Minor Project / Final Compilation

21/4/2025 - 30/7/2025/ Week 1 - Week 14

GUAN YAXIN / 0370687

Minor Project / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

LECTURES

1. User Research (User research)

Objective: To understand users' behaviors, needs and motivations, and to drive design decisions with data.

Method:

Quantitative research: collect numerical data (such as satisfaction score and demographic statistics) through investigation.

Qualitative research: Get deep insight through interviews and observations (such as "Why do users do this?" ）。

Tools: Personas, Contextual Research and data analysis.

2. Portraits of users (Personas)

Function: visualize the target users and focus on the real needs and pain points.

Case:

Jill Anderson (Business Traveler): The demand is fast booking, and the pain point lies in the cumbersome process.

Foodie Millennial: The goal is to find creative jobs, and the frustration is career instability.

Clark Andrews (health tracker): I hope to improve my living habits through technology.

Elements: demographics, goals, setbacks, personality, preferred channels, brand influence.

3. Design Thinking

Core principles:

Empathy: Understand the real experience of users (such as the failure of Microsoft Zune vs. the success of iPod).

Iteration: continuous observation, reflection and improvement (the "Observe-Reflect-Make" cycle of IBM design thinking).

Process model:

Double Diamond model: Discover)- Define)- Develop)- Deliver.

Google design sprint: Understand)- Define)- Diverge)- Decide)- Prototype)- Validate.

4. Research methods

Contextual Research: combining second-hand data (such as network and periodicals) with field observation.

Interview and test: Dig the reasons behind user behavior (such as "Why do users prefer a certain function?" ）。

5. Data driven design

Quantitative method: statistical analysis of user behavior data (such as the numerical trend of 25-50-35).

Qualitative method: guide the design direction through user stories (such as Jill's travel pain points).

6. Innovative cases

Embrace Infant Warmer: solving the problem of keeping rural babies warm through empathy design.

Airbnb's "sense of belonging" strategy: design services based on users' psychological needs (such as "living like locals").

7. Key differences

Assumption) vs Empathy:

Hypothesis: Based on subjective guesses (such as Zune's failure).

Empathy: based on real user needs (such as the success of iPod).

8. Interdisciplinary integration

Design innovation triangle: user demand (Desirability), technical Feasibility (Feasibility) and commercial sustainability (Viability).

Related fields: psychology, anthropology, engineering, business management (such as supply chain, marketing).

Application suggestion

Create a user portrait: refer to Jill or Foodie Millennial template to define the target user characteristics.

Mixed research method: Combining survey (quantitative) and in-depth interview (qualitative) to fully understand users.

Design thinking practice: use double-drill model or design sprint framework to promote the project.

Avoid the hypothesis trap: verify the design hypothesis by Empathy Map.

9. Insights

Definition: Insight is a deep understanding extracted from data or observation, revealing the reasons behind user behavior.

Case:

Embrace Infant Warmer: Indian villagers halved the use of baby warmers because they thought western medicines were too effective, which led to insufficient effect. The design team removed the temperature bar and used the "OK" indicator to meet the local cognition.

Infrastructure limitation: Due to the unstable power supply, the team developed a hot water heating version to improve product adaptability.

Methods: Turn observation (such as "users don't use all functions") into insight (such as "users are frustrated by too many functions").

10. Data vs. Discovery vs. Insight

Data: Original facts (such as "60% users prefer mobile shopping").

Discovery: Patterns in the data (such as "mobile shopping preference increases by 20% a year").

Insight: explain the reasons and put forward suggestions for action (for example, "mobile shopping is the first choice because of convenience and better user experience, and retailers need to optimize the mobile terminal").

11. Problem Statement

Structure:

User (Who): Identify the target group (such as "Indian mothers in remote areas").

Need: Describe the need with verbs (such as "Need a way to keep warm").

Why: deep-seated reasons (such as "unable to send the baby to the hospital").

Example:

"Indian mothers in remote areas need a way to keep their premature babies warm and improve their survival rate because they can't send their babies to the hospital."

12. "How Mightwe" (HMW) questioning method

Role: Open-ended questions inspire innovative solutions.

Formula:

"How might we [action] for [user] so that [effect]?"

Case:

"How to design a quick exercise program for busy professionals so that they don't give up exercise because of tight schedules?"

13. Customer Journey Map

Purpose: Visualize the whole process of interaction between users and products, and identify pain points and opportunities.

Key steps:

Discovery stage: how do users know about products? (e.g. through social media advertising).

Comparison stage: Why do users choose trust? (e.g. reading competitors' comments).

First-time use: how to ensure users get started smoothly? (such as simplifying the registration process).

Sharing and recommendation: Why are users willing to promote? (e.g. recommended reward).

14. Idea techniques

Brainstorm:

Rules: don't judge, pursue quantity, and "Yes, and…" thinking.

Skills: quickly conceive (5 minutes) and take turns to supplement (Round Robin).

Mind Mapping (mind mapping):

Steps: central theme → branch classification → detailed association (for example, under "sustainable transportation", it is divided into "electric bus" and "bicycle lane").

SCAMPER method:

Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to use, Eliminate and Reverse.

Case: improve the backpack → add the built-in charging treasure (merger) and change it into waterproof material (renovation).

Crazy 8’s：

Draw 8 creative sketches in 8 minutes to explore diversity quickly.

15. Design Proposal

Core elements:

Problem statement: Identify the pain points of customers.

Project scope: define the working boundary.

Solution: Design how to solve the problem.

Timeline: milestones in stages (such as research → design → testing).

Costs and terms: transparent quotation and ownership of intellectual property rights.

Presentation skills:

Before-and-after comparison diagram and prototype demonstration.

Avoid terminology and focus on commercial value (such as "color scheme enhances brand recognition").

16. The Deck

Principle:

Conciseness: one page and one theme to avoid information overload.

Visual level: Highlighting important elements (such as headline → chart → explanatory text).

Consistency: fonts (1-2 kinds), color matching (in line with brands) and high-quality pictures.

Animation use:

Fade in/slide in moderately to avoid fancy effects.

Key application suggestions

From data to insight: mining the "why" behind behavior through user interviews and observations.

Define the problem accurately: use the framework of "user+demand+insight" to avoid hypothesis deviation.

Diversified ideas: combine SCAMPER and Crazy 8's to generate innovative solutions.

User journey optimization: simplify the process and reduce frustration for the "first use" stage.

Persuasiveness of the proposal: demonstrate the business impact of the solution in customer language (non-design terms).

INTRODUCTION

Phase 1: The Initial Understanding of The Project and The Grouping of Topics

In the first week of the course, Mr. Mike introduced the content and objectives of the whole PRJ62204 Minor Project module to the students, and got a preliminary understanding of the content, background, direction and tasks we are about to undertake. The teacher has prepared different projects for us, and we can choose them ourselves. This is the primary task. After my evaluation and understanding, I choose the project that I am working with "Food Aid Foundation" now, with "Cerita Dapur" as the core theme, and from the design point of view, I use my learning knowledge to provide visual solutions for people who may or are facing food safety problems in Malaysian cities.

Our team consists of seven members. Under the leadership of the team leader, everyone is responsible for investigating different topics, such as the investigation of organizational background, how to improve practices and so on. At this stage, I am responsible for investigating the difficulties and shortcomings encountered by the food foundation, such as the popularization of nutrition knowledge, government assistance mechanism, cultural barriers, community trust relationship, etc.

Barriers to participation


1. Because it is a non-governmental organization, its social influence is limited, its information dissemination is insufficient, and it does not have enough ability to attract very wide attention.


2. The credibility of non-governmental organizations is limited, which will affect the joining of groups, food recycling, volunteer recruitment and so on.


3. The people have insufficient knowledge about food waste and recycling, and do not have enough knowledge reserves to realize the importance of food aid.


4. There are great differences among the masses, and people may not be able to pay attention to food waste due to their own limitations, which has a great impact on the efficiency and supply of food aid.


5. The topic of food aid is not deeply rooted in people's hearts (for example, in compulsory education, schools do not pay enough attention to food aid, etc.), and it has not become a widely known social issue.


6. The publicity is limited, and the number of activities organized is insufficient and the scope is not wide enough (such as schools, communities, social media, etc.)


7. There are not a large number of regular employees, and they need the help of volunteers. The manpower flow is frequent and unstable, and there is a time limit, so the work efficiency cannot be high.


8. Failure to provide clear rules and regulations will reduce potential donors.


9. To donate large quantities of food, it is necessary to provide sufficient manpower and smooth logistics to ensure its freshness. Even if some individuals and enterprises have ideas, they cannot transport food because they do not have enough ability.

10. Generally speaking, from the aspects of food collection and transportation, they are out of touch and cannot form a complete virtuous circle.

During this period, each of us analyzed the difficulties encountered by b40 group. This is what I found by combining the contents of the interview with the previous research.

5 Findings from Interviews

1.For the B40 group, their top priority is to eliminate hunger, which is a fundamental prerequisite for survival. Therefore, activities such as giving away food or providing free meals are more appealing to them than lectures on nutrition knowledge. 

2.Due to poverty, most families have to struggle to make ends meet. Young people may spend enough time earning money, and in such cases, the elderly or children become the ones bearing the burden of the family. Therefore, even if the B40 group is aware of the importance of nutritional supplementation, they have no time to participate in nutritional education activities. 

3.Group B40 has insufficient understanding of nutritious meals. They generally believe that nutritious meals are a consumption category for the wealthy. For them, the top priority (primary goal) is to have enough to eat (eliminate hunger and supplement sufficient energy) rather than "eat healthily". This group has a low level of awareness of nutrition, and it is a lower priority for them. 

4.By achieving cross-disciplinary collaboration and corporate cooperation, the frequency of nutrition activities can be increased and work efficiency can be improved. For instance, the collection of big data can better establish food aid models, and sponsorship for food exhibitions can provide sufficient funds, etc. 

5.There are various ways to enhance the publicity efforts, such as through WhatsApp groups, TikTok videos, community bulletin board posters, etc. Moreover, the B40 group is more likely to accept information from authoritative or familiar figures. Therefore, it is feasible to start from this aspect, for instance, by inviting some nutrition experts or dietitians, or by popularizing nutrition knowledge to community leaders for further dissemination. Complicated forms are not easy to spread.

Phase 2: Background research and user profiling

In the following period, under the leadership of Teacher Mike, we conducted background research and group discussions. During this time, we also learned about many existing problems and answered questions raised by classmates through interviews with internal personnel from the school and the company. We also collected a large amount of information through Miro board. The research covers a wide range of aspects, such as the operation mechanism of the Food Aid Foundation, the current situation of food access for low-income groups in Malaysian cities, the difficulties in the food aid process, the lack of nutrition knowledge among some populations, and the limitations of dissemination methods. It requires in-depth analysis and investigation.

Based on these research results, we have started building Personas, including: NGO founder idris Naim、Primary school teacher Aina Binti Salleh、Food Bank Volunteer Aisha Tan and others.

Each character portrait contains a lot of content, such as basic background, behavioral patterns, emotional pain points, and the problems that need to be solved, laying the foundation for defining the problems that need to be further solved in the future.

Phase 3: User Journey and Problem Definition

Our group started from the designated user profile and continued to develop a User Journey Map based on the content in the miro board, identifying their specific experiences and emotional changes during the process of receiving food aid.
Subsequently, we compiled multiple core POV (Point of View) problem statements and proposed corresponding How Might We questions, such as: How to optimize publicity through community feedback mechanism、How to win the trust of the beneficiary group (target group)、How to attract attention and achieve results in design (i.e. through visual language)

Phase 4: Concept, Prototype, and Visual System Construction

The team enters the conceptual stage and begins designing the visual system. We established the main visual direction with the help of mentor Mike:

In terms of color, we have chosen natural colors such as green, which are closely related to food

In terms of fonts, choosing relatively rounded fonts can increase affinity, and simple fonts can also convey information more clearly, helping people better understand

In terms of content, choose concrete graphics such as vegetables and pots based on the theme of the food to better fit the theme of the project.

We are preparing to develop some projects to better assist us in achieving our promotional goals. Design content such as promotional posters, nutrition instruction cards, Microsite website prototypes, Instagram social media templates, food collection feedback forms, etc.

We also designed the logo of Cerita Dapur, which is inspired by the stir fried food in a pot, symbolizing the emotions and dialogue behind cooking.

In the PPT, I wrote three sections: Solutions, Design Direction, and Implementation

Solutions

1. Attract more volunteers

For instance, relevant incentive activities can be set up, and an integral system can be introduced so that volunteers can receive rewards (such as discount coupons from cooperative merchants or knowledge and skills training courses in areas like baking and finance) based on their service hours. This can increase their subjective initiative to a certain extent and improve efficiency. Meanwhile, a related website or APP can be established to facilitate the release of tasks and accommodate the different schedules of volunteers. Short promotional videos can be produced and posted on platforms with high traffic, such as TikTok/WhatsApp, etc. The content can be about the promotion of food safety knowledge or the true stories of assisted families and volunteers. The spread on social media can reduce some misunderstandings or prejudices to a certain extent. 

2. Strengthen enterprise cooperation to stabilize and increase resources

It is possible to consider signing relevant agreements with supermarkets, food companies, restaurant chains, etc., to regularly receive food close to its expiration date, thereby forming a stable supply chain. 

3. Establish Relevant Activities

Regularly invite some community residents and media to introduce the concept of food safety, popularize the importance of food safety, or visit the food sorting center to show the safety inspection and distribution process of food, explore how to ensure the safety of food production, and enhance the trust of the community group in food. QR codes or tracking systems can also be provided to record the source, shelf life, transportation process, etc. of food, allowing recipients to scan and query, display the food distribution situation, and enhance public trust in food safety. 

Design Direction

Derivative designs (such as related tableware, promotional brochures, posters, etc.) can adopt designs that are highly appealing and sustainable. Uniform style posters and success story cards can be produced and posted on high-traffic platforms for volunteers to forward with one click. 

2. Interactive Design

Smart Food Cabinet: Equipped with a touchscreen on the exterior for displaying information, it automatically sends recipe suggestions after scanning and picking up. It has an internal temperature control function to ensure the safety of perishable foods. Develop the FAF Volunteer APP/website and create modules such as task check-in and restocking notifications. 

Implementation

First, create promotional brochures, posters, videos, etc., and disseminate them simultaneously on both offline and online platforms. Identify pilot areas to verify the speed of dissemination and community acceptance, and attempt to deploy smart food cabinets in some communities. At the same time, recruit volunteers, establish a reward system, create a relevant website or APP with clear modules, and train multiple core personnel to introduce and operate the website or APP (hardware development + pilot promotion). 

Continue to expand the service scope based on the situation, increase the number of covered states, and try to sign long-term donation agreements with multiple enterprises to gradually establish and further stabilize the supply chain (cooperative expansion + inter-state logistics). 

To further optimize the food collection process, we can enhance the publicity efforts, such as increasing the frequency and scope of social media activities, diversifying the types of activities, providing more entertainment, and expanding the dissemination of food safety-related knowledge. Additionally, we can analyze the delivery routes based on previously collected data to reduce transportation costs, achieve a high degree of scale and standardization in the physical aid project, increase its national influence, attract the attention of the government and obtain relevant policy support, and strive for government funding. 

Key Resources

Technical Partner: Local software development company (responsible for app iterations).

Core Team: 1 project manager, 2 community coordinators.

Partners: Malaysian Nutrition Society (content review), celebrity chef Chef Wan (brand ambassador).

After Mike Chong's suggestion, we have clarified the design theme more clearly, so I have changed the content of the Implementation section.

First, we will try to adopt some promotional methods, such as creating promotional brochures, posters, videos, etc., to disseminate the information simultaneously on both offline and online platforms. We will conduct pilot projects to verify the speed of dissemination and the community acceptance rate, and we will also attempt to deploy smart food cabinets in some communities. Due to the limited and diverse online platforms used by community residents and the insufficient information flow, the promotional efficiency may not be high. Therefore, we can focus on offline promotion. According to the designed concept, we will use simple and fresh color schemes to promote food nutrition knowledge, emphasizing the combination of health, practicality and fun. At the same time, we will recruit volunteers, set up a reward system, create relevant websites or apps to establish clear goals, and train multiple core personnel to introduce and operate the related websites or apps (hardware development + pilot promotion). 

Based on the situation, continue to expand the service scope, increase the publicity efforts, increase the number of covered states, and attempt to sign long-term donation agreements with multiple enterprises, gradually establishing and further stabilizing the supply chain (cooperation expansion + inter-state logistics). 

Further optimizing the food collection process can enhance the efficiency of publicity. For instance, increasing the frequency of distributing offline promotional posters and brochures, expanding the frequency and scope of social media activities, increasing the variety of activities, providing more entertainment elements, and expanding the dissemination of knowledge related to food safety. Based on the previously collected data, analyzing the delivery routes can reduce transportation costs, achieving a highly scaled and standardized physical assistance project, enhancing the national influence, attracting the attention of the government and providing policy support, and striving for government funding.

Phase 5: Project Design Practice

We will organize the final design into components related to the theme of "Cerita Dapur" for NGOs to carry out food aid activities in different communities, including:

Poster and slogan design

Nutrition Introduction Card

Beneficiary Feedback Form

Website prototype and QR code entrance

Social media post template

Waiting for the project. During this period, I created some posters, including some mockups. Based on the color scheme and theme we have chosen, I have created some promotional posters. 

After discussing with my team leader, she told me that I should use the material provided by a team member to ensure that our design content is relatively consistent, and the font should also be changed to a unified font. Therefore, I made further changes by replacing the material in the picture with the provided material and changing the font.

 Unfortunately, my design was not utilized.

This is a mock up about a booth, and I have also created different versions. When making the first version, the team leader reminded me that for some content, I should not just enlarge them (or enlarge them to look like a poster), and the text content was also somewhat unreasonable. It should not be "nutritious food" but should be consistent with the theme, so I continued to make changes.

At this point, the team leader reminded me that she had made some changes to the projects, so if I were to use them, I should place the latest version. According to his request, I made further changes. Finally, a suitable version was chosen as the final presentation.

What I still need to do is create promotional posters for social media pages. I also made two different versions, and the team leader said he liked the first version, but I felt that this version was not perfect enough to make the final presentation.

Therefore, I made different versions to make some of the layouts more reasonable, such as the background page. I changed the position of the text and patterns to make them look more comfortable and important information not obscured. Similarly, in the display of images, I placed other different mockups to make the entire page more professional and formal. 

This is the final presentation.

Proposal

Final Presentation

REFLECTION

Experience

This project brings us not only a design experience, but also a profound process of team learning and social observation. Through this project, we deeply understand the design concept of "people-oriented" and realize the unique value and feasible path of design in solving social practical problems.

This is a challenging but valuable project practice. We not only learned how to communicate with real audiences, but also practiced the whole process abilities such as teamwork, investigation and analysis, information visualization and prototyping. More importantly, we use design to promote positive changes in society.

In the future, I hope to apply this kind of experience to a wider range of community issues and respond to the complexity of the real world with creativity.

Observation

Through the Cerita Dapur project, we deeply realize that design is not only "beautiful", but also "communication medium", "problem solving tool" and "bridge of trust". Design should serve people, be close to reality and respond to social pain points. I hope there will be more projects in the future to build a fairer and healthier social ecology with empathy and innovation.

Findings

People-oriented is the starting point of design. Portraits can help us understand the real needs of each user. Visual communication has more cross-cultural communication power than writing. Feedback loop is the key to improve the quality of the scheme, and the design is never accomplished overnight. Collaboration and co-creation can maximize the collaborative output of members from different backgrounds.