Project Brief
Performance Learning would like to diversify its product offerings and revenue stream to include learning applications (mobile- both native and web apps).
Management at Performance Learning has decided that the first app they will build is “StudEBuddy”, an application to allow students to collaborate and study in a virtual setting.
My goal was to help Performance Learning develop project goals, objectives, and requirements/specifications.
Timeline
4 weeks
Role
Graphic Designer
- Research
- Concept Sketches
- Final Design
Problem
Studying alone is hard
It can be hard for some students to study. Whether it be developing good study habits, not knowing the course material in general, or just not enjoying studying alone. Studying is hard.How can these students overcome these difficulties? Is there a way to make studying more enjoyable and accessible? Is there an easy solution?
Solution
Be social
Students need an easy to use academic social media platform to assist them in studying.Creating study group events, connecting with fellow classmates outside of class, and making it easier to ask for help should be available within the platform.
Research
Interviews & Group Brainstorming
In addition to online research, I also had also conducted in-person surveys and interviews. I went around my classes asking friends and fellow classmates questions such as:
- Do you find it hard to study?
- Where and how do you study?
- Do you prefer studying alone or in a group?
- What study tools do you use?
Despite this being a solo project, the class decided to do a group brainstorming session. We made four categories: Users, Study Tools, Productivity Tools, and Collaboration and wrote on sticky notes components of each one.
Sketching
Gathering My Research
Taking my research, I developed a persona, some wireframes, and a sitemap trying to establish a base and get a feel for how I wanted to proceed in the project.
Sketching
Persona
Mary
Age: 19
College Freshman
Mary, a college freshman, wants to develop better study habits and make new friends, but not fall behind in her first semester.
Goals/Needs
-Develop better study habits (preferably with the use of technology)
-Find a study group
Motivators
-Does not want to fall behind in her first semester
-Wants good grades
-Maintain her social life
Frustrations
-A lot of studying has taken away from social events
-Studying alone is starting to create more pressure and anxiety
Wireframes
Sitemap
Digital Comps
First Iteration
User Tests
Was it Successful?
I gave the prototype to five users who were students asking for feedback on the overall design and usability of the prototype.
Revision #1
Improved Navigation
All users reported that the design of the navigation was nice, but had too few options.
Revision #2
Visibility Issues
All users had also reported that the search bar was very hard to see on the homepage. To fix that I made it into a container with a colored block element contrasted against the header.
Revision #3
Improved Clarity
Again, all users reported that for the first iteration of the color scheme had major visibility issues. The small text was hard to read on the white and even the large elements too.
I then changed it to a dark blue for a friendly, social, and tech feeling but had failed to realize, along with the user feedback, I had just used Facebook's color scheme.
I eventually settled on purple as some of the things it represents are creativity and grandeur and tested well.
Final Design
Conclusion
While bare, I was actually pretty happy with the final outcome of the project. As it was my first big UI/UX project I was able to learn a lot from it. Especially during the user tests, it taught me how to deal with your design essentially receiving all "negative" feedback and learning how to not be discouraged by it.
However, if given more time I would have liked to develop more screens and experiment with more unique animations, but as it is, again, I am very happy with what I accomplished.
In the end my final project submission was well received, by both my peers in the class and professor, having presented the best project out of 30 people.
