Introduction
Google Edu is a Capstone Design project to create a remote learning application with AR technology for students in pandemics. Google Edu promotes interactivity, proactivity, and effectivity in the virtual class environment.
3 months | Oct 2020 - Dec 2020
This project was a capstone project that worked as a sole product designer. I led the end-to-end design process from user research to high-fidelity prototype designs. This project was selected and presented at the final capstone exhibition with @Smilegate.
Capstone Design Project
Solo UX Case Study from Research to Design
Process
Click each steps will navigate you to the each sections
Explore and define the current comment design pattern's problems.
Conduct user interviews and research analysis on comment pattern
Create a visionary prototype with three different design iterations
Create a final design iteration with the design system compliances
Design overview
By using AR emojis, students can connect with their classmates and teacher. There is a virtual area called the "AR zone," and students can connect with their friends with multiple reactions and interactions.
AR Emoji Customization and Virtual Classroom
Design overview
On the virtual classroom page, the student can interact with various class materials. Students can see announcements from teachers, do assignments, do peer reviews, and have a discussion with classmates.
Design overview
An interactive timetable allows students to enter directly into the classroom. The scrolling bar changes by time, and students are guided to enter the classroom at the exact time. In addition, the timetable can be zoomed in and out to have a customized view.
Design overview
The live streaming class is provided, and student can use their AR character profiles to communicate with classmates and teachers. There will be a breakout room with AR Emoji characters, so students do not have to worry about their privacy and shyness.
Design Question
Initial thoughts & Background 💭
In 2020, the pandemic changed the whole educational environment, and students and teachers had to adjust to the environment. Due to this enormous change, many software and products are used to support the remote learning environment. However, I wonder, "Is there indeed distance learning software to support a completely remote environment? " At that time, I was using the Google Classroom application, and I came up with an idea to re-brand the app targeted to complete remote learners. So, I decided to re-brand the app to support a remote learning environment with the existing design system.
Research
To understand the problem and major pain points, I identified three research questions focused on understanding the remote learning environment. To answer these research questions, I conducted three research methodologies with students ages 10-16, who is the target user of the product. Each research method is used to solve each research question, and I could define the problem and insights from the research data.
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Research Question 1
To identify target users' pain points in detail and understand their perceptions about remote learning, I conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with three targeted participants. By understanding user's story and their perceptions
of remote learning, I can gather insights for solving user problems and highlight key points of the design questions. After the interview, I analyzed the insights through the affinity diagrams.
Research Question 2
To measure and build a quantitative baseline of students' satisfaction and the current problems with remote learning software they are using and discover what types of problems they are experiencing. I conducted a user survey among 50 students who had been taking remote classes for over 6 months.
Research Question 3
By conducting competitive research on existing remote learning software, I could define competitors' weaknesses and strengths. In addition, I could gain insights to establish functional requirements and users' needs.
Research
Over 30% of the survey respondents said they have difficulty in social interaction in online classes. Every participant in the interview said that they feel less engaged in the remote environment and need more organic social connections with people.
Because of the communication barrier in the online class, students struggle to participate actively. Half of the survey respondents answered their participation rate during class has been lowered since the pandemic, and all interviewees said they tend to participate passively in the online classes.
All three interview participants said that it is hard to be productive and keep a schedule regularly. They said they have lower productivity in the online class than in the in-person class because they don't have any time pressure.
Ideation
With the key insights discovered by research methodology and user journey mapping data, I defined three main problems students experience in remote learning, which I want to solve in this case study. Each problem focuses on the category that I classified by the research data; Communication, Participation, and Accessibility.
Students lack interaction with their friends and teachers in remote environment.
In the remote learning environment, students are struggling to participate in the class actively.
Due to the lack of interaction and isolation, students struggle to keep the class time by themselves or lose concentration quickly during class.
Ideation
After defining the user's key problems, I set the design principles and requirements that this design solution should follow and pursue.
The design solution should be entertaining and immersive to encourage students to feel connected and familiar with the remote setup. It should help them to interact with other people and have fun.
The design solution should support students’ active participation in remote learning environments. The solution should promote a collaborative atmosphere and active involvement among students.
The design solution should be easily accessible for all students who are struggling with remote setups. It needs to helps them to access remote classes easily and concentrate during class time.
IDeation
These metrics measure the success of the targeted user’s experience with the design solutions. I can measure during the design process and at the end of the project.
Can students engage actively with the new design solution?
Can students interact with each other activities in the design solution?
Can students concentrate longer time in a remote learning environment?
IDeation
After setting up the design goal and principles, I sketched some ideas for Google Edu's new feature. I choose these three ideas for the final directions. Slide through each screen to see three ideas and mid-fidelity prototypes of each idea.
IDEA 1
To make an entertaining learning environment, using AR emojis can help students to engage actively in class and solve the privacy problem. Student can create their own AR avatar characters to interact with other classmates and have fun in the immersive space.
IDEA 2
Students need the same experience as they experienced in the in-person classroom. I came up with the idea of a customizable and immersive classroom space that help student experience all class activities and participate actively.
IDEA 3
To enhance the accessibility of the remote classroom, I proposed the idea of an interactive timetable that can lead users to track the time and remind them to be prepared for the class on time.
Design Iteration
Compared to the in-person class user flow, I designed the expected user flow of the app. Based on the data collected by user research, I divided the class experience into three parts: before, during, and after class. Each remote class experience activity tries to imitate the same steps in in-person class and support an immersive experience like makes the user being in the in-person class.
Design Iteration
After setting up the user flow, I could design the basic structure and hierarchy of the mobile product. The information architecture below follows the user journey map with the hierarchies of basic features. The highlighted parts are the main design decision points.
Design Iteration
Google Edu is a rebranded app designed for remote learning environments. After the ideation, I came up with four main features of the app which could help students in remote environments. These onboarding screens show the core value and features of Google Edu.
design development
I got inspired and studied the Google Material's Baseline Design kit to design visual components for the rebranded app. First, I categorize components that I need for a rebranded app and find a reference from the existing design system. Then, I studied and analyzed the material design guideline's principles, how it organizes components' layout, and how to present the hierarchy between components. Based on this study, I created my own UI components.
Project wrap-up
Employing design principles throughout the process makes it repeatable, organized, and purposeful. Methods practiced in research help in future reference and fair comparison of data at different stages.
Using a creative interaction can be a new solution for user, however it can cause the learning curve or additional onboarding. It is great to combine familarity and creativity to make user’s can adjust to the new system.
Knowing when to initiate prototyping and testing is key to designing solutions effectively. The earlier you prototype in the process, the faster you receive user feedback on the proposed solutions.
In this design case study, I used existing design system to re-design an app. Using the same design language and adjusting to the existing design system is essential for a designer in a large design organization. Moreover, it is important to utilize the existing design system to keep consistency and communicate with multiple stakeholders.
