Ally
overview
This design project was part of an assignment on responsive design for the Google UX Design Coursera Course.
​
My project assignment was for a fictional social media platform designed to help students motivate each other to achieve their goals.
role
user research, prototype, UI design, design system
duration
September - December 2022
'I want so badly to be active in my classroom, but everything just still feels, like, fake almost.'
Maci Lyman
The Chronicle of Higher Education
problem
Students are finding it increasingly difficult to hold themselves accountable for their academics due to feelings of being disconnected.
Though quarantine is over, speaking with high school students seem to reveal that long-term impacts of quarantine-era continue to affect their study habits and general attitudes toward pursuing academic goals.
user research
A strong sense of community is vital to nurturing a sense of accountability and academic success for a student.
Education systems, friendships, and colleague dynamics were disturbed during the pandemic as everything was shifted online, resulting in lessened motivation towards academic achievements. In addition, we saw a rise in extensive use of social media as a means to stay connected.
Existing study streaming platforms attempt to resolve feelings of isolation by providing focus rooms where thousands of strangers can work together.
A lot of these spaces make an effort to foster community and boast the millions of strangers that come together in virtual study rooms. However, some say that these experiences can feel impersonal and are quite vulnerable to internet trolls.
​
The experience is also one that is over as soon as the user leaves the platform. Without any reminders, the choice to return to the site and use it again is entirely up to the user.
The struggles students face can be organized into three main pain points:
"I just can't bring myself to sit down and actually start doing work."
Lack of Motivation
"Sitting through long sessions of work is hard...it feels like my attention span has shortened."
Staying focused
"Academics didn't feel like a real responsibility anymore, especially after everything moved online."
Lack of accountability
design process
site map
I put together a site map to visually outline the website's information architecture and ensure a clear and organized user flow and navigation. This process also helped to delineate which screens to design, as well as what features would be necessary within each screen.
wireframes​
It was time to brainstorm blueprint ideas for the user interface of the screens, and think about the placement of elements, content hierarchy, and overall user flow. During this step I was able to quickly iterate different ideas and make decisions that would best support a smoother user flow.
low fidelity wireframes
mid fidelity wireframes
testing and improvements
utiliization of tab system
-
The original layout was noisy and crowded.
-
Test participants spent a lot of time "studying" the newsfeed page.​
-
-
Improve content organization.
-
Reduced cognitive overload as navigation becomes more predictable.​
-
_gif.gif)
dynamic goal setting
-
Goals are dynamic.
- They can change throughout time and can even be broken up into smaller goals.​
-
Flexibility is the new default.
-
Users wanted to be able to create different types of goals.​
-
Added the option to include smaller checkpoints under long term goals.
-
Added the option to set shorter term goals in the form of today's tasks.
-
relying on recognition over recall
-
Easy access to "nudge" feature
-
Users are easily reminded to keep their allies accountable.​
-
Receiving humanized reminders from friends can motivate users to come back to the platform to make progress in their goals
-
_gif.gif)
solution
A space where members within a social network can keep each other accountable on their goal progress.
_gif.gif)
Users can create and share posts and study rooms, and update a trusted social network on their goal progress.
Virtual study rooms focused on setting and completing session goals.
-
Each member can set goals for each sessions.
-
Focus mode mutes all members for quiet work.
.png)
_gif.gif)
Send and receive humanized reminders from a trustworthy and reliable network of “allies.”
final design
_gif.gif)
key takeaways
In-person usability tests are great for picking up on subtleties in the user's behavior that tell you that they are struggling.
This project showed me the merit of conducting in-person usability tests with my design prototypes. I was already aware of the fact that it's typical for participants to only give positive feedback. What I didn't know was how they would react during moments of struggle.
This experience taught me that participants can sometimes stay quiet during moments of hesitation and confusion, and I learned how to ask the right questions to pick up on which aspect of the design was giving them trouble.
Design iterations should be made with research insights and design principles in mind.
Though it seems very obvious, it is something that I was continuously reminded of as I made my iterations. During the wireframe stage, I realized how many design principles I had overlooked in some of my design ideas, which further emphasized the importance of