In my GBDA210 course on UX design, my professor Ville Makela presented us with a
challenge: build a high-fidelity application in figma within 80 minutes. We had no
knowledge of anything about this challenge aside from its existence until we actually
began.
I only began using Figma this semester, and was initially worried. I barely had a
design system and even less any experience under pressure with Figma. The challenge
was to build a group payment app, so I began with sketching out a user flow. I'm fond of
basic apps that do exactly one type of task, so I decided to keep it monotone and
simple. The app presents itself as professional, for those who go out with coworkers and
managers.
This challenge felt doomed from the start; my only mode of transportation had delayed
my start on the design by 20 whole minutes. Thankfully, Professor Makela allowed an
extension for those in the same boat as me. Even so, it wasn't just physical time that I
lost: it was mental readiness. One bad thing happening means something else is bound to
go wrong, right?
Thankfully, I don't subscribe to that train of thought. A designer is a translator of
dream into reality, of idea into substance. Whether or not I had time on my side
wasn't an issue. The real challenge was if I was ready or not. And I was.
For the time constraints, I feel proud of $plit. Admittedly I did go for function over
form, but the effort invested is worth it.
