OUIL503 Responsive - End of Module Evaluation

End of Module Evaluation

This module has been probably one of the more fruitful ones i've done this year, but it was definitely still a big challenge. This was the module I was most worried about neglecting, but its ended up being the one i've actually dedicated the most time to; having to actively seek out briefs on my own terms was enough of a push to keep me looking out for stuff. 

I've had a wide range of problems to solve and briefs to meet through this module - nearly all of which have been out of my comfort zone and different from what I typically choose to work on. The thing I was most worried about was not being technically good enough to pull my weight on the briefs - and whilst my entries haven't returned too many wins at this point in time, I've actually been pleasantly surprised at how professional and well presented a lot of the work i've made has turned out. 

I'm actually at a point in time where I feel like the work that i'm doing is becoming a lot more refined, and throughout this module the briefs that i've chosen to tackle have allowed me to work with a professional context and still maintain my own tone of voice - which has been really helpful for weighing myself up as a potential practitioner. 

I've also found this module has helped me to improve my presentation and layout skills a lot more - as the constant board-making has forced me to start using my Graphic Design skills that have been collecting dust for some time now. This is another thing that has aided my work in looking a lot more refined and professional.

Another pleasant surprise for me were the more collaborative elements of this brief. I've had bad previous experience with collaborations - especially ones where people haven't pulled their side of the workload, but the things i've worked on with Sophie and Becky have turned out really well, and in many ways a lot better than they would have done if i'd have tackled them on my own. I think a lot of the reason why they've worked out so well is because of the nature of how they were handled - everyone was aware of the individual responsibilities they had, and it was a much more professional way of working to any other collaborations i've worked on in the past.

The same can be said for dealing with clients - this module has taken a lot of the mystery surrounding dealing with clients away, and set up important boundaries to ensure they get the work they require without us as practitioners getting ripped off or burdened with too much of a workload. There have been points in time - especially throughout working with the SU this year where this knowledge has become extremely helpful, and it will definitely serve me well when I start working with further clients.

This hasn't been entirely bump-free, however - I found a lot of the briefs incredibly challenging at certain points in time. One of the biggest things this module has highlighted is how incredibly vague some of the information provided to you by clients can be - which can range to slight annoyance for you to absolute disaster if trying to figure out what it is exactly they want from you. Occaisionally, things can be almost too specific - MOO especially had a very particular set of style guidelines that they wanted you to follow, but had almost zero information on who they wanted their products to be aimed at, which left me guessing a lot and hitting a lot of road-blocks.

There were also the usual suspects of poor time management and organisation - Whilst I kept on top of the work load itself quite nicely, I hardly did any blogging throughout the year - which has bitten me somewhat as we've reached the end of this module. Apart from this though, I've generally handled this module quite well in my opinion - the only thing I wish I'd done more of is trying to look for maybe more ambitious Live Briefs; though this was obviously limited by what time I had to do everything by. 

This module has definately improved my professional skills, and I feel i'm much more closer to working as a practitioner than I was at the start of it. I'm hoping now that a lot of the things I was slightly apprehensive about in the profession have been de-mystified, i'll have more confidence to approach bigger and better projects as time goes on down the line.