DEFINE PROTOTYPING
Prototyping is an essential element within the design thinking process and for user experience since it enables innovators to test their ideas rapidly, while also enhancing their ideas in an equal amount of time (Gade et al 2018).
The Hasso Plattner Institue of Design at Stanford, commonly known as the d. school encourages the idea of “build to think and test to learn” (Plattner 2010), which means that building and testing are seen to be more valuable than ideating (Plattner 2010). These sub-components of experimentation and experience within prototyping have helped my journey within my digital artefact, which is what I am covering in this blog.
DIGITAL ARTEFACT BACKGROUND
I decided to create a gaming/gamer meme page on, which changed to Instagram, with weekly based content relating to gaming sub-culture. This idea was created to build a sense of equality and respect within the gaming community with regards to females and males in the gaming realm/world.
I decided to use the following process to produce the following content which is relevant to my users in the following ways.
PROCESS
Inspiration Day: On Saturday! – Which is to use Reddit and 4chain under the gamer and gaming forums to find and search for ideas or trends to be able to create memes. Once I have memes that spark my interests. I save or take screenshots, then put the images into a folder on my computer under desktop called memes, where I can easily find it for Sunday.
Creation Day is on Sunday – Which is the day that I use all the ideas from the day prior, for meme creation. I do this by using canva. So I open the meme folder and canva on my web-browser at the same time and login on canva. Once logged in, I open a new clean meme temple (per week), so there are no mix-ups. Then I start creating memes (28). Once that is done. I open the linking canva app on my phone and download what I made. All the canva images download, into its own folder in my phone’s gallery automatically. Ready for me to use for posting.
Posting Days is from; Monday to Sunday – This is the time that I start posting, and commenting and engaging with users. I post 4 times daily, 7 days a week. Which equals 28 memes per week. My posting times start from 12/12:30 – 3/3:30 – 5/5:30 – 10/10:30, due to engagement findings from my account analytics.
RELEVANCE
My content helps users learn, know or understand more about video games and helps create a sense of community or openness to discuss topics within an interactive friendly setting.
The playful nature within the content and overall theme of the page should hopefully make female audiences feel more confident or comfortable to speak their mind in the comment section, without hesitating.
Hopefully, help users to identify, relate, remind or be able to reflect upon themselves, due to being exposed to the content on my page.
Should keep audiences attention to more positive and inviting thoughts and settings than, negative association of gaming culture.
Should provide growth of evolving interests in games, virtual reality or general topics of interest within gaming or life.
Hopefully, users can connect with their gaming community.
Content should provide overall enjoyment or learning of new ideas within the context of gaming.
TWITTER VS INSTAGRAM
Why I decided to use instagram over twitter. Is due to the fact that Instagram is more about the pictorial representation media. Where as with twitter, the tweet (text/writing) is more important compared to the pictures or images as the text is more visible compared to the Instagram caption. Instagram has more space to write about the post in the caption and hashtags can be used in bigger numbers too. This increases the engagement rate. Twitter was the wrong medium to use for my goal so I changed that issue. Once I realised the differences.
Instagram: High-res photos, quotes, Stories, memes.
Twitter: News, blog post, and GIPS.
PROTOTYPING STAGES
By prototyping and then testing more prototypes, I could reveal my assumption and biases I had towards my digital artefact, and I could uncover insights about my users while also improving my solutions. Prototyping within my digital artefact was done for research; which allows me to explore problem areas while also helping me to see new areas to improve (Plattner 2013). The process of prototyping and testing within my digital artefact was interesting as failure was a substantial part of my process. The following steps below present how I fulfilled my process through my digital artefact;
Exploring and experimentation: Where you can utilise prototypes to investigate problems, thoughts, and opportunities inside a particular area of focus and test out the effect of incremental or radical changes (Gal and Lewis 2018).
Learning and Understanding: Learning and Understanding: Using prototypes to keep in mind the end goal and to comprehend the elements of an issue, item, or system by physically captivating with them and dissecting what makes them work or come up short (Heinrich et al 2018).
Engaging, Testing, and Experiencing: Using prototypes to connect with end users, in ways that uncover further understanding and more valuable experience, to inform design decisions to go forward (Plattner 2013).
Inspiring and Motivating: Using prototypes to offer new thoughts, and encourages new ways of thinking and doing things through your finding within your project (Plattner 2013).
PROTOTYPING PROCESS
CANVA MEME MAKING PROCESS:
When you sign in to Canva, you’ll arrive on the home page. To begin creating, click Create a design in the toolbar, or basically type your picked plan type into the inquiry bar. The menu on the privilege likewise enables you to explore to your image pack, structure envelopes, group stream, and record settings. When you’ve made a structure, you can get to it again from the landing page, under All your plans.
Canva has pre-set the perfect measurements for each structure type, regardless of whether you’re making a logo, letterhead or Facebook post. You can likewise set custom measurements by composing “custom” into the pursuit box.
When you’ve picked what sort of configuration you’d like to make, you’ll end up inside the Canva editorial manager. This is the place the enchantment occurs! To enable you to get acquainted with the pieces of the proofreader, here are its most fundamental parts:
1 – Side panel – This board shows up in favour of the proofreader is the place you’ll have the option to get to the formats and components you can use in your plan. It’s partitioned into 6 tabs committed to Templates, Images, Text, Uploads, Folders, and Apps.
2 – Canvas – from the beginning, this is the clear, blank area involving most of the manager. Consider this your fundamental workspace since this is the place you’ll take a shot at your plans.
3 – Menu bar – This is the menu bar on the exceptionally top of the editorial manager. From here, you’ll have the option to get to the highlights like Undo, Redo, Resize, Share, Download, Order prints, and others. You’ll likewise have the opportunity to see your structure’s sparing status from here.
Templates are your alternate route to a great plan. (You can also design without any preparation, yet layouts are the most ideal approach to begin quickly.) In the sideboard, you’ll see a scope of templates that you can browse — you can also search for a particular subject in the pursuit bar. Each layout is completely adjustable, which implies you can change the textual styles, hues, pictures — anything and everything! — to your preferences.
Snap on a format to alter it. To change a component, click it and afterwards develop it utilising the toolbar at the highest point of the editorial manager — this is the place you can change things like shading, size, straightforwardness, and the sky is the limit from there. You can watch the procedure we’ll ordered in the video underneath.
When you’re content with your plan, it’s an excellent opportunity to distribute it. Snap the Publish button in the menu bar, and you’ll see a dropdown rundown of the majority of your choices.
You can Download, offer to internet-based life destinations like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, or even order proficient prints delivered to your entryway. There are unlimited conceivable outcomes. You can repeat this process as many time as you want.
VIDEO OF PROCESS:
(MEME MAKING PROCESS. VIDEO. Source: CANVA By: Nathalee Carboni)
INSTAGRAM POSTING PROCESS:
Posting on Instagram is very easy you just upload a photo from your phone’s library, tap Library (iOS) or Gallery (Android) at the bottom of the screen and select the photo you’d like to share.
Weekly Reflection: which is anytime during the week where I have time to look at other more prominent meme pages and learn what they’re doing differently from me, like, hashtags, commenting or difference in overall all content creation. Then I look at my content and page presentation and see were it needed tweaking, due to engagement and feedback from users. Therefore watching for anything that I can apply to my own meme page.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON PROTOTYPING AND DIGITAL ARTEFACT!
Many times I served to invest in exciting new ideas, to brainstorm, and plan for their implementation but now I realise, after launching them, that my designs did have a connection with my users through feedback. In other words, the ideas I based my solutions on might have been wrong, and when they are wrong, they lead to significant wastes of time and resources. However, prototyping helped prevent this issue. Prototyping quickly, and frequently, is the best way to test my ideas and learn about my users while also improving on my thoughts. Prototyping allows me to make my ideas tangible and testable while also helping me create a bias towards action (in making rather than thinking) the innovative spark I needed to develop genuinely is useful and revolutionary within the solutions to my digital artifact.
References:
Gade, Norkjaer A, Jensen R, J, Larsen T, S, & Nissen, S, 2018, “GOAL SETTING IN SUSTAINABLE BUILDING RENOVATION–EARLY PROTOTYPE DESIGN AND TESTING OF A NEW DECISION SUPPORT TOOL.” In DS92, Proceedings of the DESIGN 2018 15th International Design Conference, vol 1, no 1, pp. 305-314.
Plattner H, 2010, An Introduction to Design Thinking PROCESS GUIDE, d-school 2010, viewed September 19 2018, <https://dschool-old.stanford.edu/sandbox/groups/designresources/wiki/36873/attachments/74b3d/ModeGuideBOOTCAMP2010L.pdf>
Plattner, H, 2013, Bootcamp Bootleg, d.school 2013, viewed September 16 2018, <https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57c6b79629687fde090a0fdd/t/58890239db29d6cc6c3338f7/1485374014340/METHODCARDS-v3-slim.pdf>