This module was one that I found quite challenging yet also very rewarding. The projects covered a range of different areas that are important to consider as a designer, for example making a portfolio or creating a tender document. This module is definitely more for people who are considering freelance design, so automatically the projects didn’t really appeal to me. I personally can’t see myself going down the freelance route in the near future, but I know that the things that I learnt would definitely come in useful if I was. Creating a CV and portfolio are essential for any designer, so having a module dedicated to these things was great as it shows how important getting a placement is to the course and how they want to help us get out in the industry. I think this is because placement is great for learning things that can’t be emulated in the classroom, and we can learn a lot while on it.

The lecture series I found was overall really good, even if some weeks the topic wasn’t as intriguing to me personally. I enjoyed learning about the workplace and what getting some etiquette advice from our lecturer who has worked in the industry. One that really helped me was the interview tips one, where I learnt a lot about how to perform in an interview. Something I have learnt overall from the lecture series is the importance of being interested in the industry. It kept coming up time and time again, that if we have a passion for UX and design, then we will be able to work our way around all the challenges and obstacles. Having an interest in a lot of things helps as well, when it comes to our overall work performance. A quote that was mentioned throughout the lecture series was by Michael Bierut, “The more things you are interested in, the better your work will be”. This quote has stuck with me and is definitely important for the design industry.

This module hasn’t been my favourite module, and I think it’s because it was more focused on being an overall designer, whereas my interest would gravitate towards UX design and all the niche parts of it. Compared to UXD302, I would say I have enjoyed that one more, but this one is definitely been just as useful in the long term. The pitch presentation was a project that gave us a lot of responsibility and freedom, having to think of a realistic product to solve a problem. Doing the presentation itself wasn’t too bad but what was challenging was all the different loopholes and gaps in my product that I found hard to cover up.

Overall this module has been really useful, and although I haven’t necessarily enjoyed it as much, it has really helped me secure a placement for next year which I am very grateful for and have to give a lot of credit to the things taught in this module.