1. Research

To begin the design process, for this project the target audience was teachers and students that might want to use this platform in their academic research. The current functionalities of the app allowed for organising research groups and conducting ways to communicate between faculties in order to do research together. So to make a new functionality, it had to be something relevant for some user group. I picked teachers because they seemed like the primary users of such a platform and I wanted to research more about their habits.

 

Research methods used:

• Ethnographic research

• Interview

• Observation 

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Interviews were conducted in an ethnographic manner with teacher from 2 countries. Both shared what would make their work a teacher and researcher easier and what would make them move to this platform.

It also involved doing observations of how teachers use their

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The results from the research were summarized in a careful matter and converged in a designerly manner. The most suitable insights were evaluated to form a problem statement. 

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2. Design Vision

After understanding in a broad research what needs and goals teachers have, the next step was to specify what the function is going to be. Considering their insights 2,3 were the last ones that seemed good enough. Combining them wouldn't work as they were too different so I decided to evaluate them based on how realistic or desirable they seem. One problem statement came out from them: "How to make task organization more encouraging in order to build lasting habit."

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From there, I could begin going over the ideation phase.

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3. Ideation 

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This was the longest part of the exploration phase as I had to go through numerous phases and go over the ideas because of a couple of factors. The main one was the too broad problem statement which wasn't helping in the ideation process. After careful consideration, the problem statement was left to focus only on models to build better habits and the solution that was most suitable seemed to be custom templates that would help the teacher to plan and organize better their work. This was a good first idea but of course, I had to explore similar ideas. I used a couple of techniques like using:​

HMW questions, collages, dot voting, paper prototyping, mind mapping, clustering, and usability testing.

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After exploring clustering keywords that are most suitable with the research insights I managed to find a design direction. Templates but build with a custom helper. That way, they can be selected manually or used to guide you in your work. 

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4. Usability testing

I got the chance to test the current idea with one of the stakeholders in a usability test. Although the idea was still in its earl development and it didn't have a digital prototype, a paper prototype was good enough to at least try out and test the interaction between elements and the ability to guide the user to perform tasks. The feedback was positive and was emphasized to continue on the function but to make it more friendly, easier to implement in the current website, and to also make use of other relevant features that a user might need.

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5. Hi-fi Prototype

Before going to the hi-fi prototype, more ideation was done where I again used paper prototyping and clustering of ideas to see which idea would fit the user's needs. The new design direction based on the new ideas was different from the previous in its specific features.  Features were only about having a planner function, helper function, and custom templates. 3 main functions connected each other nicely. 

The hi-fi prototype was done in Adobe XD in order to use better animations and more artboards. 

The hi=fi prototype was presented to the client together with a handout poster.

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6. Reflection 

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To be honest, this was first full project so it really isn't as clear or as concrete in its results as others. But I have included it because it shows my design process, the way I would approach a complicated problem statement and make use of the methods for researching I know. The project was difficult to say if it fulfills the need of the client because it was given broad and without much expectations. Seemed like any direction is good enough for the client. I think the function would be heplful to any teacher and it would stimulate them to use the platform more. To build a habit I have used the factors of sense of accomplishment and engagement so the function will surely function as it's intented. 

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