The biggest challenge I faced was balancing creative ambition with realistic execution, especially under tight academic and design timelines. I had a clear vision of what an engaging, behavior-changing cooking experience should look like—one that integrates personalization, time-saving guidance, and reflective learning. However, structuring those ideas into a coherent and effective learning flow required ongoing revision and thoughtful decision-making.

I overcame this challenge by working iteratively, aligning every design step with our learning goals, and focusing on what would truly benefit our target users: busy college students with limited time and resources.

One of the most rewarding parts of this project was seeing how abstract ideas—like improving self-confidence and planning ability through cooking—could be translated into concrete learner activities. Designing the "Plan a Week of Meals" simulation was particularly fulfilling. It became a moment where learning met real-life application, giving students a space to reflect, make informed decisions, and take ownership of their health and habits.

A major difficulty was designing assessment components that went beyond right-or-wrong answers. I wanted to find ways to assess not just whether students remembered something, but whether they could apply it meaningfully in their own lives. Coming up with formative and summative evaluation methods—like self-assessment prompts or confidence tracking—that were both feasible and pedagogically sound took more time and creativity than I initially anticipated.

One of the biggest challenges I faced during this project was managing tight deadlines while still striving to produce meaningful, high-quality work. Each milestone came with limited time, which made it difficult to both meet deadlines and fully engage with the design process. As a result, there were moments when our team of four experienced some misalignment across different parts of the project. To address this, I made a conscious effort to revisit earlier phases and ensure consistency and coherence from start to finish. Delegating tasks based on each team member’s strengths also played a key role in helping us work more efficiently and effectively.

What I found most rewarding was bringing our final prototype to life. From the ideation phase, I had a vision of what the final screens could look like and what features we might include—so seeing that vision realized was incredibly fulfilling. One of the more difficult aspects was staying disciplined about our scope. It’s tempting to pack in features, especially when you’re excited about the possibilities, but I learned the importance of aligning every design decision with our core learning goals and objectives. That mindset helped me stay grounded in the purpose of the project and ensured the final product stayed focused and intentional.

The biggest personal challenge I faced during this semester-long cooking project was narrowing down the scope. I usually get overwhelmed at the beginning of a project and don’t know where to start. For example, I initially wanted to include everything—from grocery budgeting and AI chatbots to live chef feedback and community forums. It felt exciting but quickly became too much. I overcame this by applying what we learned in class. The logic model helped me clarify outcomes and stay focused on what mattered. The Kanban board kept my tasks organized, and constantly referring back to the learning objectives reminded me to design intentionally, not just add features for the sake of it. These tools gave me direction and helped me work more strategically.

One of the most meaningful challenges I faced in this project was building the website itself. I didn’t want the final product to be just a static container for our content. I wanted it to feel like part of the experience. A clean, accessible, and emotionally experience in sync with the project’s focus on motivation and wellbeing. While I’ve built sites before, this one required constant iteration as our ideas evolved. There were many late nights spent restructuring layout and refining style so that everything from color scheme to component spacing would communicate clarity and care.

What I found most difficult was resisting the urge to over-design. There were so many features I wanted to add: interactive animations, AI-enhanced personalization, even audio cues. But like Merry, I had to learn that less can be more. I kept coming back to the idea that good design serves the message, not the other way around. Ultimately, that constraint helped me stay focused and made the site better.