Portfolio
ReAL UX
Project Overview - “Increasing Accountability for Students the Fun Way”
Participated in a UX competition organized by AskClass. The objective was to develop a user-friendly method for forming teams within a class, optimizing the process based on information provided by students, such as availability, meeting preferences, and hobbies.
The task involved creating a module for AskClass within a tight two-day timeframe for prototyping and presentation. The competition also provided an opportunity to collaborate with Silicon Valley companies to address real problems through UX solutions. The event, known as ReAL UX Competition (ReAL, which stands for Reimagine Authentic Learning), focused on crafting a relationship-based Classroom Operating System (OS) for the global community of 85 million teachers. The goal was to assist students in building relationships, resilience, and character. This is the process behind how we developed our module, iceUX.
The competition was a significant collaboration, marking San Jose State University's first school-wide UX Competition in partnership with a Silicon Valley startup. The event was hosted on the university campus by the CEO and co-founder of AskClass.
Speaking of AskClass, it is a platform dedicated to enhancing student engagement by promoting meaningful relationships. The platform aims to make instructors more effective, productive, and memorable in their teaching, ultimately creating a more engaging and rewarding learning experience for students. AskClass has gained recognition, having been featured in the Wall Street Journal, and is currently utilized by over 550 instructors at more than 120 institutions, impacting 10,000 students. You can learn more about AskClass at https://askclass.com/.
Timeline
December 16 - 17
8am - 5pm
Areas
UX Prototyping
UX Design
Wireframes
Brainstorming
User Research
Tools
Figma
Whiteboard
Sketches
Team Roles
Myself - Web UI Design,
User Research, Concept Development
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D.D.,
B.B., S.V. - Prototyping, Concept Development, UI Design
Problem Statement:
“How might we help college students experience better collaboration in their team projects?”
Students' lives have become increasingly unstable as they juggle multiple jobs, family responsibilities, and health concerns. It is becoming more important to know how to collaborate with diverse groups. However, most online courses do not offer collaborative projects, leaving students to pay the price for not being able to practice this skill in person. This lack of experience often leads students to avoid courses that require team projects, but professors and students are now more open to using online collaboration tools.
The Solution:
Our product: warmUp
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Increase productivity between students.
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Provide a source of extrinsic motivation.
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Hold other team members accountable and provide an equal workload.
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Equip the next generation with the social and emotional skills to build relationships, resiliency, and character.
Thumbnails
User Research
We interviewed two panels of professionals through a live discussion Zoom call, each one hour long, consisting of experts spanning diverse fields such as accounting, finance, marketing, human-computer interaction, cybersecurity, and business. Their collective expertise yielded valuable insights within their respective domains.
Interviewees
Our Professor Panelists:
B. Parineh
J. Bechkoff
A. Moallem
T. (K.) Shi
M. Ashley
R. Varadharajan
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About the interviewees:
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First Panel:
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B. Parineh is an Accounting and Finance Lecturer at San Jose State University. He is the Faculty Advisor of the Sbona Honors Program in Accounting and Finance and a Business Owner and CFO.
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Dr. J. Bechkoff is a marketing professor at the Lucas College of Business at San Jose State University and a certified business etiquette consultant.
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Dr. A. Moallem is executive director of UX Experts, LLC and adjunct professor at San Jose State University, where he teaches human-computer interaction, cybersecurity, information visualization, and human factors. He teaches human-computer interaction for master students and undergraduate software engineering classes.
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T. K. Shi is a Business Associate Professor and Interim Director of Accreditation.
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Second Panel:
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M. Ashley is a business professor and Launch Director of the SpartUp Incubator program. He is also the founder and CEO of CORL8, which provides collaboration software to help small teams deliver big results on tiny projects.
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R. Varadharajan is an SJSU Lecturer and former Pepperdine professor. A Senior technology executive with a proven track record of launching new products and transforming organizations, he is also the Senior Director of Product Management, Solutions, and Services Portfolio at Nutanix.
Survey Questions:
We asked each professor these series of questions:
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What do you teach and how much of the grade goes to team projects?
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What is one thing that’s been working well in your teams?
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What's been the most painful aspect of team projects?
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How do you form teams?
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How do you resolve conflicts within the teams, and how do you prevent them from happening?
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Do you have Peer Evaluations?
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How do you manage teamwork into grading on Canvas?
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What is one thing that would be helpful for you in forming and managing team projects?
Interview Findings:
#1
Problem:
Lack of Mechanisms for Conflict Resolution
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Explanation:
There is always at least one team per class in which one to two students have a conflict in a team. One professor mentioned that electing a team leader and giving them the power to give the participation points was effective. He also gave team members the power to fire the leader.
#2
Problem:
The Free-Rider Problem
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Explanation:
Freeriders do not have an appropriate disincentive to prevent them from slacking off on a team project.
#3
Problem:
Importance of Team Projects
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Explanation:
Most of the professors in the panel mentioned that they allocate 15 to 25% of the grade to team projects. About 15 - 25% of the students' grades consist of teamwork.
#4
Problem:
Lack of Progress Updates
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Explanation:
Professors expressed the need for constant updates on how the class teams are doing—moreover, the ability to track and document progress throughout the team project.
#5
Problem:
Lack of Integration and Quality Check
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Explanation:
Many teams divide the work without allocating the time to integrate and check for quality. There is a division of labor but no collaboration. Students are used to allocating work and do not collaborate well.
#6
Problem:
Optimal Team Formation
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Explanation:
Many seasoned professors “randomly” assign teams even though the chemistry might not be optimal. This problem was not the highest priority, as having low-stakes assignments before the team has been finalized helps the students find their matches.
User Personas:
Design Process - Overview
Brainstorming Solutions
Problem: Student team matching
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Explanation: We solved this by providing Survey Questions. An easy way to create teams (groups) within a class, optimizing based on information students provided (Availability, meeting preferences, hobbies, and more).
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1. What is your name?
2. What is your major?
3. When is your availability?
4. Do you prefer in-person, hybrid, or online meetings?
5. Which animal would you be?
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Top Solutions / Desired Features:
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Teacher Access to Temperature Bar: Allow teachers to view a temperature bar, representing student engagement or performance metrics. A team's health (i.e., teamwork) is indicated as a temperature graph.
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Meeting Time Suggestions: Provide the option for students to send notes directly to teachers about scheduling and managing meeting times within the application.
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Student Matching: Develop a system where students are surveyed and matched with others, with customized questions to fit each team project, to increase chances of smoother team formulation. (For context, some professors paired students of different majors or skill assets with each other or specific business interests, so the categories are particular to each class project type)
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Questionnaire: Implement a questionnaire or survey feature within the app to gather user feedback or information.
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Why we chose to use a web format:
The pre-existing module is created for use as a web format or for the computer. This is because most lecturers and professors project their screens and use PCs during their classes.
Competitive Research
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Canvas by Instructure: Canvas is a learning management system (LMS) that educational institutions use to create, deliver, and manage online and blended learning experiences. It offers tools for teachers and students to interact and collaborate.
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Blackboard Collaborate: Blackboard Collaborate is a virtual classroom and online collaboration platform. It enables educators to engage with students through live sessions, discussions, and interactive content.
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Google Classroom: Google Classroom is a free web service developed by Google for schools. It simplifies creating, distributing, and grading assignments and fosters communication and collaboration among students and teachers.
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Remind: Remind is a school communication platform that allows teachers to send messages, assignments, and important updates to students and parents. It aims to improve communication and engagement between educators and students.
Main Takeaways:
​We wanted to consider both the student’s and professor’s perspectives.​ By doing this we created two views, one for students and one for professors.
Professor View:
Student View:
Prototype
Wireframes:
Solution / Design Refinements
Refined user profiles to include more comprehensive student information, such as academic interests, teaching styles, and learning preferences. This can help facilitate better team matches.
Final Design
Style Guide
Logo: The penguin symbolizes dreams, adaptability, dual natures, closeness, family, and spirituality. The penguin is a bird that has adapted to fly through the water instead of the sky – choosing to dive deep into the world of dreams.
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They teach us a lesson of dedication towards one’s family and adaptability to thrive even in unfavorable conditions.
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Typeface:
Paragraph Font: Roboto
Title Font: Reem Kufi
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Color Scheme:
EF6E6C - RED; 465775 - NAVY BLUE; 2CDD88 - GREEN; FFC100 - YELLOW; 2B2B2B - DARK GRAY
Company Cultural Values:
We wanted to embody the cultural values of AskClass in our project by creating a system that features these values:
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Value: Listen First
Explanation: We believe that listening is an expression of love for others. This goes beyond our workplace communications. We apply this principle to our communities and stakeholders we serve.
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Value: Learn and Share
Explanation: We believe that the purpose of learning is to share with others. We help others learn so that they can share what they have learned with the world.
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Value: Long Term View
Explanation: We understand that achieving great things takes a long time. We strive to be patient and faithful in our work for the long-term success of the people we serve.
Our Features
Functionality You Will Love
1. Creating a Community
The process of creating a community involves a few options.
2. Classes
Main page for created classes
3. Modules
Main page for modules, featuring warmUp
4. Communities
Overview page to manage all communities created by the professor
Reflection: What we would improve
Looking ahead, we would improve our initial research and user feedback-gathering methods. In hindsight, we could have conducted more in-depth user interviews and surveys at the beginning to understand user pain points and expectations better. Additionally, we could have involved instructors and students more actively in the design and testing phases. We will adopt a more iterative approach, creating prototypes and seeking user feedback at multiple stages to ensure our designs align with user preferences. If offered more time, we would expand on the product to fully integrate it as a learning module and transform it from a prototype to a fully functioning piece of software.
Response / Impact
Our project won first place. We were judged based on whether instructors’ needs were addressed, whether they felt it could reduce their workload, whether it felt easy to use, believed would help their students, and whether they liked the delivery, clarity, approach, teamwork, and aesthetic design. They believed it would help them have a better collaboration experience, which they would use on projects outside the classroom. I gained much experience in asking users questions, wireframing, working in a team, and creating a brand. Overall, the project’s impact was positive, as it improved the platform and deepened our understanding of user-centered design principles. Working with such a talented group to create something in UX was fun. Furthermore, It was an excellent educational experience.