Just completed the Professional Orientation (Design) (10336.3) unit as part of my Bachelor of Design (Interaction) study at University of Canberra.
Reflecting on this unit, I gained insights into design theory, technical skills, and industry expectations, including ethics and social responsibility for designers. A significant aspect of undertaking this unit was consolidating my design skills and interests, which is design for dynamic data and application for information products.
While the unit content covered technical elements of design, it also introduced design practice in industry, research techniques, and how to approach cultural inclusion when working with indigenous people.
What was interesting was researching the evolution of database design assignment two, which highlighted the five overlapping waves between the 1960’s structured data approach, through to the semi-structured and unstructured data concepts of today.
The biggest challenge while undertaking this unit was balancing time between work and study as the unit delivery was during the busiest tax and compliance months of the year (Jul-Oct) where I was working two contracts. I feel this impacted my ability to derive more value from the unit and complete the assessments to my best ability.
With this unit completed, time for an academic break until semester one 2025 where I’ll be undertaking Introduction to Interaction Design (11655.1). I am looking forward to this unit, which focuses on interaction and user-centered design for web-based products. As I’ll only be working one contract, I can commit more time and energy to this, and I have ideas for the development of web-based prototypes.