective of design research as previously we realised it was not very user friendly for our target audience. We did further research and study on the target audience and what are the rules that should be followed when designing for them. Hence, we further researched on the logo design references with better rationale.

Fig 1.9 Further Brainstorming for design references

We finalized our logo choice with mascot as we think it suits with our brand identity and name. It is also fresh to have a mascot based brand in Malaysia. 

For the UX, we did further research on our target audience and laid out rules that we should stick to for the UI designing. We also started working on the completed flowchart and sitemap based on the function list from the IT team. We had to read through and digest the function list from the IT team as it was quite confusing and we needed to implement it in the flow chart and site map.

Fig 1.10 Site map of Courier App and Customer App

Feedback from Mr Mike:
Progression is on track and in control. The dependent sitemap and flowchart which is coming from the IT team is holding up the development temporarily. However, as flowcharts are organic the best version should suffice to progress on for wireframe and later the 1st draft UI design. Once the draft UI design is complete, proceed to testing with XD. The other areas are on the brand name, logo (mark and type), art direction elements; needs to be confirmed soon.

Week 9:
Based on the feedback from previous week, this week we mainly focused on refining our progress from last week especially on the flow chart and site map. We also had a meeting with the IT team to confirm the flow chart and site map.

Fig 1.11 Refined flow chart and site map (customer)

We also did further research on our target audience to understand the rules and principles we should take note while designing for elderlies.

Fig 1.12 Research on designing for elderly

For the branding, we started to look more into the rationale of our choice of logo and how it relates to our target users and brand product.

Fig 1.13 Research on logo rationale

After the foundation for the project was laid down, we started to distribute job tasks and also create a project timeline to ensure that we are on track and everyone is working equally.

Jobscope:
Logo Design: Gordon (will help out with High fidelity design once logo is done)
Courier App Design: Joe and Qian Hui
Website: Joe and Qian Hui
Customer App Design: Kar Yan and Abigail
Onboarding Illustrations: Wei Xuan
Joe will overlook the entire App UI UX Design and Qian Hui will overlook the entire project 

Feedback from Mr Mike:
Our team is progressing well. We need to confirm why we chose the penguin as a mascot for our brand, discuss some of the functions and features proposed by the IT team and to start creating the wireframes in Figma so we can user test the application before week 12. 

Week 10:
This week we start to work on the app design, logo design and illustration. We started out by drafting our ideas and layouts for a few key functions first in Miro so we can have a rough idea on the project. Then we shifted the rest of the project to Figma to complete the wireframe. 

Every time when a section is done, we would update in our group and everyone would take a look and provide feedback. Then the refinement would be implemented and the design would be reviewed again. We constantly provided each other feedback and improved on the app design. Our design direction is mainly based on our previous research on elderly. A few rules that our design should follow: text should not be smaller than 12pt (ideal is 16pt), buttons should be clear and direct, functions should not be hidden (swipe to see, scroll to see etc.  should be avoided), information should be laid out and not chunked too many times, amount of taps should be reduced as much as possible. 

For the logo design, we realized that the design might end up too cute looking and not very reliable and friendly, so we had a discussion and laid out a few rules that should be followed: the logo should be stable while showing the movement and not too cute looking.

For illustration, we have also agreed on a simple illustration style so that it is easy to look at and not overwhelming for our users. We also created the content for onboarding pages so wei xuan can draft the illustration based on the content provided.

We have also put out the user testing this week when the low fidelity design was complete.

Week 11:
After the user testing results are back, we start to work on the high fidelity design. The logo design was also confirmed, so Gordon would be assisting the customer app high fidelity design. Wei Xuan is also progressing on the onboarding illustrations with sketches. After we have discussed and updated each other on our progress, we have also provided feedback for our designs and continue to refine and work on it. 

Throughout the week, Joe kept close contact with the IT team to ensure the designs are in line with the functions and confirmed by them as well. We have also had discussions on some features that we would like to add in and ask whether the addition is alright with the IT team.

Joe and Qian Hui also guided and provided feedback for the customer app design to ensure that the designs are consistent and rationalised, also whatever is added should be approved and confirmed with the IT team beforehand.

Feedback from Mr Mike:
Shown good progression. Logo design has been confirmed and the brand identity is done. The user testing results are back and will now proceed to complete the illustrations of characters and final UI Designs. The production is on time and the last component would be the marketing and promotion collaterals.

Week 12:
For this week we finalized our high fidelity design and sent it to the IT team for final checkup. The courier app, customer app and admin panel were then refined according to feedback and is ready for submission. The assets were exported as well and compiled in google drive for the IT team. 

We also contacted the business team about their progression and what are the marketing and promotional collaterals that are needed. They requested for newspaper, brochure and social media advertisement design. Kar Yan worked on the newspaper design, I worked on the brochure design while Gordon worked on the social media design.

Fig 1.14 Design I worked on for brochure collateral

Feedback from Mr Mike:
Shown commendable progression this week and the project is close to completion. Minor tweaks are needed for colours on the app’s background to make the frames pop out distinctively and also the cropping of the different gas brands, to ensure that the logos are clearly shown. Change the words from drivers and courier to gas deliverer. The illustrations of the characters are all completed and look professional. The marketing and promotion submission has been confirmed to only create initial awareness and nothing further for call-to-actions.

Week 13:
The project is ready for final presentation. 

Link to Figma Project:

Week 14:
For this week we work on compiling everything in slides and submit the final project.

Final Slides:

Reflection

Week 2:
We were each assigned a LPG delivery system to analyze how the current delivery system works. I was assigned to research the call system. I asked around from parents and friends from different states in Malaysia on how they order gas. I also asked about their order habits - how many orders they make, and what is the time they order and whether they request for a certain time for gas to arrive.

I found out that in East Malaysia, gas is usually ordered a day before and with the same deliveryman. The phone number is obtained through word of mouth or passed down from a retiring deliveryman. The customers usually order a day before compared to west Malaysia where gas is delivered on the same day of ordering. Households commonly order 1 to 2 gas at a time.

From the customer habits I can derive that customers are very loyal to their long time deliveryman and refuse to change unless the number is out of service or retired. Customers usually order once a month and the reason why they order 2 at a time is for back up when gas runs out unexpectedly.

This would help me in understanding how to communicate with others and gathering data from mass public to understand more about supply chain

Week 3:
Based on our findings last week, we had a meeting this week to compile our findings and start to ask questions that we need to further dig from data collection. I started to split our team into two, one worked on interview questions and one worked on survey questionnaires. I helped out with the survey questionnaires first before reviewing and checking with the survey questions. I provided opinions and discussed with Joe about the interview questions then finalizing it together.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss what the current system issue is and what we need to know more to understand about what can be improved from the current system. The project needs to see what is the good about the current system and tackle the issues on why our competitors are not working well. Then by changing those issues into questions and collecting answers directly from the target audience to assist us in creating the project.

I learnt that I can’t create questions for our target audience if we do not have a proper understanding of how our system works and what is the main issue that should be questioned. We need to also always open the opportunity for the target audience to provide feedback openly so that they can fill in gaps that we overlooked.

I would need to experience the process and get involved myself first in order to fully understand how the customer feels and thinks. I also need to make sure that I am standing from the viewpoint of the target audience’s viewpoint to avoid assumptions and missing out on crucial points.

Week 4:
After getting feedback from Mr Mike, I helped to refine all the questions with my group mates and then distributed out the survey and interview. I shared the survey to my relatives and on social media and also I got to interview my uncle who happens to run a grocery shop. He has been delivering LPG gas as well so I took a day to interview him. I also got into a further conversation with him regarding how the gas business has evolved and changed over time and also some insights about the supply. I also stayed with the team and we called the gas delivery man together.

I realized that in the beginning most of our calls weren’t going through until Xuan took over. She used a more friendly and conversational tone to talk which in exchange allowed a lot of the deliveryman to open up and start conversing with her even out of the interview questions. During my conversation with my uncle as well, as we were talking in a more casual tone, he ended up giving more information than what I asked for.

I learnt that sometimes we should not be too stiff and serious when we wish to get data from someone else especially strangers. Although getting numbers from surveys is relatively easy but sometimes there are more than we can find if we were to have a face to face conversation. However it is important to make sure that our method of approach should not cause our interviewee to feel distrust and uncomfortable. If the interviewee does not feel comfortable, they might just hang up on us. 

Approaching in a friendlier tone and casual conversations are a better way to keep the interviewee relaxed and wanting to continue the conversation. Some small greetings or asking about how their day actually helps is even better as sometimes their rantings could be good information for us to know what their actual worries are.

Week 5:
After getting almost 160+ responds, we decided that we can start compiling the data and go through the information together. The interview data also were completed and we all sat down and started to have a discussion. We were having a hard time trying to digest the data since we realized what our focus in the beginning was totally different from what we found. There were a lot of different conflicts in the findings and what our objectives should be. Then I had a discussion with Joe to sort and arrange the data together 

It was a very long meeting for this week since I kept talking about what our aim should be after getting all the data. Joe and I drafted and sketched on the whiteboard multiple times trying to map and link our data to see what is the proper plan of our project. I was quite overwhelmed in the beginning since I realized I was viewing the project wrongly. I was trying to fix the entire supply chain system when the actual reality is that we can only just make the supply smoother without interfering with it.

I learned that groupmates play a big role when it comes to discussions. There were times where I was really frustrated cause I was the only one talking and I was not getting enough responses. I learnt that I need to first open the floor and gather opinions and feedback from everyone to actually sort and solve the issue together.

I learnt that one project would have different points of views to look at it and sometimes it takes other peoples opinion and them speaking up to actually assist and teach you about it. Proper communication in a group is important to ensure that everyone is able to contribute their thinking and help into the project for it to run smoothly.

Week 6:
For this week the IT team sent us their proposal for the project. After going through it together, I realized that the functions of the website were contradicting our findings and I reached out to the IT team to have a meeting regarding this issue. Immediately I realized the website team themselves were confused about the purpose of the website also and they told me that this was Dr Edwin’s idea. Seeing that the proposal for the IT team is cutting close, I decided to email Dr Edwin for an emergency meeting and we successfully resolved the issue together.

What happened was the website proposal from the IT team seemed to function as a warehouse where the website would collect a number of gas stock and gas delivery man would then come and collect from the warehouse. This was contradicting with our findings as all delivery men have their own place to store the gas tanks and they do have their preferred gas suppliers as well. The purpose of the warehouse was unnecessary in the supply chain. During the meeting, Dr Edwin explained that the website is actually the back end system for the app, basically all the data from the app would be just stored in the website, it would not directly interfere or get involved in the supply chain.

I learnt that it is important for us to go through each other’s work and voice out as soon as we notice the mistake. If we did not notice the problem earlier, the issue might have snowballed and caused a larger problem further down the project. It is okay for everyone to talk it out and discuss together as we are all just trying to learn and improve.

This teaches me to be more careful in the future and always cross check things that are done so that there are no misunderstandings. Properly evaluate and acknowledge the issue when discovered and then discuss together to solve things out.

Week 7:
This week after the proposal is finalized, I started to split my group mates into 2 groups, Joe and Abigail who are more familiar with UI UX will work on the user journey flow for the courier and customer app while me, Kar Yan, Gordon and Wei Xuan will work on the brand identity. For things like brand name and app design layouts however, I requested everyone to search on it together since we all should contribute to the identity of the app together. I helped out with researching for design layouts, colours and logos while also brainstorming for a few brand names. Then I proceeded to fill in the brand details with Gordon and Kar Yan - vision mission, tone of voice, brand story, brand values and also positioning.

I started to look at brand names that are catchy and professional. I realized that there are many names which rhyme really well but just sound unprofessional. This really loses the interest from customers as the brand name does not appeal much to the target audience. I was also very focused on finding layouts that would benefit our target audience since I have personal experience with my parents on how they view and navigate with UI UX.

I learnt that there are alot of modern designs that are sleek and catchy but oftentimes the functions are over complicated and many features are hidden. Instead the UI is so busy with the flashy animations and visuals that it overwhelms the usability. I also realized that brand names reflect on how people view your brand and how important it is to build your brand image.

Understanding the target audience first before thinking of designs. Never sacrifice purpose for aesthetics as we designers are supposed to help the users to solve issues in a simpler and easier matter. Choose your brand name wisely, once it is fixed, it stays with you for life, it would reflect how people view your brand, and your service differently

Week 8:
I noticed that previously most of our design references were not user friendly and even our choice of colours were very randomized as we did not do any prior research. So this week I suggested doing a deeper research on the same thing, this time with proper rationales and references. Then we had a discussion together and we finalized with mascot as our logo design. I also helped out with Abigail and Joe on the sitemap since they found quite a number of issues from the IT team’s proposal. I helped to resolve some issues and questions so we can proceed and ask the IT team as well.

After we did further research, we got a lot more refined findings. I realized I was starting to think a lot more as well buying rationalizing my choices of design before randomly placing it in a moodboard. I had to step in and be firm on decisions since many times my group mates were very unsure about things and the issues just dragged on further. So I decided to just think properly through and be the tiebreaker, then once the decision is made, I’ll ask everyone’s opinion again to ensure that everyone is okay before we move on,

I learned that it is okay to learn from mistakes, to take a step back and redo what we did wrongly. What we ended up was having even better results and choices since we have a better grasp of what we need now. I was also really glad to see everyone discussing each other's work and starting to warm up after a few weeks. Although we shifted online, I still insist on carrying out our weekly meetings and checking on everyone so we all can come to an agreement.

This would help me in the future to tell myself that it is okay to actually step back and redo certain things in order to improve. Sometimes not all things shall be constantly pushed forward and rushed but it is better to focus on building a solid foundation and getting everyone to reach a pacifist point together.

Week 9:
This week things started to move faster as everyone is starting to move into their own group works. I had to constantly move front and back from branding to UI UX and overlook everything which was really tiring for me. I also had to look into the rationale of choosing mascot especially penguins for our logo since our group insisted on using a penguin.  Joe and I also worked on a project progress timeline and checkbox to keep our project in track.

I took a long time to read through multiple articles since there was not much data on how people actually perceive penguins especially in Asia. I had to look at case studies and the characters of penguins including the research done about penguins to connect the dots in our branding. I also helped to refine and resolve some issues on the UI UX. 

I learnt that penguins are not commonly used in the asia country or even branded here since it is not commonly found in asia. However, there are many articles that relate penguins to elderly people especially with their movements on land. Not just how people view them, but penguins' character as a whole and how they affect people are also very good data to look at when researching about characters. I also learnt how to communicate and balance between works to ensure that I give enough time for my group mates for feedback.

This helps me to manage my team planning and time management better. It also teaches me how to research and learn to collect relevant data from different points of views.

Week 10:
Our deadline to submit our designs was really close (week 12)  and our project process was still really lacking. We spent too much time waiting for the function list from the IT team and spent even more time refining and interpreting their words. We decided to split ourselves into 2 again with Kar Yan and Abigail working on the customer app, Joe and Q working on the courier app. It was a very hectic week especially for Joe and I as we rushed to complete the low fidelity app within 2-3 days. We would stay up from 10am to 1am midnight just to work on the app design. Along the way, Joe and I not just had to work on the courier app but we had to constantly check the customer app and help to refine it as well.

We had no choice but to rush this because we need to get the design done by week 12. Although the initial plan was just submitting 30% of the design but we wanted to complete as much as possible since the IT team needs to code it. It was also really tiring since we constantly have to discuss, help the customer app to refine and provide feedback. We also kept in close contact with the IT team to update them and ask them about the designs.

I learnt that having an efficient and cooperative groupmate is such an amazing experience. Although it was super tiring and we had lots of discussions but along the way we would agree and then start working on the issue together. We would also always remember to check back with the IT team and never ever add on anything or change things without informing them as ultimately they are the ones coding the app.

I learnt that it is possible to achieve a large number of work with the proper effort and teamwork. I also learnt that being willing and direct  to provide feedback to each other actually helps a lot for us to grow and learn. COmmunication is also extremely important since we need to remember that we are collaborating with outsiders and they have the right to know what is happening and provide comments.

Week 11:
This week we had to work on 2 things - user testing and starting on high fidelity design. We managed to get enough user testing for the courier and customer app in the beginning of the week then after that we immediately started on the high fidelity design. I provided multiple feedbacks on our assets - the logo, illustrations, colour choice and once everything is completed. We immediately started on the high fidelity design. We had some issues as the high fidelity design for the customer app was not going well, Joe and I had to step in and interfere with the design as the aesthetics were overwhelming the design UI. After that was resolved, both of us resumed with the courier app high fidelity design.

We also had some issues discussing whether we want to opt for the android style design or the ios style of design since both have very different layouts. Joe and I created multiple samples and we compared the pros and cons about the design. We also resolved the issue with the customer app by setting design rules such as - margins, colours, where to only apply gradients and what are the effects that can/cannot be implemented. 

I learnt that sometimes the simpler the better. Having too many colours and designs sometimes overwhelm the users although it may look aesthetically pleasing. However the visuals won’t last long as users would start to get tired out after a long time looking at the screen and the designs would end up backfiring. 

I learnt that we should always start by applying a solid colour first then slowly add in effects and see whether it is appropriate or not. Design is flexible and can always be fixed to be improved. It is important to understand what the user sees and not how beautiful it is on the surface.

Week 12:
This week was the final week of our rushing. Our designs were starting to come together and now it’s just the final run to complete and compile everything to send to the IT team. We also kept close contact with the IT team and we fixed some issues they pointed out and also we discussed some designs together. For the business team, we have not yet heard from them since week 7 so I decided to take the initiative and text them. Since it was their presentation week,  I did not want to interfere too much with whatever they have done so instead I asked if they needed any mockups.

It was also another very hectic week because I had to constantly overlook the design and join the meetings with IT teams as well. The business team requested for 3 mockups - brochure, newspaper advertisement and social media. I called for a quick meeting with Kar Yan and Gordon so we discussed our style of design and contents then we each took one part and designed it. I took to brochure design and we went for a simple modern look on the collaterals.

I learnt that if someone is willing to contribute and work together, no matter how rocky the beginning is, slowly we would start to be comfortable and open up more. Conversations would be smoother and project can actually progress better than expected. For the IT team, it happened for the better as we constantly texted each other in the group making sure we were updating everyone about our group project and they would also reach out to us for discussions which was really appreciated. However for the business team it was unfortunate as until the very end the discussion was still very one sided and they were not willing to make the first move.

I learnt that communication is important to ensure that the project works smoothly. Conflicts and difference in opinions can always be sorted out by having a discussion and finding the middle ground. Most importantly, if we are willing to work for it, we definitely could complete the project which we thought was impossible in time.

Week 13:
This week, the whole team was super burnt out after weeks of extreme work. We were glad to hear that the project is completed and only left a few small refinements to be made. I helped out with the refinement and then we exported everything to the IT team. The admin panel were also thankfully completed in time and we successfully gave the IT team in time as well.

I was glad that we took the effort and time to rush the project now that we see other groups are struggling with keeping up on the deadlines. I had to take on some of the smaller issues now since all of us are very burnt out and not really touching on minor projects anymore.

I learnt that it is not impossible to rush a project in time and complete a large amount of work as long as we have the right mindset and effort for it

Seeing the difference now in my team and others, I was glad that I constantly pushed all of us to work together and not separately as many teams have no idea what was happening in their own project or what their group mates did. Having a weekly meeting to ensure that everyone knows what was happening takes up alot of time and perseverance but it was definitely worth it.

Week 14:
Now for the final week we had to work on the final submission. We all once again similarly split our jobs in groups and compiled the work together. I worked on the admin panel part, filling up the google doc, and also the proposal. Then we all would double check together before submitting it.

It has been a tiring 14 weeks but glad to see how our final work turned out and how we learnt a lot of new things through this module

I learnt that making sure to remember what happened during each week and documenting the process is important. Throughout this 14 weeks I have definitely learnt alot from my group mates and IT team. I also learnt a lot on what it takes to be a leader and how important a good leader and good teammates are to create a great project.

I would remember to keep track of weekly progressions so that it would be easier for me to write my blogs or keep track of work in the future. 

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