Week 02
This week, I still feel the same. My state of mind hasn't been great. I hate to admit it, but I feel completely stuck with my project. My dissertation writing is at as standstill, and I'm struggling to figure out what the next steps should be. It's frustrating as I still don't understand why I feel this way. Anxiety is definitely playing a big part in this, and it's making the whole creative process feel like a constant uphill battle.
Despite the mental block, I did try to get myself out of the rut. I decided to do some user-testing and gather feedback for my Semester 1 website prototype. I thought this might give me a fresh perspective or some direction to look forward to. I also feel very nervous asking my friends for feedback. I was afraid they wouldn't understand my website, or that they think my ideas are silly or underdeveloped. But I still pushed through. I reached out to 4 people who are not in design related fields so that their feedback could be as objective as possible. Here is how it went.
Collated Responses of user-testing and user-feedback on four users
Aside from the user-testings, I also tried something a bit more technical along the week. Since my project is primarily web-focused, I bought a ESP32, with the intention of connecting to a web server to make my project more interactive. Unfortunately, nothing clicked too. That said, it did get me thinking about the broader scope of my project - what role could technology play in building community or creating social connections?
Looking ahead, I think I really need to focus on managing this anxiety. It's affecting my creative process, and I'm not getting anywhere with it. I am going to reach out to a counsellor from Lasalle's counselling service. Hopefully, it'll help me reset and start approaching my work with more clarity in the next few weeks.