Hello
I faced and solved these case studies and problems throughout my study at BYUH. I consider myself capable of doing many things, and here are some examples.
Content creation and planning
This semester I learned how to create an audience and grow an Instagram profile effectively with 0 budget and 0 ads.
Problem
We had to start creating an Instagram account in this class from scratch. I barely use Instagram, so it was a new platform for me still. I needed to familiarize myself with how to use audio and what is a good proportion of posts and reels. I still need help timing, posting suitable content, and following my initial plan.
Solution
From my first few posts, I realized people tend to watch more reels than still images unless the image is aesthetically pleasing to stop scrolling. I am trying to be more genuine. I am not heavily editing any of my videos and posts. I also use original audio or trending audio. I am following the textbook to be more human and genuine in posting. From my observation, trending audio is much more attractive than putting many hashtags. People like to gain something, so they are hitting the follow button. I made a solution to my inconsistency of pattern by adding a cover to my reals. I am also planning my scenes more toward my color scheme. I put my content calendar on my screen to ensure I follow it and be consistent. I also created a giveaway for my followers, showcased my capabilities one by one, and added more followers.
Outcome
It is an ongoing process, and I am still working on and trying to solve this problem. I have gained 225 followers so far from January 30th. It has been just over a month since I have been running this Instagram, and I reached out to 2674 accounts in the last 30 days. I made 13 posts, 47 stories, and 25 reels for these days and got 188 engagements and 597 content interactions. My account is not a complete success. But it is consistently growing in a small amount. I learned how to start an account from scratch to an always-increasing account.
Leadership and team work
I have a great experience in art directing experience at Ke Alakai. Creating design is one thing, but teamwork and leadership are different.
Problem
I became an art director as a content creator and photographer last November. I was just a photographer in the eyes of my co-designers. The problem was that I solely did my creations, and it was unreasonable for other graphic designers that I just became an art director because they still needed to learn my skills.
Solution
I started to understand the process of Ke Alakai first and tried to understand the other three graphic designers. I also needed to prove that I could design, lead and work with those designers. I collaborated with the chief editor on a particular theme for every issue and tried implementing cohesive design throughout the stories and layout. After the first magazine and the result of that magazine disappeared in one week. We ended up printing more copies and distributing them throughout the school. It also proved my skill and vision to my coworkers. I tried to understand their styles and perspectives on their layouts and respected their design. In return, they also heard my suggestions and improved their skills. I am also learning a lot from these girls.
Outcome
As a result of teamwork second issue I played the role of art director was another success. We had powerful stories and collaborated throughout the magazine, from writers to photographers and graphic designers. We planned some layouts and discussed them before writing the stories. In that way, graphic designers' workload gets more manageable because now they are involved in all the processes and have a vision of their design beforehand. I learned that creating genuine relationships with people is crucial to teamwork and leadership.
Time management
With my three majors, three kids, and three part-time jobs, I juggle and change many different hats. This situation of mine forced me to develop time management skills.
Problem
Beginning of my study at BYUH in 2019, I was pregnant in my first semester. I already have two active boys under three at the time. I passed EIL, so I needed to take academic classes such as BUSM 180 and accounting. I had morning sickness, very active boys, and a conflicted schedule with my husband. Since we were studying simultaneously, finding a job took work. It must be either at night or early at 4 am.
As an international student, there is no family here at BYUH, and I don't fully trust my kids to someone strangers. We had no option but to ask for help from other students with kids. Suddenly, there was too much to solve, overwhelming challenges. To have my scholarship in IWORK, I needed to work, payback, and take full-time credits for that semester. Adjusting to a new environment and asking lots of questions from others were draining for an introvert like my husband and me.
Solution
To make things work out, I started writing down every responsibility I needed to fulfill for my study, family, and work. I made an extensive calendar with everything planned, even lunch break and feeding my kids. I prioritized the list and planned out the week strictly. After one month of looking for a PCC job, I find a job as a 4 am custodian. They were not giving me a job because my schedule was different from other first-year students, and I also had kids, so I needed to be home at certain times to babysit while my husband went to work or study. Every night for 30 minutes, I check my to-do list and set the alarm for the morning.
For my morning sickness, I lost 10 kg of weight during my pregnancy, but unfortunately, after giving birth, I added much weight rewarded as stress and sleepless nights. So to sleep at least 7 hours, I changed my job and found a great, flexible job. As I said earlier, I fainted a few times because of my pregnancy and morning sickness, so I changed my plan again. I was good at making designs which helped me to get work in Student Leadership and Activities even though it was my first semester. I dedicated all my strength, time, and concentration to my study work and kids by following my detailed plan. I tried to spend all my time effectively. I learned to ask for help and exchange babysitting other's kids during the day when they are in school and vice versa. It helped solve the first-semester problem.
Outcome
Due to this time management challenge and lack of resources, I learned how to ask for help. I learned to manage my time most effectively. I accepted that the things I used to do in my prior university life wouldn’t happen again while we were here. I developed the skill to plan and keep up with the plan. After four years of keeping up with my time management, planning, and organizing practice, I can figure out things and plan accurately in the timeframe and resources. With this challenge, my decision-making ability also improved significantly.
Critical thinking
I was not careful about saving my projects and documenting my work. So I made a website from scratch in three days by organizing my less organized data, and this website is the result.
Problem
This semester in BUSM Marketing 429, I had to do a website from scratch. I needed to be more careful about the website I created before in different marketing classes. The Weebly website completely disappeared. I realized that I lacked documents from 421 assignments, and I usually don’t save my records since I rely on canvas and refer to them at any time. However, one professor retired, and I couldn’t find anything on canvas about that subject. I designed many design projects and participated in many event planning and organizing, but I didn’t think to document any of those. So it was challenging to start everything from scratch.
Solution
To finish my website on time, I needed to collect all the data I needed quickly and ensure I did a good job. This challenge is an opportunity to show my abilities and capabilities. Even though it was complicated and overwhelming going through my canvas and old files, it also significantly organized my documents. I started meeting my professor and fellow students and saw their example websites. I asked for help on where to start and good directions from these individuals. I started a word document with all the requirements listed and highlighted as I prepared or found the projects and documents and uploaded it to my website. This way, it was divided into little achievable chunks. Since I had less time to do everything from scratch, I started thinking and planning about my organization and UX for my website design. I wanted an outstanding website design with appropriate materials to showcase me worldwide. So I collected all the data and organized them into folders. I created and combined many documents and redesigned some old documents. And I finally started uploading and linking, and matching the pieces together.
I also included as many possible files to support who I am and what I do. I paid 100% attention to every detail. I hoped to create a flawless website, but still, a free template has limitations, so I gave up some of my solutions and figured out different ways to solve them. For example, on my pitch video, I looked to add a video to my website but couldn't find anything, so I uploaded my video to Vimeo and linked it to my website.
Outcome
The outcome of this case study was satisfactory. You are now reading my problem and how I solved my problem. I am happy that I spent time on this assignment for the last few days with few hours of sleep and reduced my time with my family and other obligations. It was my priority, and I finished doing this website. I learned many skills with Canva and Wix, even using different platforms. These two were easy to use and time-saving. My critical thinking skill improved by choosing how to prioritize and organize and making small decisions that can be crucial to my website's overall design and user experience. I also learned extra pair of eyes is always helpful. My husband checks my design and recommends his expertise, and I am glad I have such help.
