After completing the Dragon Fly Project during the first sprint, I decided to reflect on the experience of delivering the prototype, and do so using the five reflective domains.
Dispositional
From the perspective of managing my time and staying disciplined, I did manage to deliver the artefact as planned — from market research to prototyping, and put together a clean presentation for the webinar session.
I did, however, underestimate my workload for the sprint duration, which could have impacted the delivery scope. I had to postpone the project for a bit during the most intense working days, and I should be careful moving forward and not overload the scope.
For the upcoming sprint, I would love to try another Agile methodology — I would love to spend a day revisiting Measey’s “Agile Foundation” for the inspiration, and find the methodology that would allow me to deliver the planned scope and provide enough flexibility to pivot (Measey 2015).
Affective
From the emotional standpoint, I failed at properly estimating how my personal emotion state and well–being can impact the delivery process.
My emotional vulnerability seriously jeopardized the creative process, at some point putting the entire delivery at risk. In order to avoid any potential risk in the future, I should start watching over my emotional state more carefully, and use reflection not only to assess my progress as a designer, but my emotional maturity as well, as recommended by Fook in “Practising Critical Reflection” (Fook 2007).
- I should start logging in my emotional state (mood, stability, productivity) in my daily journal logs;
- I should consider adding story points to my user stories, and allow myself to focus on less effort–demanding activities when the energy drains;
- I must find some quality time for myself and family activities every day, even if just a little — important to include such time in the planner.
I will get back to the topic of mental health in the following entries.
Interpersonal
I didn’t quite interact with other people, not to count a few entries on forum. I should use the opportunity to learn from the others — not by working on the deliverables together, but by exchanging knowledge and sharing work in progress.
Cognitive
I enjoyed challenging myself with new tools and techniques. I am, however, feeling fairly comfortable designing personas and prototyping in pretty much any tool available in the market.
For the upcoming challenge, I would like to continue using unfamiliar techniques. It may be a good idea to try sticking to Open Source PO for the duration of the next sprint.
Procedural
Trying to be critical and assess my current skill set, I realise that I have become fairly experienced in Discovery and rapid ideation. I would love to upgrade my UI and motion design skills, pay more attention to visual design.
A few good things to explore would be 3D modelling, drawing, motion design (AE), video editing.
References
MEASEY, Peter. Agile Foundations : Principles, practices and frameworks, edited by Peter Measey, BCS Learning & Development Limited, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/falmouth-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1759633.
FOOK, Jan and Fiona GARDNER. 2007. EBOOK: Practising Critical Reflection: A Resource Handbook. Buckingham, UNITED KINGDOM: McGraw-Hill Education. Available at: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/falmouth-ebooks/detail.action?docID=332676 [accessed 22 Sep 2021].