Week 2 Blog

Learning When to Step Back in Design

This week I focused on refining interaction details in the Orderlay restaurant management interface. Since Orderlay is a POS and restaurant management system, the design needs to be extremely practical and fast to use. The users are usually cashiers and kitchen staff, so every extra second of confusion in the interface actually affects real service speed.

While working on these refinements, I started thinking more about how design decisions directly impact real-world situations like order handling during a busy lunch rush. It made me realize that designing for such systems is less about visual perfection and more about clarity, speed, and instinctive use.

A major personal challenge this week was my tendency toward perfectionism. I found myself revisiting the same screen multiple times, even when it was already functional and approved in earlier feedback rounds.

Key Learnings & Insights

  • Designing for POS systems requires extreme simplicity and speed, especially for non-technical users.
  • Over-refining already approved work can slow down overall progress.
  • Perfectionism can directly impact delivery timelines if not managed properly.
  • Internal deadlines help improve focus and reduce unnecessary iterations.
  • Productivity is often about knowing when to stop, not just when to improve.

    • Application in Practice

    This week I introduced a personal rule for myself: once a design has gone through two rounds of feedback from the Product Manager, I move forward unless there is a clear functional issue that needs fixing. This helped me avoid unnecessary redesign loops and maintain better progress across tasks.

    Reflection

    One of the biggest challenges I’m still working on is understanding when “good enough” is actually enough. It’s not always easy to stop refining something I can still improve visually, even if it already meets the requirement.

    However, I can see gradual improvement. I’m becoming more aware of when I’m overworking a design without adding real value. The perfectionist mindset is still there, but I’m learning how to manage it instead of letting it slow me down.

    Next Week Goals

    • Apply the Eisenhower Matrix for task prioritization as planned in my PDP.
    • Reduce unnecessary iterations on already-approved designs.
    • Improve focus on functional clarity rather than visual over-refinement.
    • Maintain steady progress across sprint tasks without over-polishing.

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