‘La Vie Etc’, our one-stop-shop for girls seeking advice on anything and everything. Our main concept from the start of the ideating stage was to create an online platform where females (roughly 18-22) could jump on and read up on topics such as university, personal life and all the bits in between. Our goal was to create a ‘judgement-free’ space where girls can share their personal experiences and feelings. This phase of an individual’s life often entails major changes, struggles and a time where a whole lot is going on. Alex and I wanted to create a forum where girls could go for advice, suggestions or just something interesting to read up on. Before promoting our website, Alex and I wrote down a whole bunch of article ideas and began writing. During the ideating phase, we settled on the key features of our project e.g. website design/aesthetic, article topics, Instagram account and much more.
Once we came up with our concept everything else fell into place relatively easily, particularly as we both were very passionate towards our topic and shared similar visions for the project! But of course, there were numerous learning experiences Alex and I endured. First and foremost, neither of us had had any previous experience in creating a website or creating a project of this nature. Alex and I were quite fortunate as the ideating, prototyping and making stages all occurred quite easily without any major struggles. This whole project was an enjoyable and fun experience as we were able to bring our creative visions to life.
Designing our website and Instagram page was a key component in our prototyping phase as it was crucial our layout was appealing to our target audience. We began by designing logos and website design layouts on paper. Once we were happy with the final design, we transferred it over to wix.com. Alex and I received such nice comments and feedback in relation to our website design. This was so reassuring as it made us feel like we were on the right track and making good progress!
Figuring out the types of articles and topics we would write about was also a learning moment for Alex and I. Our main objective was to ensure they would be relevant and informative for our target audience, offering insight to topics or issues they may relate to. By breaking our topics into three categories i.e. University, Personal Life and Etc, Alex and I contemplated the types of topics we would find useful. In addition to this, we sent out polls and suggestion stories on social media to gain first-hand ideas from our audience. This whole process was made easier and more enjoyable as we had each other. We could therefore express our ideas, ask for help on particular difficulties and read one another’s articles before publishing.
Coming to the end of the semester, Alex and I are extremely happy with the project we have created and its progress throughout the semester. It is awesome to think we can continue with this online forum even though BCM114 has finished, it is exciting to think about where this could take us in the future!
xx
Leonard K 