100 days of sketching for UX
Learning about UX Design through daily sketches.
For 10 years I have been developing learning experiences in museums. More recently, I developed interactive science exhibitions. You know, the ones you go in, press buttons, pull levers, use your hands, your body and your mind to make sense of the world around you. I became exposed to the world of design thinking and user experience design and it all suddenly clicked. Ultimately, this is what museums aim to do — provide meaningful learning and thought-provoking experiences to their visitors, i.e., their users.
100 days of sketches
Why I did it
In August 2019 I started studying in the Digital Media Creative program at Hyper Island, Stockholm. Ahead of me were two years of intense learnings, projects, real clients and creative challenges.
At Hyper Island you’re encouraged to take charge of your learnings, embrace self-leadership, to be a problem-solver and dive into what you want to explore, even outside school. So I went for it. My classmate Tian Gan mentioned the 100-day project where you do something every day for 100 days and document it. I figured if I want to become a UX Designer, I need to immerse myself in the field and learn, learn, learn.
How I did it
I started the 100-day UX Sketch Challenge by Krisztina Szerovay where I sketched three UX concepts every day. Sometimes I missed a day or two and then did two or three days of sketches in a row but I never skipped sketches. If I felt particularly inspired or with more time than usual, I would draw more than one version of each concept and then pick a favourite.
The habit soon kicked in: checking my email to see the “concepts of the day”, research when I didn’t understand them and then get cracking. Then, I would post my sketches on my class’ 100-day project slack channel and hit those Instagram stories too.
What I learned
Take it easy
I knew my sketches wouldn’t be very pretty since I’m not that good at drawing. Or so I told myself. But quickly I realised it didn’t matter.
To me, it’s not a case of “practice makes perfect”, but “practice makes better”.
Say what?
Some words and concepts were harder to sketch but all in all I’m very pleased with my efforts. Some other concepts were completely unknown to me, so I googled them first and made notes. This was particularly rewarding because I felt like it was a fun way to learn a lot of key concepts, tools and trends in the field.
Keep at it
Even thought there were days I was tired, busy or simply didn’t connect with the concepts, I tried my best to keep going and catch up if I missed a day. It became my thing, my daily routine and something to look forward to.
Documenting is key
What’s the point of doing something if you’re not going to show it and have others experience it too? Documenting and posting about my sketches gave me the confidence and joy to keep going.
An additional learning
Hands are very hard to draw. I couldn’t draw them properly before and still can’t! And that’s okay. So… 👍🏽
What’s next?
I am working further into UX Design using everyday to improve my knowledge and skills. I have now worked on a number of projects and see myself growing each time. And because I love a challenge, I started the 15 day UX writing challenge and will soon start the Daily UI challenge!
Thank you for reading, this is my first Medium post! If you’re curious, you can see more of my sketches on Instagram, have a look at my portfolio and find me on LinkedIn.
