The Hand App
During week one we collaborated in groups to create an application which would bring attention to, and promote, sustainable gaming practices amongst teenagers; this led to some interesting ideas from the group, as well as some input from Jambot on Figma.
Hand App Group Work Mind Map
Roles I Found Myself In
The first idea was an app called “Hand”, which would act as a prompt to remind teens to take time out from their game. During the process of collaborating, I found myself in the role of “group leader”, which is not something I thought I was capable of due to my shyness. I found myself pitching this idea that I had for the app, and then the group began to add to it and broaden the concept. In the future I will maybe feel more confident in my ability to be in a leadership role for group projects, and directing the flow of group contributions into a useful and interesting collaboration of ideas might be useful for my future role as a graphic designer.
Figjam Board
Hand App Figjam Board- Fleshed Out And With Jambot Results
Opposition and Reflective Thinking
One group member disagreed with the notion of the reward system of the app, stating that the company would go bankrupt pretty quick if it were to give away figurines in exchange for points; this was interesting because i had not considered that point, and it lead me to reconsider, and think that she was probably right in her conclusion. This led to reflective thinking, and re-evaluation of the concept, which is useful for iterative processes in graphic design such as app design. I think that opposition is a good opportunity for re-evaluation and refinement of ideas, to improve a collaborative effort, and check for errors.
The Use Of AI-Jambot For Ideas
We also used Figma’s AI Jambot to help us quickly collate several different app ideas using the same brief, which was helpful as it managed to suggest lots of great ideas, faster than all of us could do in the time that we had. I feel that this aided group collaboration in that it speeded up the process, saves time. It also helped us to think outside the box, and end up with several fleshed out ideas; this is useful for us as graphic designers as it is likely we will have to create several ideas for our clients in the future.
What Did I Learn About Collaboration
Overall I think that collaboration in web design allows for the re-iteration of ideas through error picking, which leads to the refinement of our ideas within the group. It also allows for ideas to be had that I wouldn’t have thought up originally, either by other group members, or by utilising AI such as Figmas Jambot, to collate multiple ideas using one design brief, which mimics the collaborative design environment that is a part of being a graphic designer.