Timeline
Spring 2022 (3 months)
My Role
Solo Student Capstone Project
Tools
Adobe XD and Illustrator
Project Overview
Collective is an education-based social media application that focuses on planning and organizing school events for remote-learning students. It also implements familiar social media functions such as posting, messaging and personalizing profiles.
The Problem
In the new wave of remote learning, how can students overcome the lack of social and educational engagement now that they can no longer see their peers and teachers in person?
Initial Research
Some Issues that students are facing are:
Social Isolation
Students are more likely to develop mental health issues from increased isolation
Younger students may not learn the proper social quotas or develop healthy social relationships
There’s overall less collaborative work through online learning
Decreased Motivation
I surveyed 28 high school students and they said that some of the reasons they’d like to go back to school are 96% seeing their friends in person, 89% going to clubs and activities after school and 64% said they learn better in a physical classroom.
Most students were only motivated to go to school to see their friends or meet new people in after-school activities
Competitive Analysis
The most popular education-based social media app is Edmodo. Edmodo has been around for several years and they specialize in creating a space for students, teachers and parents to keep up with assignments, class discussions or group work. Edmodo has a planner/calendar section as well, but it mostly focuses on quizzes and assignment due dates rather than events.
In short, the competition DOES NOT focus on club/school events or planning meet ups.
User Interviews
I conducted several interviews with potential users to see what my target audience would be looking for in terms of solutions to the social dilemma of remote learning.
Questions:
What are the hardest parts about remote learning?
What would help you be more social during remote learning?
Would you be more a more active member if your clubs held meet ups in person?
What is your opinion on an education-based social media app like Edmodo?
Insights
User Persona
Although I will be considering teachers and parents in my solutions, my primary target audience is the students. I’m mainly going to focus on middle school and high school because they are the most tech-savvy and social group while still being limited by the flexibility of their schedules. (unlike college students)
User Journey
User Flow
Initial Design
I structured my application based on traditional social media apps like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. I also chose a cool toned color scheme to make it easy on the eyes and relate it back to technology-based applications.