Minor Project | Final Compilation & Reflection

Minor Project

21/11/2025 - 30/12/2025| Week 01 - Week 14

Jesslyn Octavia Tjong / 0374562 / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media

Minor Project / Taylor's University

Table of Contents

• Week 1–2: Module Introduction & Team Formation

• Week 3: Choosing Client & Our First Meeting

• EMPATHY & DEFINE PHASE

  • Week 4: Empathy Stage | Interviews & User Groups

  • Week 5: Synthesising Interview Findings & Affinity Mapping

  • Week 6: Identifying Insights & Initial Proposal Slides

  • Week 7: Define Stage – Narrowing the Problem

• IDEATION PHASE

  • Week 8: Ideation Stage – Crazy 8s & Direction Exploration

• Week 9: First Presentation & Feedback

• PROTOTYPING & TESTING PHASE

  • Week 10 – Direction & Prototyping Focus

  • Week 11 – Role Allocation & Design Development

  • Week 12 – Prototyping & Supporting Concepts

  • Week 13 – Refinement, Testing & Visual Support

• Week 14 – Final Presentation

• REFLECTION

Instructions

Week 1–2: Module Introduction & Team Formation

In Week 1, we were first introduced to what this module is about, including the overall structure, expectations, and how the project would be assessed. The briefing helped us understand that this module places strong emphasis on process and research, rather than jumping straight into final outcomes. Through the explanation and confirmation given in class, we gained a clearer understanding of what would be expected from us in the coming weeks.

After understanding what the module required and what the project entailed, we then proceeded to the next steps. In Week 2, it was time to find team members to work on this project together. We were encouraged to form a group with diverse skill sets, allowing us to approach the project from multiple perspectives.

After discussing our individual backgrounds and strengths, we were able to finalise our seven-member group. The final team consists of:

• Jesslyn Octavia Tjong (ID: 0374562) – UI/UX

• Gwendalyn Firly Bong (ID: 0374580) – UI/UX

• Ummehani Kaderbhai (ID: 0377885) – Graphic Design (GRPH)

• Tristan V. Sleep (ID: 0365120) – Animation (ANIM)

• Wang Yiming (ID: 0379392) – Immersive Media (IMRS)

• Gabriela Natalie Wibowo (ID: 0357130) – Entrepreneurship (ENTR)

• Iman Mikudim (ID: 0338004) – UI/UX

Week 3: Choosing Client & Our First Meeting

After finalising our team, we moved on to selecting a client for this project. We chose CocoKami because the brand immediately stood out to us with its fun and approachable name. This sparked our curiosity about how coconut-based products could be repositioned to better connect with young adults.

During the same week, Gwendalyn, Tristan, and Jesslyn attended our first meeting with the CocoKami team. In this session, CocoKami introduced their brand background, motivations, and purpose, explaining how they focus on creating coconut-based products that support healthier and more sustainable lifestyles.

We also had the opportunity to try some of their products firsthand. This included cooked coconut meat dipped in gochujang, as well as their coconut water. Tasting the products helped us understand the flavour, texture, and versatility of coconut beyond its usual perception as just a drink. This experience gave us a better foundation before moving into deeper research and ideation.

Alongside the meeting, we conducted initial desk research by exploring CocoKami’s website and online presence. This helped us understand their current branding, product range, and overall direction as a brand. From this onwards, we have decided to put our findings and data collection from using the design thinking method in our Figma link :

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EMPATHY & DEFINE PHASE

Week 4: Empathy Stage | Interviews & User Groups

In Week 4, we moved into the Empathy Stage, focusing on understanding users instead of assumptions. As a group, we planned and conducted a total of 9 interviews, split across 3 distinct user groups, with each group member taking responsibility for specific audiences.

• Health / Food Science–focused users were interviewed by Ummehani and I (Jesslyn)

• Plant-based users were interviewed by Wang Yiming, Gabriela, and Gwendalyn

• Active lifestyle users were interviewed by Iman and Tristan

Each user group was selected to represent different but overlapping needs, including health awareness, sustainability concerns, and physically active routines. The interviews focused on daily habits, food and drink choices, perceptions of coconut-based products, and what factors influence trust and purchasing decisions.

Through these interviews, we began to notice early themes such as strong concern over sugar content, a preference for natural and minimally processed products, and mixed perceptions of coconut as a functional everyday option. These findings became the starting point for organising our data and moving into synthesis in the following weeks.

Week 5: Synthesising Interview Findings & Affinity Mapping

In Week 5, after completing all 9 interviews, our next step was to make sense of the data we had collected. Instead of treating each interview separately, we came together as a group to synthesise our findings and look for patterns across all three user groups.

We started by pulling out key quotes, behaviours, concerns, and opinions from the interviews and organising them using affinity mapping. This helped us visually group similar thoughts together and see recurring themes more clearly. We created separate affinity groupings for:

• Health / Food Science–focused users

• Plant-based users

• Active lifestyle users

Through this process, several shared themes began to stand out. Across all groups, users cared strongly about taste, followed closely by health and ingredients, while price and accessibility often acted as deciding factors. Coconut was generally viewed positively, but many participants were cautious about packaged coconut products due to concerns around added sugar, preservatives, and misleading health claims.

Week 6: Identifying Insights & Initial Proposal Slides

In Week 6, we refined our affinity maps further and started translating clustered observations into actionable insights. Instead of listing problems broadly, we focused on why users felt the way they did.

For example, we realised that:

• Coconut is trusted more in its fresh or natural form than in packaged products

• Users want healthier options, but not at the cost of enjoyment or convenience

• Coconut is rarely seen as a primary functional product, especially for protein or performance

• Students are price-sensitive, even when they care about long-term health

These insights helped us understand that the main challenge was not the product itself, but how coconut-based products should be communicated and integrated into daily routines. From the past six weeks, we are now finally able to compile all we found from the Figjam and external sources into our proposal slides :

Minor Project | Progress Slides 

Week 7: Define Stage – Narrowing the Problem

In Week 7, we officially entered the Define Stage. After synthesising all our interview findings, the goal for this week was to narrow everything down into clear problem statements that actually made sense and were grounded in our research.

As a group, we revisited our affinity maps and insights and started asking ourselves tougher questions:

What is the real issue users are facing?

What is CocoKami actually able to solve?

And what direction feels meaningful rather than forced?

From this process, we developed several problem statements and “How Might We” questions, focusing on themes such as:

• Making coconut-based products more relevant for everyday use

• Balancing health, taste, and affordability for young adults

• Improving trust and transparency around coconut-based products

• Positioning coconut as more than just a drink or occasional ingredient

This stage helped us realise that our project was not just about creating something new, but about making our direction make sense

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IDEATION PHASE

Week 8: Ideation Stage – Crazy 8s & Direction Exploration

In Week 8, we moved into the Ideation Stage. Using the Crazy 8s method, each team member explored multiple ideas individually before sharing and discussing them as a group.

Our ideas ranged across different formats, including:

• Coconut-based protein bars and energy gels 

• Functional drinks for hydration and recovery

• Snacks, desserts, and café-style products

• Campus activations, pop-ups, and digital engagement ideas

Instead of choosing ideas based purely on creativity, we constantly referred back to our research and problem statements. We asked ourselves whether each idea:

• Solved a real user need

• Aligned with CocoKami’s existing brand and products

• Felt realistic for young adults in terms of price and accessibility

By the end of this week, we began leaning toward new product development as a potential direction, while still keeping our options open and acknowledging that the idea needed stronger reasoning and structure. Our team also produced several iterations of a prototype to think about how one might use it physically, despite the fact that this was not put in the first presentation.

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Week 9: First Presentation & Feedback

In Week 9, we had our first presentation. Despite only Jesslyn and Gwendalyn being able to attend and showcase the presentation, the team participated in summarising all the work done so far, from research and interviews to insights, problem statements, and early ideation.

Cocokami Slides Meeting Client.pdf 

The main feedback we received was that our aim and goal needed stronger alignment. While our research was solid, the reasoning that connected our findings to our proposed direction was not clear enough. In particular, we were encouraged to revisit our executive summary and ensure that everything we presented clearly supported our overall intent.

Following the presentation, we also received email feedback from Ms Yule, the CEO of CocoKami, which helped clarify expectations further. Referring back to the brief, she highlighted that the core of the project is about imagining new possibilities that encourage people to embrace coconuts and their byproducts in daily life.

She acknowledged that introducing a new product, such as a protein bar, gel, or beverage, was a strong direction. However, she emphasised that if we chose to move forward with new product development, the focus should not be on perfecting the recipe or taste. Instead, what mattered most was the completeness of our storytelling.

This included clearly explaining:

• Why we chose a specific product type (e.g. why a protein bar?)

• How it complements CocoKami’s existing product line

• Where the product would realistically be sold

• How the product would look and feel

• What kind of nutritional profile should it aim for (without needing real scientific accuracy)

The feedback made it clear that our next step was to strengthen the logic and narrative behind our concept, ensuring that every decision could be traced back to our research and insights.

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PROTOTYPING & TESTING PHASE

Week 10 – Direction & Prototyping Focus

In Week 10, the focus was on determining the prototyping direction. At first, there was some confusion around the brief, which led us to revisit our key research findings specifically Finding No. 7. This finding highlighted that users prefer clean and clear labelling, show stronger interest in snack or dessert-style coconut products rather than traditional formats, and do not rely on sustainability alone when making purchase decisions. Based on this, the decision was made to proceed with the energy bar concept, as it had the strongest potential to reimagine coconut as an everyday, functional snack suited to modern, physically active young adults. This helped refocus the project and align it more clearly with the brief.

Week 11 – Role Allocation & Design Development

In Week 11, roles were clarified to streamline progress. Tristan was in charge of the packaging design, building on the concept direction aimed at physically active users. This stage benefited from mockups explored in Week 9, allowing refinement rather than starting from scratch.

At the same time, the focus was on fixing issues around label clarity and product communication, ensuring that key information such as ingredients, benefits, and usage could be understood quickly and clearly. These improvements directly addressed user expectations identified in Finding No. 7 and strengthened the product’s credibility and appeal.

Week 12 – Prototyping & Supporting Concepts

Week 12 was primarily dedicated to finalising digital prototyping, which was developed by Tristan. At the same time, Jess proposed incorporating service design–inspired materials to support the concept. Gwendalyn later clarified that these outputs could not be formally classified as service design unless implemented in real-world conditions, which led to the direction being adjusted.

This week, before the online consultation, Tristan assisted in conducting user testing with participants from our target audience to gather feedback on usability, visual clarity, product messaging, and overall perceived value. Participants shared what felt immediately clear and highlighted areas that needed minor improvement. Based on these insights, we made focused refinements by adjusting the layout, visual hierarchy, and interactive elements, while maintaining consistency with the core concept and brand identity.

At the same time, we started developing the presentation slides to showcase both the prototype and the commercial materials. A key focus was turning the refined prototype and the range of commercial posters into a clear visual narrative. Each poster communicated different product benefits and viewpoints, while staying aligned in branding, tone, and visual style, helping the audience understand the value of the product from multiple perspectives.

Week 13 – Refinement, Testing & Visual Support

By Week 13, the prototype was finalised, and testing was conducted. The storyboard and posters were reframed as supporting and supplementary materials and focused to improve user flow, contextual understanding, and concept justification. The storyboard was developed by Jess, Iman, Gwendalyn, and Gabriela, while Ummehani and Loren were responsible for the graphic design posters. 

After the online consultation, our team decided to add one final mockup: an additional retail display stand concept for convenience store shelving was introduced to strengthen the packaging design and better situate the energy bar within a realistic retail context. This display concept was completed by the end of Week 13.

Week 14 – Final Presentation

In Week 14, the focus shifted to delivering the final presentation and reflecting on the feedback received. The presentation was carried out by Tristan, Gwendalyn, and Jess, while Loren was unable to join due to an overlapping exam. Despite this, the presentation ran smoothly and communicated the project clearly.

The overall feedback was positive, particularly around the methodology, which was described as well thought out and easy to follow. The presentation style was engaging, and the project made sense as a pitch, with a clear flow from research to concept development.

That said, the design execution was noted as an area that could have been stronger. Specifically, the concept testing would have been more convincing if it had involved a larger group of participants, and the lack of printed or physical prototypes reduced the credibility of the testing outcomes. While the idea itself was understandable, the absence of real-world testing limited how strong the design validation could be.

There were also a few areas where the prototype and supporting materials could have been refined further. With more time, these improvements could have strengthened both the design work and the overall presentation.

Minor PRJ GR 14: Cocokami Final Presentation 

REFLECTION

This minor project was a valuable learning experience, particularly in my role as the team leader. Leading the project felt similar to acting as a project lead, coordinating individuals with different specialisations and learning how to align our differences toward a shared outcome. Through this process, I developed both technical and soft skills, especially in communication, coordination, and decision-making.

The design thinking process played a key role in clarifying the project direction and helped me better understand my approach as a designer. Once the team aligned on goals, roles, and expectations, efficiency and productivity improved significantly. Overall, this experience was meaningful and valuable, especially as one of the first projects of many to come, providing a strong foundation for future collaborative and leadership-driven work.