Prototyping
The prototyping stage is one which has been in practice since the creation of my DA although it has recently began to slow as I have been overcome with the extent of my project. This individual feedback means that I will begin to iterate and further prototype my DA to further suit my own needs and FIST. Specifically, less focus on the amount of posts on my page, and a greater focus on consistent posting. The ideas are discussed in further detail below.
Making
The making stage of my DA involved a number of assumptions which were corrected as I tested my prototype with users. Many of these were outlined in my beta video, but to quickly recap:
- I have begun to focus more on the textual content rather than visual for my main posts as I found my audience were more concerned with missing releases rather than original images.
- I have created a segment of my Instagram which posts outfits each day and breaks down the outfit, after this was suggested by a member of my audience.
- The outfit of the day includes more female outfits upon several fans request.
It was also at this stage that I read about the minimum viable product theory, wherein a project should be developed by achieving its goals as it iterates, rather than doing so all at once upon completion. To apply this notion to my DA would mean I should be focusing on the underlying need for information about clothing and shoe releases, and aim to achieve this all along, rather than creating a perfect format or images which achieve this goal at the end. It has been difficult to adopt this process as I have had difficulties feeling comfortable releasing work which I know can be improved upon, but in order to activate the feedback loops I have slowly done so. This is most obvious in my recent posts, which have stock images of items and more information about the shoes. This has a secondary impact in that it is the ‘f’ in fist, that being fast and as a result I am able to produce a greater amount of original content for my audience.
Breaking
The breaking week suggested the constant iteration of our projects in order to find their value, with a suggestion to break them down to the core in order to highlight the notions of FIST and FEFO. It made me contemplate something which has been in the back of my mind recently: what if I made my DA a simple text focused blog instead of a complicated Instagram with a number of moving parts? The outcome of this is yet to be seen, but it is likely that in the following weeks the original blog will return in some form, perhaps replacing the tiresome weekly or daily inspiration posts. Another concept discussed this week was that broken can be beautiful. It is something I had to come to terms with as part of my DA and it’s the reason I re-listed some of my early posts which I had made private early in my project. I am slowly accepting that my early prototype must be visible to show the process even if those early posts were somewhat broken.
Remaking
The reading for this week on content curation strategies was particularly useful for my DA as a curation based product. One of the key points made by Hudgens’ is to ‘dig deep from sources with 10-20% relevancy’ and he further outlines that this content is less likely to have been seen by the audience and thus engages with them further than repeating information seen on a number of other outlets. In applying this to my DA I have already, and will continue to use a number of less known European shoe release websites as possible places to purchase products. With my audience consisting largely of Australians they will engage further with this content, particularly as they are unlikely to know that despite extra shipping charges they can purchase from these sites and still save money when compared to resell prices. A second point made suggests that curators should add value with their own commentary. Just prior to this reading I had somewhat followed this idea with the introduction of my weekly grails story post. These posts include my own personal favourite items, with plans to include a short opinion piece outlining why I personally like the specific pieces. Although minimal feedback has been provided to this iteration thus far, it is already largely positive as evident by the interaction with my audience on the topic. I have also considered adding my own commentary to the curated information about releases in my main posts, and this may boost audience engagement as Hudgens’ suggests.
What’s next for Where2Cop?
I have a number of goals moving forward with my DA, with the key ones being:
- Less focus on Instagram as my blog is reintroduced
- More opinionated and original content alongside the curated information
- Likely the removal of the outfit of the day and weekly inspiration, which were neither fast nor simple
- Greater frequency of posting as I buckle down for the final month or so of the session
If you have read this far you are either Angus (hi) or a true fan, so you already know where to find w2c on Instagram @where2cop
Shanks 