<aside> ⭐ REFLECTION

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HIGHLIGHTS I found this module very interesting and stretched me as a designer in ways I haven’t really experienced before. I felt that I created a very strong CV that was impactful and tailored to the UX industry. I enjoyed creating my portfolio also. It was a nice feeling to gather in your work and present it in such a format. This semester everything seemed to feel a bit more ‘real world’ because of creating a CV and portfolio. Employment always felt like a distant thing and all of a sudden I was applying for placements.

My biggest highlight of this year was securing a placement opportunity with Rapid7. This came with a lot of hard work and dedication to interview prep, especially the design task I completed for them. I was delighted with the outcome of this project and it received a lot of praise in the interview. I really put my all into that project and I feel my work did not go unnoticed. I felt that this module brought me on leaps and bounds in terms of preparing me for industry. I was learning lecture content with terms that I thought would be so far removed from anything I’d ever learn, like intellectual property or tender documents for example. I suppose this is the mark of a successful module — one where I feel as though I have learnt a lot.

I really enjoyed the creation of the tender document for Hill Street. It was interesting to assume the role of a freelancer and try to propose an idea for work in such a format. It was definitely a new way of working for me, doing the preparatory and speculative work for a project without actually designing any of it. Who knows what the future holds and wether proposal documents will become part of my daily life, but at least its yet another skill I have in my design arsenal.

The pitch presentation was a project in which I felt I really thrived. I don’t have much fear when it comes to presenting so I was excited to convey an idea I was passionate about. I equally enjoyed the ideation process to deduce an idea for the presentation. I put a lot of effort into the design of my slide deck and that transpired in the final product. Overall I feel that project went very well.

OPPORTUNITIES I felt as though this module required a lot of acute time management as there was a lot of external factors that lay outside of the syllabus which ate into my week. This included placement applications and interviews (including design tasks). I felt quite stressed because of this and I found it hard to keep all of these plates spinning. Now that I have a placement secured I will be able to dedicate all my focus back to my project work and lectures in the new semester. I also will ensure not to become as stressed and reach out if I feel as though I am.