Solo Project
Immerse
Immerse is a mobile application that aims to transform the user’s environment using background and sounds with the objective of increasing productivity and higher academic scores.
Immerse is a mobile application that aims to transform the user’s environment using background and sounds with the objective of increasing productivity and higher academic scores.
The Covid-19 Pandemic forcibly took students from the classroom and back into their homes. As a result, virtual learning students in K-12thgrades have faced a variety of obstacles such as low academic performance. I planned on using design and research to uncover solutions for these users.
10 weeks
February 1st-April 4th 2022
UX Designer
UX Researcher
Asset Collector
IOS
Invision
Figma
Photoshop CC
Solo Academic project apart of BrainStation UX Bootcamp
I used the double diamond framework as a guide to arriving at my solution. I discovered the problem through problem identification, secondary research and interviewing. I defined my insights through affinity mapping and theme creations. I developed on ideas through sketching, wireframing and prototyping. Lastly, I delivered a hi-fidelity prototype and understanding of the process through next steps and key learnings.
This project was a design challenge given by BrainStation to find a human-centered problem of interest that requires a digital solution. I decided to research issues that the Covid-19 pandemic brought to people because the pandemic was a major change to everyone's daily living.
Keeping students at the forefront, I focused on virtual learning because according to 97% US educators have reported there has been some learning loss in students compared to previous years of in-person learning (CNN).
With such a significant number, as a student, I was very interested in finding a digital solution.
Investigating the problem was the first step towards a solution. I started identifying what obstacles virtual learning students were facing when moved online and I found a number of sources that detailed the perils of virtual learning.
Students are losing their confidence because it’s hard for instructors to provide individualized feedback. (Source)
Students are facing a loss of space to work and study with multiple family members at home.
(Source)
Students are struggling with the lack of social interaction that traditional schooling provides.
(Source)
60% of parents with primary school children are having difficulty supporting their children’s learning at home.
(Source)
Understanding the losses of virtual learning students helped me identify the preconceived notions I had about how students felt about their virtual learning experience. From my research, I assumed that:
With my assumptions ironed out, I'm able to cross-reference these ideas later to see if I was on the right track about how virtual learning students were feeling in their education.
After evaluating my secondary research and thinking about my assumptions, I was ready to talk to my user. I utilized user interviews and user surveys to find answers.
I spoke with three different users on Zoom between K-12th grade that are currently experiencing virtual learning or have experienced it within the last year.
In an interview with Jeremih (1st grade student), I found that Jeremih looks forward to social interactions from his classmates.
Virtual learning in turn makes it harder for him to communicate.
In an interview with Adrianna (6th grade student), I found that Adrianna has trouble staying focused in class because of the distractions that home brings.
It isn't easy to stay productive when working at home.
In an interview with Nasia (12th grade student), I found that Nasia misses the individualized attention that instructors would give during in-person lectures.
It's harder for instructors to give individualized feedback virtually.
Three interviewees weren't enough to identify an accurate solution. Working against a deadline, I went with creating and distributing a survey on LinkedIn for more insights.
After gathering 20 results, I was able to identify some key findings:
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In a affinity map, I organized the soundbites of my interviewees into pain points, motivations and behaviors.
After organizing the soundbites, I created themes from the insights that I was learning to find the most opportunity for a solution.
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Noticing that the theme lack of focus had the most pain points, I chose this theme to find a solution for students.
To start creating a solution for our users, I created a persona representitive of my data findings.
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In the journey map that I created, I noticed that there is an opportunity to help Samantha improve her remote learning experience, if we can think of solutions to limit her distractions from lunch onwards.
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To narrow down a solution that works for students, I created 16 user stories and organized them epics. I chose learn producitivy habits as my chosen epic because it's the solution that would help target the lack of focus virtual learning students were experiencing.
By changing the environment of the student, we can increase productivity to improve academic scores.
15 user stories and organized them into user stories
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With the primary theme identified, I decided that the task that our user would complete would be create your learning room. This was based on the user stories, chosen insight selected and research that I've found to support that personalized desks can increase productivity (Sciencedaily).
Using the idea that personalization can help you become more focused, I initially created the task of creating your own learning room.
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Before starting to craft a digital solution, I needed to see examples of mobile interfaces that would allow users to personalize their space. So I went ahead and created a UI inspiration board to gather ideas for my digital solution.
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Once I spent some time finding inspiration, I was ready to sketch. I wanted my digital solution to be an application where you had freedom to make the space provided whatever you needed it to be.
Login screen v1
Login screen
Home screen
Background modal
Sound Modal
Invite Friends Modal
Timer Modal
Motivation modal
Closed Nav screen
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After sketching out my solution, I decided to bring it to life in the form of grayscale wireframes.
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I completed 2 rounds of mid-fidelity testing with 10 different users. I provided my respondents with a scenario, recorded the testers thoughts and interactions and analyzed their thoughts within both sessions. You can view the detailed overview of the scenario and tasks completed here.
See below how I incorporated the feedback.
From this testing session, I found out these key points amongst many about my product:
I organized the qualitative data that I was learning from my users onto a Prioritization Matrix.
I completed another usability testing session to see if my solution was something that would be useful and usable for students. I tested with another 5 users and organized the most common feedback below:
I used this feedback to come up with the third version of my mid-fidelity prototype which I've included for you to interact with.
After testing my mid-fidelity prototype and utilizing user feedback, I needed to figure out what the name of my solution would be. I created a moodboard that was composed of words that I wanted user’s to feel when navigating through the app.
Words like creative, open, productive and imaginative were used to think of potential names for the brand. I went with Immerse as the brand name because I want the user to completely engulf themselves in the new environment the app would bring them.
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Using my moodboard, I began to gather swatches of color to use in Immerse's hi-fidelity application.
I went with the more warm tones of the palette because I felt it represented the positive energy that I wanted to bring to users. Before settling into the colors I chose, I tested the colors I found through an accessibility checker to figure out how I could pair the colors I chose in a way that’s accessible for a wide range of people.
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Because Immerse allows people to personalize their app experience, I went with handwritten typographies for my brand logo which are known for personability.
I explored known brands with handwritten typographies for inspiration, looked through existing font familys and then sketched a few images on how my wordmark could look .
Because Immerse allows people to personalize their app experience, I went with handwritten typographies for my brand logo which are known for personalization. Lastly, I wanted the user to think of personalization when they see our brand name, so I added a color palette to the logo.
Below you can see my final design in color and black and white iterations.
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Before injecting color into the application, I went over my usability testing feedback to see if it was feasible to make additional changes. I decided to include:
I realized that my original task was very broad and included screens that I revised before reaching hi-fidelity. I decided to create two tasks that are dependent of each other that you can view below.
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I created a design system for Immerse based on the atomic design principles by Brad Frost. You can find more details about Immerse's color, grid/spacing specs, typography and more within the detailed images here.
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After completing my hi-fidelity prototype, I worked on a responsive marketing desktop and mobile site to showcase Immerse. I learned from this process how to view my project from a business angle and explore how to advertise it to my users.
I noticed that as I was finding inspiration, there were many applications that had a solution similar to the application I wanted to build.
I struggled with finding out what the niche of my product would be.
From this, I learned the importance of identifying other products with similar features to differentiate my solution.
Halfway into the design process, I learned that I didn't understand Epics as much as I thought I had.
Originally I thought of Epics as one worded themes when in reality they are extensions of user stories.
I learned that Epics aren't broad but instead a functionality focused action to reach a certain outcome.
My task flow wasn’t a linear process because I felt that I needed more features to make my product different than those already on the market.
I learned that task flows focus on one specific task wheras a user flow can be more complex by adding all the decisions a user can make.
