01
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
For this semester, instead of allowing students to propose their own briefs for side projects, the faculty team changed the format by providing competition briefs. Students who wished to work on a self-initiated brief were required to discuss and justify it with the faculty in person.
👩💻 Because the briefing process took longer than expected and new briefs were released gradually. I decided to wait until this stage so that the brief options would be more complete before making a decision.
Overall, the briefs could be grouped into three main levels: easy, mid, and challenging.
From my perspective, the YoungOne brief was the most demanding. Although it involved a real client, the focus leaned more towards marketing than design.
In contrast, the Penguin brief felt more accessible and open-ended, as it functioned as a free design system for book covers, allowing greater flexibility in visual exploration.
YOUNGONE BRIEFS
👩💻 The first brief I identified focused on designing for Google Gemini. As I am considering a future direction in product design, this brief felt closely aligned with my long-term career interests.
My task was to break down the key components of the brief and conduct light initial research into the challenges faced by Google Gemini. Based on the insights gathered, I evaluated whether I had sufficient understanding and capability to respond to the brief in a meaningful way.
*ABOUT PROJECT
DIRECTION
They pointed out that while my secondary research has a solid foundation, the project is currently lacking visual investigation. At this stage, insights remain mostly theoretical and have not yet been translated into concrete design explorations.
✍️ Missing visual investigation limits concept development.
RESULT & REFLECTION
During this stage of research, I identified two keywords that became especially influential in shaping my thinking moving forward.
👩💻 The two key terms are social identity and cultural identity. Across multiple readings, these factors repeatedly appeared as having a strong impact on how people experience and stay engaged in language learning.
From this, I realised that collaborative learning plays a central role in building intrinsic motivation without having to mention about pressure or obligation. Language learning does not have to be limited to English; it can apply to any language, which allows the project to shift towards a broader and more inclusive perspective.
02
PRACTICES & DEVELOPMENT
The student code has finally arrived, so I started to build the final layout for the Process Journal.
👩💻 To begin, I gathered visual references for my website to identify a visual direction that felt natural to me.
The focus was on testing layout, grid systems, and text hierarchy to ensure the navigation remains clear and easy to follow.
RESULT & REFLECTION
By the end of the week, I had created all the components I needed. My next step is to start placing the notes and documentation from the previous weeks into the website.
