What I Have Learned For Almost 2 Years At Mister Aladin
Am I a failed designer..?
Today will be my last day as a UX/UI Designer at MNC — Mister Aladin. For almost 2 years (October 2017-June 2019) me and my partner Tasia (and lately Rian joined us)— on IT division working together to face and design all the products that Mister Aladin have.
A lot of story that I (sometimes) enjoyed to did this job. But live must goes on and I decided to end up my journey with them and start to ‘battling’ another things at different design area.
So, what I have done so far………??
The journey start from small team on the 8th floor of iNews Tower with only around 20 person, and 2 designers are in that team, Tasia and Me. Previously our service only provide hotel reservation, but soon we prepared to another services. 1st phase, we add train and domestic flight. 2nd phase, we add international flight, tour and activity.
First thing first
Before start working and designing for them, I need to know our previous design process and also prepare the tools that we use. When I check all the design process, hmm…. I’m not comfortable with that.
I think we can do better than that, also we can do prototype for validation and no need more print! And then we can use another compatible tools for designing (no offense, Photoshop is good, but for designing UX/UI right now we can use many tools that more advance than Photoshop). So we decided to improve our tools and we use Sketch, Marvel and Zeplin.
Another crucial things, Design request!
Business team come up with their idea, they requested bla — bla — bla, and we start to do it. Like I said before, from request, designing, print out and meeting, and repeat again and again and again, never ending story. Fortunately, day bay day, we are growing, build stronger team and also improving our design process flow.
Maybe this flow is different with another design process that you read on Medium, IDF or another design process reference. In reality, for sure you will face another (and different) situation, business team, unpredictable request, number of teams, number of designer. How lucky you are if your design process already ideal, same with UX design process or design sprint, but if it’s not? What would you do? Go with the flow or try to improve it? Your call…
And finally, after all obstacle and all the things that we faced, we can finish it and all the product already launched now! Good news, you can download it on Play Store or Apps Store.
Then…
What’s next?
Is the process complete?
For next, not me who decided because more precisely I have not been with them anymore.
But, as a personal and also as a designer, I want to evaluate what I have done so far both as a person and as a design team so it will help me to improve my self and also hopefully help them to build more better and better design team.
These are some of the things that I did or I get involved in and also I tried evaluate them. Once again, this is personal evaluation and opinion from my side.
Redesign home page apps and website
From 1 services to 3 services , 4 services and last 6 services. I tried to improve the home page, how to add another services, with limited time, with limited team. Find requirement from business team, doing review both from user and from competitor, having discussion with developer team, mock up and start to developing until it live.
But, after it launched, I realized 1 thing. Why we still using hamburger menu? Yes I know, this thing still being debated, Do we need hamburger menu? Why we want to remove it? How about another things or feature on it? Ya, soon we should do a research more about it so we can choose, do we want to use hamburger menu or maybe bottom navigation.
Also, maybe this article could help you to know more about hamburger menu https://bit.ly/2Jh3ldz
1 more thing about home page, Do we still need “deal terkini”? What’s the difference that feature with slide banner promotion?
Evaluation: Before we start to do something, before start designing it’s really good if we start it with deep research and deep validation, so all the request and all the decision made from real user needed not even personal needed.
Master design for train services and it will be applied to another services
It’s a long process. We really need 1 master design for it, because on that time we still use web view from 3rd party and need to have our own design.
I tried to do it, I created for train, my partner doing for flight. We have discussion about it, we doing a research, a lot of paper, a lot of screenshot and also post it. Long discussion, and also long revision process. And finally, it launched.
Done? Big No
Yes I did Master Design for it…..
Wait…..? Master Design? What’s that? Is that same with Design Language System? Hmm, that the problem that me and my partner find.
I do that master design, but when my partner want to applied that also to her product many things are applied differently. Different button, different color, different font size etc. And I realized, I only do master design, but I didn’t build the same language, the same component that we use, the same symbol and all library of it. That’s why we don’t have the same language for designing. It’s a problem, because for all design it will likely be different.
Evaluation: Design Language System should be the priority of the design team, build it and use it.
I did illustration for onboarding, benefit, empty state etc.
Yes I’m proud of it! One of my weakness since start my designing career is creating illustration. I tried so hard to do it and find that style, not really sure that I already have my own style, but for sure I do it consistently and try to do it for all page that need illustration. (visit my dribbble to know my illustration)
Also, design trend change really fast. When I created 1st style with outline, design trend change to flat illustration then I change to flat, design trend changed to gradient color, so fast.
I also made a story about redesign illustration for Mister Aladin, you can read it on this story https://bit.ly/2W5GPLg
Evaluation: Always lookup for the reference, UX/UI area changing really fast!
Last but not least, be like empty bottle..
Like I said before, UX/UI area is changing so fast, everyday article published at Medium, every dribbbler post their design, every week there are UX/UI meet up and also a lot of group or community about it.
Open our eyes, look around, learn more. The more reference that we have the more things that we can do also. Stay hungry, stay foolish.
Don’t trapped in “Doing this, change this, revise this, send it by today”
BIG NO!
Designer should have a vision, what should the do and design and how to improve it, we are not only task men we must be more than that!
Evaluation: Decide our vision and mission as a designer and as a team, learn from other, remember we not only doing daily task and don’t forget sharing and going stronger together and learn more.
So…..
I made this summary as a personal reflection for me as Mister Aladin UX/UI Designer. A lot of things that I did with/for them, but many things that still need to be improved. I hope this evaluation can be good lesson for me, than for the next I must be much stronger.
If it’s not.. Don’t be like me..
I’m a failed designer.
And finally, I want to say thank you to all of the MA team member, IT Team, all designer team and especially UX/UI team — Tasia, my big sister and partner since my 1st day and also Rian, my successor .
Good luck for all of you, be better, better and always be better.
For last time, like what we always said.
MISTER ALADIN! ONE TEAM! ONE DREAM! HU HA!
Alfredo, pamit!
