Issues and Challenges

I believe that one of the main issues I face is that the design work I create for my app may not be as substantial as that of some of the professional and biggest apps that are on the market today, this concerns me because it is my opportunity to show off the skills and design progress I have made over the last two years and it will not justify my time on the course. I have always had a lack of confidence in my work level and so this opportunity must be an accurate representation of what I can now do. In order to avoid this, ignoring my self-doubt, I will use focus groups during my design process to show the step by step progress and reassure myself that the work I am doing has a strong stance for my target audience, in doing this, I am showing the examiner that although my work may not be very good, it is fit for purpose in terms of what I believe may not be a strong piece of work.

Another issue I am already coming across is my time management, I made the choice to not create an FMP time planner like I did for last year as I did not find it effective in keeping me to a strict schedule. I am dealing with a lot of personal issues this time around, most of the time I am finding it difficult to get out of bed most days and motivate myself to work. It is not a personal choice for me to 'slack off', I physically can not bring myself to dress most of the time currently or bring myself to work on our current FMP work. It sounds strange to those who may not understand what I am going through, I struggle with it sounding ridiculous as is. Due to my mental health struggles, I am already finding it difficult to time manage effectively, speaking to Ed and being honest with him, I know that there is an extension on this if I need it, something I will definitely take due to wanting to at least try for a good grade, or any grade at this point. To try and combat my lack of work progress, I am also trying to push myself to achieve one piece of work each day, being semi-productive is better than doing nothing which is what I do most days. I really wanted to create the app and its marketing materials too, however, I have decided to cut this down and just create a website promoting the page, the app itself and one email mock-up advertisement on clothing deals depending on what the user shops for, such as Office offering 20% off for example.

Another challenge I believe I will face is the use of new software Adobe XD, as it is new to me and I have limited time to complete all the work I would like to, I feel like adjusting to the new software will be difficult. I am relieved to know that it is an Adobe program, meaning it will run consistently and similar to that of other Adobe programs I currently work with. Bring in pieces of work from current Adobe programs will also help, as I know that the images will work well. To resolve the issues I may face with a new software like Adobe XD will be that I will ensure to watch tutorials that Adobe offer, for beginners to really help me get the most out of the work I am doing on it. To help myself further I want to practise mock design work prior to working on the apps finale draft, to ensure that my work is at a good place.