Processed
Timeline (12 weeks)
Research: Weeks 1-4
Design: Weeks 5-12
Alleviating feelings of imposter syndrome for graduating Melbourne design students by connecting them with design process
Undertaking the UX studio offered by RMIT, I completed a solo student UX project, choosing graduating Melbourne design students as my demographic group. I followed industry research and testing practices to build a final high-fidelity design concept to solve identified problems. Throughout this project, I developed a deep empathy for end users by immersing myself in their context.
THE PROBLEM
Melbourne design students transitioning to professional practice face a highly competitive environment and often have fragmented connections with industry and their peers. Many struggle with feelings of imposter syndrome because they are unfamiliar with industry expectations, feel they are not technically equipped to produce professional work and lack guidance throughout their transition.
These experiences can sometimes lead to apathy and overwhelm, in addition to short-term exploitative internship experiences that destroy their confidence. Many social media platforms that students use ignite these feelings of insecurity as an influx of images of finished projects are available to view and are rewarded based on a competitive model of standing out. Often the context of the design process is removed on these platforms, hindering the development of accurate student expectations of what they should be able to deliver as new professionals and how to develop their capabilities.
Feelings of overwhelm hold back students from confidently entering the design industry because universities fail to contextualise industry expectations
Melbourne design students transitioning to professional practice face a highly competitive environment and often have fragmented connections with industry and their peers. Many struggle with feelings of imposter syndrome because they are unfamiliar with industry expectations, feel they are not technically equipped to produce professional work and lack guidance throughout their transition.
These experiences can sometimes lead to apathy and overwhelm, in addition to short-term exploitative internship experiences that destroy their confidence. Many social media platforms that students use ignite these feelings of insecurity as an influx of images of finished projects are available to view and are rewarded based on a competitive model of standing out. Often the context of the design process is removed on these platforms, hindering the development of accurate student expectations of what they should be able to deliver as new professionals and how to develop their capabilities.
USER GOALS
Students wish to ease into professional practice with the following:
Students wish to ease into professional practice with the following:
- Support and mentorship
- An understanding of the industry's expectations, including technical skills and real-world strategic processes
- Connection to community and a culture of collaboration with other designers
THE SOLUTION
Exposure to real-world design processes is key
Start practising as a designer with confidence
Access to Industry ProjectsInteracting with the design process of real-world projects alleviates feelings of overwhelm and encourages curiosity.
Students have access to various projects across disciplines to form an accurate understanding of what to expect and how to practice within the areas of the design industry that are relevant to them.
Find information on projects relevant to unique interests
User FeedFinding the design process of work that directly aligns with user goals on one platform removes the fragmented experience of looking for guidance and inspiration across many locations while encouraging an industry culture of sharing.
The user feed features project updates from designers that are followed or suggested content relevant to the user's activity on the site.
Gain detailed insights into the strategy behind projects
Project UpdatesReading the individual stages within the design process of a project helps you assess and grow your capabilities with purpose and form accurate expectations around the scope of industry roles.
You can always view the full project that each update relates to, understanding how projects unfold and the purpose behind design decisions.
Save content to reference later
Saved ContentAs a new designer, you won't necessarily reference the content you interact with when you see it. With this in mind, you can save all content you come across for easy access when you need some inspiration or guidance while practising in the future.
To simplify things, you can filter saved content by the site's inbuilt categories, allowing you to access relevant project information quickly.
