Jack Kerouac

“One day, I will find the right words, and they will be simple”

I love this saying for different reasons that I can’t quite explain.

And that is a struggle too. I struggle with expressing myself. I struggle with asking questions and asking them rightly. I struggle with not being understood.

But I know better now.

I understand the saying to mean: things will get clearer, and they’ll be so simple, easy that I’d laugh about how I didn’t figure things out in the first place.

That’s how the last couple of weeks with ODK-X has been for me.

Well,

I’ve been so excited about the internship. This comes from looking forward to the UI refresh that would be happening with ODK-X Tools soon. It’s been amazing going deeper into what ODK-X stands for, where it's been deployed, what it's been used for and a lot of other interesting things it stands for. I’m super thankful to Redeem, my co-intern. He makes team collaboration so easy.

My struggle…

In preparation for my 3rd week of the internship, which involved research; I struggled with pinpointing exactly what the ODK-X Tools do specifically. I thought I understood because I read the docs during the contribution phase.

My struggle wasn't exactly a term, but more of a concept.

I struggled with knowing exactly what the ODK-X Tools is been used for.

Also, I was a bit hesitant to ask my mentors for more clarity. I just liked figuring out things on my own, and would only ask questions if I couldn't go further.

But thanks to my curious and rather self-dependent nature, I poured through the ODK-X docs again at https://docs.odk-x.org/. This time, following through every word, and every line while also using the demo app on my Android device.

This move gave me a very clear picture of the way forward and a much more understanding of ODK-X Tools and their use.

Now, I can confidently use any of the ODK-X Tools, anywhere, and anytime. Even in my sleep 😁

I was able to go into the User Interviews with my head up high and carry out the UX Audit with more finesse.

Talking about that...

For the past 2 weeks, I've been trying to gather participants on the forum for a little User interview session. That has proved somewhat difficult. But I understand it's due to the yuletide and the holidays. I got two good feedbacks though.

Ask questions...

This is my superpower. Although I'll make attempts to figure it out on my own, I always fall back to asking questions. I used the interview session to do that. If you're worried about asking questions, just ask.

It's good to be worried, but what do you do after? Ask questions.

Do you feel less confident? Ask questions

You don't exactly know how to put it? Ask questions

You can't explain yourself? Ask questions

You'll look stupid? Ask questions.

You'll be really surprised to see how fast solutions will come to you just after talking to someone else.

Thank you.

We'll see again next year. Enjoy the holidays!