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About Me

Inspired Self-Exploration with Class Selection

Inspired Self-Exploration with Class Selection

Client project with local Pennsylvanian school district about encouraging course exploration in high schoolers
Client project with local Pennsylvanian school district about encouraging course exploration in high schoolers

Client

South Fayette School District

Duration

8 months

Team

4 member contract project

Role

Product Designer

Task

Design a solution that inspires high schoolers to explore different classes during course registration

Project Overview

I worked as a main Interaction and Product Designer for the prototype, mockups, and presentation design system

the pdf in question

Initial Problem
South Fayette High School has over 500 classes, but they’re all condensed into a thick 200 page pdf. How might we inspire students to explore and take advantage of all the available classes?
South Fayette High School has over 500 classes, but they’re all condensed into a thick 200 page pdf. How might we inspire students to explore and take advantage of all the available classes?
South Fayette High School has over 500 classes, but they’re all condensed into a thick 200 page pdf. How might we inspire students to explore and take advantage of all the available classes?

the pdf in question

And the solution is . . .

Future Frame

Future Frame

Future Frame

A prompted, digital vision boarding activity that encourages self-identity growth

A prompted, digital vision boarding activity that encourages self-identity growth

A prompted, digital vision boarding activity that encourages self-identity growth
Check out the finale?
How did this impact our client?
How did this impact our client?
Research Report + Implementation Guidelines
Research Report + Implementation Guidelines
Design solution for students to learn about themselves
Design solution for students to learn about themselves
New course registration procedures
New course registration procedures
Initial Research

Turns out the problem isn’t a long pdf.

Turns out the problem isn’t a long pdf.

From our research, I realized our opportunity space lied within how students made decisions and not how the classes were organized.
Over the course of 3 months and 30 student interviews, we gained more insights about how students currently choose their classes. Most students tend to rely on word-of-mouth or advice from people they felt were reliable.
Some of these main influences are:
Some of these main influences are:
Teachers
Parents
Friends
Although high school seemed like the perfect chance to explore, students also felt like they didn’t have enough space in their schedule to just ‘try different things.’
From the initial research, I discovered that . . .
Students rely greatly on others to help them make class decisions because limited time and space in their schedule.
Why is this an issue?
Although these influences are trustworthy and have the student’s best interest in mind, they don’t always represent what the student likes or wants to do.
Rather than finding a solution to help students make their decisions, suddenly the real question lies in finding how students can know themselves better in order to make those decisions independently.
Problem Statement

How might we encourage more self-awareness and sense of self in students so they may more confidently try things that interest them?

How might we encourage more self-awareness and sense of self in students so they may more confidently try things that interest them?

Research + Ideation
What UX research methodologies will help me define and clarify the solution?
Research Method 01: College Admissions Counselor Interviews
I spoke with 5 recruitment administrators from Carnegie Mellon to learn how a student’s actions and decisions in high school translate to college decisions.
Schools evaluate relevant Advance Placement (AP) classes.
They want to see what students do with their interests outside of school.
Incoming freshman are scared to make mistakes but not upperclassmen.
Research Method 02: Teacher and Administer Contextual Inquiries
In order to understand all of our stakeholders, I interviewed 10 teachers and school administrators.
Teachers like seeing the long-term growth and progress of students.
They like learning more about the students but don’t want to ask about tough topics.
They don’t have a lot of time for each individual student.
From there, I took our insights and brainstormed ways to get students to openly explore and express their interests and self-identity.
From there, I took our insights and brainstormed ways to get students to openly explore and express their interests and self-identity.
These are the different ideations.
Ideation Concept 01: Augmented Reality Exploration
Experimenting with spatial modality, our team set up AR exploration sessions with 30 students to see if students would find it more engaging to walk around and explore where their classes could be.
Ideation Concept 02: Avatar Creator
The avatar creator is a concept where students added different components such as clothing and props to visualize how they viewed themselves.
Ideation Concept 03: Course Mapping
Course mapping was a way to see how different methods of presenting information about classes would inform student’s thinking process better.
Ideation Concept 04: Vision Board
As a vision board concept, I asked students to use images that represent themselves and their aspirations and then to find connections between each image.

Key Takeaways

Visualization helps bridge the gap between hoping a goal will be reached to believing a goal will be reached.
Solutions are the most meaningful when they reflect the student point of view.
Solutions should spark some connection to actionable steps or helpful resources.
From 42 rounds of user testing, we concluded that the vision board was the best concept to relay those key takeaways.
The Solution

Future Frame is a web application that guides students to thoughtfully visualize their interests and short to long-term goals about various aspects of life.

Future Frame is a web application that guides students to thoughtfully visualize their interests and short to long-term goals about various aspects of life.
Future Frame is a web application that guides students to thoughtfully visualize their interests and short to long-term goals about various aspects of life.
After multiple rounds of user testing, reiterated the Future Frame prototype until we reached the final version.
From these wireframes:
To these final mockups
To these final mockups
Visualization is a familiar concept to a student’s current behavior
Visualization is a familiar concept to a student’s current behavior
Visualization is a familiar concept to a student’s current behavior
Nuanced method of prompting students to think about their lives
Nuanced method of prompting students to think about their lives
Nuanced method of prompting students to think about their lives
Ability for students to add onto and reflect about their goals
Ability for students to add onto and reflect about their goals
Ability for students to add onto and reflect about their goals
Conversation starter for students to talk about their goals
Conversation starter for students to talk about their goals
Conversation starter for students to talk about their goals

What's the outcomes?

60+

Student + Staff interview data

1k+

High schoolers benefitted

1

School district implementation

What's the outcomes?

60+

Student + Staff interview data

1k+

High schoolers benefitted

1

School district implementation

What's the outcomes?

60+

Student + Staff interview data

1k+

High schoolers benefitted

1

School district implementation

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Index
Problem
Problem
Research
Research
Solution
Solution
Outcomes
Outcomes