#1. The first comic describes the problem of scope that I faced in defining the learning experience for our design project. The team dynamics of my team (Detective Piña) allowed for the generation of many ideas. Once we overcame the starting block, we would keep building on top of each other’s ideas. During the storyboarding exercise, one teammate and I even added elements on top of each other’s drawings. I think it was the first time I engaged in collaborative art in such an organic manner. When we reviewed the storyboard the next time, we saw that we had created a monster of a process. We would not be able to walk a learner through this learning experience within 15-20 minutes, probably not even within a week. I learned to use whatever methods (e.g. hungry grad students) to scope down. Ask outside "feedforward" to guide the process.

#2. The second comic is a sequel to the previous comic about scope. Even after cutting down the learner’s journey, while creating our first paper prototype, we realized that our designs involved maybe too many goals. It is an interesting parallel to a cognitive task analysis (CTA). Working on the task (i.e., designing the interface) itself, as opposed to just thinking about it, revealed tacit assumptions and steps. The comic depicts how in the end, we decided to focus on something that most interested us and to go deeper with that learning objective rather than pushing the learner quickly through an entire process.

#3. The third story illustrates the frustrations that come with creating higher fidelity prototypes. You may spend more time working on elements, but technology may fail you. After user testing, you may also realize that certain elements will need to be discarded completely. Letting go a digital component is much harder for me than a paper component. A year ago, I would not have thought of using paper prototypes but now, I am more tempted to create paper ones because it affords rapid iteration and spares more of your feelings. However, the digital prototype is more like the final digital product and reaps insight that will better inform the design of that final product. I have come to appreciate both paper and digital prototypes, still learning when best to use each.

#4. The fourth comic describes the experience of watching a user test. Expect the unexpected. Welcome it. I think it is fascinating how people always come up with different interpretations of the same things. I think these experiences have taught me to be more aware and tolerant of different perspectives.

See in the end, it comes back to being human.