The week of chaos

Literature review

This was the subject and week I was most nervous about when starting the course since I hadn’t done much research work since graduating. It turned out to be one of the most challenging weeks I’ve had in a long time; bouncing between work, daily progress tasks and load shedding. The research topic for the year is focused on the shifts in visual communication design and I chose to research the data visualisation in health messaging due to COVID-19 and industry shifts for inclusive design.

However, the first day started with a 6-hour loadshedding period and I found myself in a busy coffee shop trying to speed-read articles before the next lecture began. Learning to focus with all the distractions was a real challenge since it had been close to a year since the lockdown started and I had been in a busy office. But I learnt valuable lessons in managing time, resources and narrowly avoiding audible screams. Later, I learned to embrace the load-shedding schedule and use the screen breaks to catch my breath, recoup and plan ahead, making the "on" time more efficient.

The course outlined daily tasks that we'd get feedback on and be able to improve and I really appreciated this method of learning since it broke down a large sum of work into smaller, more manageable portions making the final submissions so much less daunting. Engaging with the topic and enjoying the reading helped get through the submissions and I was happy with my final outcome and when I finally caught up on some sleep, realised I was proud to have made it through such a challenging week.

I'm not quite sure my hair made it though.