Category: BCM302

Hi all!

The process of creating and sharing my digital artefact was one that has challenged me, enlightened me and taught me things that I never knew about myself. In the past, Digital Artefacts turned into ideations of projects gone by and I didn’t feel like I was particularly challenging myself when it came time to reflect on the work I had done and lessons I learned. Throughout this BCM cycle, I feel as though even though my project didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned, I have learnt a far more valuable lesson. I have learnt what I am interested in as a person and I have narrowed down what I truly value in life. I can’t wait to show you how I came to these conclusions and what I learnt through this contextual report. 

A brief recollection of my project:

I was inspired to create ‘Hey You Should Read This’. You can read all about my original ideation here but in short, HYSRT is an online Instagram community within the Bookstagram realm aimed at 18-30 year old women who want a modern, cool way of sharing what they’re reading in an inclusive space. Based on my background research (more also here) and knowledge from the book industry, Bookstagram reads are currently sitting at a consistent #1 position on all data and have remained there for 12 months. There is a booming opportunity to market oneself on this platform, however, I wanted to take this in another direction. I decided that I would reach out to local businesses and attempt to launch a ‘Blind Date with a book’ business, entailing a wrapped up books with no distinguishing features being sold at a lower price to true book lovers.

Where we are now:

While I was originally very excited to take my ‘Blind Date With a Book’ journey, I decided fairly early on that this journey was not one I was ready to embark on. So how did I come to this conclusion? To start, I recently started a full-time job at HarperCollins whilst also studying full-time. Starting a business (albeit a small one) was not feasible and would not translate to my best work. I wanted my project to remain fast, inexpensive, simple and tiny and starting a business would be the furthest from all of these things! Instead, I took a step back to reevaluate what was important to me but what I could also contribute to the book lovers community. I decided to take my love for marketing my book photos on Bookstagram and mix this into my work life by volunteering my time to create book displays at Dymocks. This was perfect for me because I would be building on a part of my life that already exists whilst also giving back to the book community by building beautiful displays for the book community. Fast, Inexpensive, Simple and Tiny!

There are 3 stages of development when creating this project. These include producing content, aggregating content and curating content. 

• Producing content: Whilst I would be helping to build displays for Dymocks, I wanted to link this to something thatI believed in which is my bookstagram! I decided to share my pictures and promote our HarperCollins Dymocks windows on this platform to link my two worlds together. I decided to do this my advertising on Instagram stories. 
• Aggregating content: I aggregate content by using canva to make beautiful templates for my posts. I also have utilised the help of students to market my Instagram by utilising their tips and tricks for photo sharing. 
• Curating content: I have been curating content for my instagram for months and it is something I fell in love with. I wanted to take this a step further by curating content for not only my coworkers, but Dymocks and my HarperCollins Coworkers. 

In terms of FIST my digital artefact is fast, inexpensive, simple and tiny. How so you might ask…

Fast: While this project was originally going to be quite long-winded and drawn out, my second ideation of my digital artefact would be faster than ever! I decided to work smarter, not harder. I drew on resources that were already accessible me such as my workplace and Instagram. I merely built on these factors to make a project that would suit my style and would also give back to the community. I wanted this to come together quickly so I immediately reached out to my work’s marketing team who I already had strong relationships with and offered a lending hand in the construction of Dymock’s window displays. 

Inexpensive: This simply cost nothing! I offered my time during work hours, displayed my, content on a free account and utilised the amazing and free content curation site, Canva (see my Instagram stories below). Comparing this to my original project, production prices for packing materials and shipping costs would have made this project not at all marketable or profitable. 

Simple: This project while fast and inexpensive, was also quite simple. While my first ideation would have taken at least 2 months to bring together whilst also creating contacts and building connectionsfrom scratch, my final digital artefact was already partly produced. I had connections on Bookstagram already and simply utilised my workplace to give back to myself and the book community. It couldn’t have gotten much simpler than this! 

Tiny:

My DA was tiny in the sense that everything is accessible easily. I can access photos, marketing and my HarperCollins team from the one space. Like I stated before, downsizing this project was the best possible thing I could have done!

My social utility

I want to delve into how this gives back to the community  and who this project is targeting a little bit more as I believe this is such a big part of the design.

This project is relevant to book lovers as it:

-Showcases HarperCollins’ latest releases in a beautiful, fun way

– Creates community on the bookstagram space

This project is relevant to me as it:

-Allows me to develop posts that I actually feel passionate about

-Allows me to be more creative at work

This project is relevant to others as:

-It provides Dymocks with beautiful window displays that attract clientele to their store.

At the end of the day, I wanted to feel connected to my project by creating aesthetically pleasing photos and books (the biggest love of my life) whilst also giving something back to the book community, which I feel I was successful in doing.

See a collection of my Dymock’s related Instagram stories below!

Learning Moment 1: A big learning moment for me throughout this project was actually defining a social utility. During my first ideation, my social utility was quite murky. I knew that I loved books and wanted to create something surreounding this. While I wanted to give back to the book buyers community by creating a business that offered cheaper, motor sustainable ways of buying second-hand books, this project was not incorporating the FIST factors and wasn’t practice. I learnt that sometimes, we have to scale things back to create something more sustainable and beautiful in the long run. 

Feedback Loops:

Another valuable part of this project’s design was the feedback loops I created. I have learnt through the BCM Digital Artefact process that feedback from my peers is the most valuable asset to a project’s development. In saying this, I utilised my peer’s feedback and considered this is parts of my new design.

I found Thy’s advise (my BCM peer) incredibly valuable and took on a lot of what they had to say. 

I found Thy’s comment “this is a lot of work for Tegan to do on her own” highly valuable. I reflected on this and came to the same agreement. I decided to then lean on what I already knew and built my project off of this. I also had a conversation and received marketing tips and tricks from The Digital Memo. With this advise, I was able to build up more of an Instagram following by following the below tips:

1. Stay specific! Post what you know and what you know your followers like
2. Pick one aesthetic
3. Relate parts of your real life to bookstagram. People like having a glimpse behind the curtain.

Following this advice also allowed me to collaborate with others to better my project. Having the opinions and knowledge of my peers available was incredibly valuable. It allowed me to reach out to people in my targeted demographic who may know more in a certain field than I do.

I also utilised the below feedback from Thy which contributed to my project’s successful moments.

I decided to reflect on what Thy had stated about marketing. My original Bookstagram had remained stagnant since my last BCM project so I decided to ramp up the content! I started to interact with my peers and posted more often! I posted content that stuck to an aesthetic that suited my personality to draw in a crowd and stuck to sharing my Dymock’s post’s mainly on Instagram stories. Marketing is such a valuable tool and I learnt how to properly utilise it and my peers this semester.

Learning Moment:

While I feel I learnt quite a bit in regards to marketing, there are definitely parts of this project that I would improve on. Instead of posting mainly on instagram stories to share my Dymock’s photos, I would have utilised Twitter and my main feed to showcase my work. I feel that this could have allowed my posts to gain more coverage. It is known that the use of hashtags and Twitter is incredibly valuable as it allows people who might not follow my account to see my posts. While Instagram stories are quick and convenient, I would have broadened my marketing to include more aspects. I also wish i had defined my project’s use earlier in the semester as this would have provided me with more time to connect with my followers and share my content in other ways. This is all part of the learning experience!

As mentioned by Thy above, the use of BookTok can be really valuable. I took this advice but catered it to suit me. I was much more comfortable with instagram reels and had filmed videos that I then broadcasted over my Instagram stories for the world to see. We can also see people glancing at our display in this video, which is evidence that we are drawing attention to Dymock’s through our display!

The Future!

Going in to the future I have big plans! Instead of allowing this to be a fleeting project like my other BCM ideations, I plan on growing this side of my Bookstagram into a permanent fixture. I want to combine both aspects of my life to create a hobby for myself that doesn’t feel like work. I will be incorporating aspects of my work at HarperCollins as a main fixture in my Bookstagram and will be relying more on the community aspect of this social media space to gain a following and give even more back to the community! Needless to say I can’t wait!

When I was told that the BCM302 cohort were undergoing two consecutive peer reviews I was so excited. It was interesting to see what feedback my peers had on my work but I always wanted to follow up, to know more. Now we get the chance! I have touched base with both Trent and Carla to see how they’re going with the amazing projects they are working on.

Trent – B29 Team

At first glance, Trent’s twitter wasn’t showing any progression reports or updates which made discussing and providing feedback a bit of a challenge. In saying this, I decided to dig into what Trent had originally pitched and find out how the building 29 team were coming along with this general ideology. Trent had stated within his pitch that the B29 aim was to educate students on what services were available in the building while also teaching them how to use said services and technology. 

I would suggest that Trent uses his personal twitter to provide updates in really get across what his part of the B29 team is. It is evident that Trent has contributed amazing work through the team’s twitter page but it would extremely helpful to see these updates from his perspective. In saying this, B29 have been tweeting updates that align with what Trent was wanting to achieve with his part of the team design. Examples from what I found are below.

Here we can see that the instruction on how to use certain technology is available, aligning exactly with what Trent stated he wanted to achieve in the B29 team.

A large part of Trent’s pitch was surrounding his background in marketing and media. He had pitched differing logos to the BCM302 cohort and had planned to discuss and use this feedback to settle on a simple yet effective design. I have seen through the setting up of B29’s twitter that once of these drafts has been chosen after careful consideration and inclusion from Trent’s classmates. Trent’s mood board has also influenced the media and marketing style that B29 has been putting out and really suits the vibe of the whole project.

Trent states that having a feedback loop was an imperative part of his project so it would be really interesting to see some updated information regarding what his peers are saying about the B29 project and what they need more of to succeed in using the facilities. 

Carla – CafeAmigos

Upon searching through Carla’s Twitter for project updates I found an absolute abundance of progression and discussion which was amazing. Carla’s project ‘CafeAmigos’ was one that really stood out to me in my first peer review, mainly due to her originality, design and eagerness to bring her peers together. I originally stated that I was interested to see where the project would go and gave advice regarding TikTok advertising and marketing. What specifically caught my eye was how quickly and efficiently Carla had set up her sign up page.

If you enjoy coffee and chats this club is right for U! Sign up today and stay connected coffee amigos #BCM ☕️☕️ the coffee is going to get cold if you don't sign up right away 🤣👀 https://t.co/3yhf6ZbDmR pic.twitter.com/ajExfyhICS

— Carla Cavancha💗 (@carla27885132) August 8, 2022

I was really impressed with this as I found that this was a crucial first step in implementing exactly what CafeAmigos was all about- community. Carla had also been plugging her socials through Twitter, had showed her podcast script progress and had even gone so far as to post her first blog and podcast online.

#bcm302 The website has finally launched and I've uploaded our first podcast/blog🥳 check this out 👇https://t.co/E3HtZdzSk9

— Carla Cavancha💗 (@carla27885132) September 18, 2022

Another thing that struck me was how easy it was to see Carla’s narrative from starte to finish due to her natural updates that followed a casual timeline. This took the reader (me) on a start to finish journey for CafeAmigos which made providing feedback super easy. I felt caught up in no time. It was interesting to see how Carla had stuck to her original pitch goals. 

If I could give any advice, I would love to see updates and sneak peeks about the people Carla instends to interview as I feel like this will be a big drawing card for the upcoming episode. To have teasers will allow students to see people they may know and want to tune in (not that her amazing marketing wouldn’t do that anyway!). One thing that I noticed and took into consideration for my own project was that Carla stuck to her production plan. Within her pitch post she stated that she wanted to create a “prototype” and “ will start off firstly by producing YouTube videos, TikTok and Instagram reels.”. Carla has clearly done this and has utilised this feedback to create her first podcast. This has inspired me to follow along her journey and understand her projects utility as well as the whole purpose of CafeAmigos. 

I also noticed that Carla had implemented her original research into her project’s progression. She had originally sourced design prototype ideologies from Richard F. Gerson. This “explores the quantitative and qualitative measurements we need to collect in order to analyse and understand business climates, so that we are able to make appropriate decision making to exceed customer’s expectations of our products and services.” CafeAmigos has clearly done this by testing her audience and using these tests to make improvements and provide her audience with what they want. I’m really excited to see more with this project. 

Feedback makes the world go round. It provides people with the opportunity to grow from other people. At the end of the day, we are all so different, with varying ideas to offer each other so why not benefit from that?

For our second task, we were challenged to review two other pitch posts in order to provide helpful commentary on what we liked and what we can offer advice on. Here is my take!

Peer Review One- Trent

Trent will be utilising the B29 Research Challenge as a means of “targeting current and future TAEM students to inform them of the technology building 29 has to offer and how to use it.”.

Comment:

Hey Trent!

I think what you have going here is really brilliant. There is such a demand for knowledge in the technology sector, especially with so much tech replacing other systems in the workplace and uni so having a fresh set of eyes that will be able to deliver info to students will be nothing short of instrumental. To begin, your tone and the way you explain information is really clear and engaging. You have kept your pitch to a concise 2 minutes but have still explained yourself so well that I completely understood what you were trying to say. I think the idea of a website is also really great because you’re then able to use this as a platform that can be embedded into twitter, Instagram and even facebook. There are so many ways of advertising websites so this is awesome! I think your utility is great as there is a real need for what you are doing (I had no idea about what I could use building 29 for myself). An idea regarding your marketing of this website could be using polls and letting students have their say. Instagram is really great for this as it allows students to actually write what they’re needing a bit of extra support with. Another tool could be advertising this website on UOW’s website. I’m not sure how that process works but it could be worth embedding a link on building 29’s information page itself. I can’t wait to see where this is going and I’ll excitedly look out for updates! 🙂

Peer Review Two- Carla

Carla’s pitch is involved in the creation of a podcast set to interview members of her club ‘UOW Cafe Amigos’. Her aim will be to get to know her members through design thinking and asking set questions that will lead to a greater understanding of wants and needs.

Comment:

Hey there! I really love the idea of this pitch! It’s presented in a super cute and fun way that kept me engaged throughout the whole presentation. I feel like your colour palette suits the vibe of your project really well and everything is super in keeping with what you’re trying to achieve. I would really love to know a bit more about what kind of questions you hope to ask your interviewees. I think it’s really cool that you have the aim of getting to know your audience and club members a bit more but I would also love to know if there were conversations topics you had in mind? I would also love to know a bit of the history for UOW Club Amigos! This sounds like such an amazing idea and I think the marketing really sells itself. I think a great way you could advertise your podcast episodes could be showing videos of your conducted interviews on TikTok. The Shameless Media girls do this really well and I feel like it gives your audience a bit of insight and lets them know whose voice they’re hearing in order to break down barriers that podcasts might create. I can’t wait to see more! 🙂

Hello again! Hey You Should Read This is back but this time we’re making moves to be bigger and better than ever before. First, a little bit about me.

My name is Tegan Sereno and I’m in my final year of my degree while also working full time at the book publishing house, HarperCollins (my absolute dream).

Throughout the last 3 years of interning, I have gained knowledge in the areas of communication, social media and networking whilst learning how to find common ground with people. I have also learnt what it is about books that make people tick. For some it is the idea of collecting whilst for others it’s an escape from the everyday, which is what made me fall in love with books in the first place. 

I have learnt to utilise this knowledge in the communities that I am involved in. I have my wider work community which is filled with book-lovers like myself. I also have my micro level communities being my friendships and local book club. Reading has allowed me to escape to worlds that I never thought possible and I feel so strongly that reading soothes the soul.

This inspired me to create ‘Hey You Should Read This’. You can read all about my original ideation here but in short, HYSRT is an online Instagram community within the Bookstagram realm aimed at 18-30 year old women who want a modern, cool way of sharing what they’re reading in an inclusive space. Based on my background research (more also here) and knowledge from the book industry, Bookstagram reads are currently sitting at a consistent #1 position on all data and have remained there for 12 months. There is a booming opportunity to market oneself on this platform, however, it is what I’m doing differently that I want to discuss. 

While I originally started this project as a means of sharing cool  pictures, I believe there’s more to offer here. I want to offer, through the original curation of posts and a website, the opportunity for my audience to buy quality-second hand books based on their personality. I will be designing an online store that offers the consumer a personality quiz based on who they are as a person and what they like to read and through this, they can buy a “blind date with a book”, creating a unique, modern way of freshening up the reading experience. I will continue to re-engage with my original built audience of 140 followers and build this by consulting with BCM marketing experts. It is vital that this relationship is based on trust and engagement. I will be sustainable and eco-0friendly with packaging and the use of. Quality, second-hand books. 

My project is relevant now as it provides young women (or anyone who loves HYSRT’s vibe) the opportunity to engage in sustainable reading practises and gives the user tailor made shopping experience. Searches on bookstagram and Booktok show millions of results for “what should I read next?” And “book recommendations” so why not give the user this for the lower-price of a second-hand book. This is a passion of mine and while extra money on the side is great, my full time job allows me to pursue opportunities like this with inside knowledge of the industry whilst also being able to fully focus on my audiences needs and not my own. In saying this, my project remains relevant to me as it builds my portfolio for my early career in the book industry and allows me to gain knowledge of who I am selling books to.

I can’t wait to take you all on this ride and hopefully sell you your first Blind Date Book on Hey You Should Read This!