CURIOSITY IN RISING - Updating you on my digital artefact !
How design and human-centred thinking has changed my approach
Designing my second digital artefact for BCM has been really interesting and exciting. Whilst it’s tempting to just look forward to the end product - which in this case would be a completed and successful podcast series - the design process isn’t quite as simple as that. The design process encourages me to have a structured, creative approach to meeting my goals for the digital artefact in BCM114.
Since first announcing and launching Curiosity In Rising in mid-August, a lot has changed. I’ve recorded and published three episodes of the podcast onto major streaming platforms, including 2 episodes with special guests, I’ve created visual content in the form of instagram reels on the Instagram page of the project, and I participated in a photoshoot for the podcast. Things are definitely on the right track for my DA, and I’m really enjoying the reception Curiosity In Rising has received, but of course there are improvements to be made and much more work is still to be done.
Let’s take a look at all that’s happened so far and the impacts human-centred thinking and design have had on my work as I look towards what is yet to come.
Empathise
To make a successful piece of media, it is integral that you are empathetic. After all, creating a digital artefact project is ultimately being able to find a solution to a problem or fill a hole in somebody’s life through new content creation. This is empathy, understanding what is needed or wanted from potential consumers. Designing is ultimately just problem solving. So it’s important to observe what consumers are engaging in and their online behaviours.
To do this, I looked around on social media platforms, mainly TikTok, to find a sort of target audience and see if there was a demand for a spirituality/lifestyle podcast. I found that there definitely is a community that could engage with my material, but I also found that I need to differentiate my content from other spiritual content creators and I decided to do this by making Curiosity In Rising more down to earth and realistic. As opposed to current spirituality culture which can come across as quite obsessive, extreme and confusing, I want my DA to be more approachable, I want to call out some things that I disagree with in the spiritual community and also make it more accessible and easy to understand for the everyday person who knows little about spirituality.
Here are some examples of the types of TikTok creators that I found which proved there is desire for the content I will be creating:
Define
I then came up with my problem statement - which has since been slightly tweaked:
Ideate
Ideating involves focusing on the creation of ideas. This step includes lots of brainstorming. I had to come up with my ideas and goals for Curiosity In Rising. Ultimately, I want to create a page that has successful engagements from like-minded people who can relate to me dipping my toes into spirituality, yet not completely committing to it yet, and also talking about lifestyle through fitness, health, organisation and fashion.
The Curiosity In Rising Photoshoot
In the ideating phase I participated in a photoshoot with the help of one of my good friends, the main cover of the podcast is from this photoshoot. In the photos I pose in front of a mirror which represents self-reflection and the curiosity I have into society and cultures which will be explored.
Prototype
Getting closer to the final vision of Curiosity In Rising, I began producing digital content on social media. I created the podcast’s instagram page and posted the photoshoot on my personal Instagram (announcing the podcast by simply mentioning it in the caption).
I then booked a media suite and used it as a recording studio to record my first episode! It was super fun to record and edit the episode and I decided I could actually post content earlier than I first anticipated. After signing up to a podcast release company and going through some licensing work, Curiosity In Rising was born and available on major streaming services!
I’m able to see the analytics of the podcast and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the number of countries I’ve already reached just by chance. It makes me excited to see what more I can do once I’m actually putting in much more promotional work.
I also asked my Instagram followers what sort of content and topics they’d like to see from me via the questions box feature on Instagram stories…
Test
Finally, after now releasing a few episodes and posting a fair bit of Instagram content, I can test what works and what doesn’t through troubleshooting such as posting on different days and seeing what one works best, testing different topics and episode lengths, and creating different types of reels/TikToks which will promote the podcast.
I’ve really appreciated some of the feedback I’ve received so far, it’s been super fun working on Curiosity In Rising and I look forward to seeing where things go next, continuing to use these themes to improve my artefact.
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