Portfolio Overview 2024

Table of Content

Meet the Directors!

Daniel (he/him)

Hello! 👋 My name’s Daniel, a 5th-year computer science student and one of your UI/UX directors for this year! 🚀 I’m back for another year after being a UI/UX subcom last year. Here’s some stuff about me:

• I’m a HUGE music and movie consumer - watched 400 movies last year and listen to a lot of genres (currently hooked on waves to earth and mac ayres) 🎬🎵 Also if you have any music/movie recommendations please send them over

• I enjoy taking photos here and there . Used to use a Sony A7 Mark III until it broke so saving up for a ZVE10 or a Fujifilm

• I really enjoy driving Always down to drive an hour to mates' houses just to go on a food run My go-to places have been DuoDuo (back when they had trucks) and Yochi.

I decided to stay with UI/UX for another year because it really made a big difference for me last time. I made cool friends, had good times, and learned a ton when I first got into UI/UX. Now, I've got jobs as a UI/UX designer which is something I didn’t think I’d be doing before I joined the portfolio. 🎨💼

Keen to create some stuff this year and have fun throughout the process! 🚀✨

Merry (she/her)

Hey there, gamers . I’m Merry Rosalie, a third year software engineering student and I used to be part of the Unilectives subcom. A little about me is that:

• I’m from Indonesia , so I automatically spawned to this world with the obsession for sambal .

• I have too many obsessions kdrama, kpop, animes, u name it .

• I love drawing anime peeps and sometimes I join some comic conventions to get some extra bucks (Also open for anime recommendation! Currently watching Frieren, Apotheracy Diaries, Solo Levelling and Classroom of the Elite).

The reason I joined UI/UX is simply because graphic design is my passion. I’ve also taken a bunch of UI/UX courses, like the Google UI/UX one, or DESN2000. Gotta say, I found them pretty fun and enjoyed the process . Plus, UI/UX could be a solid backup plan in case coding doesn’t work out (jk !!!).

What is UI/UX?

In case you’re not familiar, UI/UX is short for User Interface/User Experience. Usually, people tend to associate user interface and user experience together (which is why we call it UI/UX), but technically speaking, they are distinct steps or processes.

• UI, or User Interface , is all about the aesthetics and visual elements of the product. This covers everything that the user sees and interacts with, like buttons, icons, and any other graphical element.

  • When we're working on the UI, our main goal is to create interfaces that are visually appealing, consistent, user-friendly and intuitive for everyone.

• UX, or User Experience , is all about making great experiences for the user when they interact with a product (i.e accessibility, ease of navigation, clarity of information). This includes understanding the user thoughts, emotions, and responses to every aspect of the product with user feedback and testing.

  • When we’re working on the UX, our main goal is usability, ensuring that users can achieve their goals effectively and efficiently.

Though separate, UI and UX are still closely linked and mutually reinforcing. For example, a well-thought UX makes it a breeze for users to find what they're looking for, enchancing the overall UI. It also works the same way in reverse. Basically, UI/UX is super important for making DevSoc solutions look good and easy to use, and it's gonna be your responsibility to handle this important job!

Role of the UI/UX team within DevSoc

Here in Devsoc, our role is to help out with the creation of visually appealing and user-friendly designs for all of DevSoc flagship projects. We need to make sure that everything, from the aesthetics, user interfaces to the overall user experience, is spot on and carefully considered to meet the needs of the users of DevSoc's flagship projects. We also need to make sure every design is consistent and represents DevSoc, while also meeting the requirements of the project directors.

You might be wondering, “Isn’t design pretty straightforward? Why do the projects need help when they can do this themselves?”. Yeah, that could be true, but there are a few reasons this wouldn’t work :

• Not everyone is into design or built for it. Just like in the CS realm, not everyone likes frontend or backend, etc.

• It's challenging to ensure that all the projects' designs consistent without a dedicated team.

• When members of the projects were asked to collaborate on improving/making a new design, a lot of them weren't really up for it, since their main focus was on developing the functionality instead of good UI/UX.

• UI/UX is actually more complicated than it may seem. We have to go through a design process, which is kind of like the Software Development Life Cycle but for UI/UX.

So it was decided that a new team be formed to help with this problem. And that’s how we came to be .

Design Process

The UI/UX team takes care of the design process for any upcoming design task. Basically, the design process is all about going through a series of steps to ensure you have a strong UI/UX in the end. There are a lot of design processes out there, but the process we're going to follow is pretty straightforward:

• Define : During this phase, our goal is to understand the problem, requirements, scope and deliverables of the design task that was assigned to us from other projects. To do this, it’ll involve a meeting with representatives of other projects.

• Research : This phase is all about gaining a deeper understanding of the problem from different perspectives, so we can avoid making assumptions and solve the problem in the best possible way. This may involves conducting interviews, surveys, market research or competitive analysis.

• Ideate : Once the problem is understood, start brainstorming and coming up with a bunch of different ideas and concepts. We usually do this by quick sketches or low-fidelity designs and getting feedback on things like the flow, interaction, and information architecture.

• Prototype : After we've got the concept all sorted out, we go ahead and whip up a prototype that's gonna simulate the final design as best as we can. During this stage, it's important to get regular feedback on the design elements, flows, and interactions.

• Validate/Test : Once we've got the final product all set, we need to check how user-friendly it is. We do this by getting some real users to try it out and see how it goes. This is what we call usability testing.

Collaboration with other Projects

As a member of the UI/UX team, you'll be in regular communication with various projects within DevSoc and other users. This will involve gathering and document feedback and understanding project requirements. Yeah, communication is like super important for UI/UX!

Besides just communicating though, there are plenty of other things to keep in mind when working together on projects:

• Write thorough documentation. Make sure to take note of all the points, feedbacks, and anything else from every communication related to the project. Everyone in the UI/UX, even people from outside of UI/UX, will be able to easily understand the progress and direction you're heading in.

• One of your job scope is to literally tell others what good/bad design is. Do not let other projects just implement a subpar version of your work/a completely different design. You are there to dictate what should be the standard of each project.

• Maintain good relationships with everyone . However, make sure you stand up for yourselves!

If you ever run into any issues, don't hesitate to reach out to the UI/UX directors or GEDI officer. We’re here to help with a more casual or conversational problems that may come up. If you're not really into talking about the problem to the involved but wish to escalate it further, you can also reach out to the GEDI officer directly .