Design Approach.
1. Discovery
Competitive Analysis
User Interviews
2. Concepting
User Personas
Task Analysis and User Flows
3. Prototyping and User Testing
Wireframes and Prototyping
Usability Testing
Discovery.
Problem Statement.
Neurodivergent students, particularly those with ADHD, frequently have trouble with rote memorization learning methodologies alone. While many vocabulary learning apps on the market incorporate “gameifying” techniques, there are no apps that incorporate augmented reality software into their programs leaving kinesthetic and spatial learners without learning aides.
Solution.
To create an app that uses augmented reality (AR) software plus popular flashcard memorization methods to create a comprehensive learning experience for kinesthetic and spatial learners.
Summary.
MemoryPalace is an innovative memorization tool that integrates kinesthetic spatial learning modalities into the vocabulary memorization process - making it an innovative tool for more engaging and longer lasting learning outcomes.
Competitive Analysis
Before designing my vocabulary prototype I analyzed three flash card apps to understand what solutions and apps already exist in the market.
Research Questions
1) At what do these apps excel?
2) What are the areas of user friction and improvement?
3) What are they missing?
Key Insights
Anki is a fine app and while image functionality is feasible, it is a clunky experience and if a user wanted to add sounds, they have to go through the webclient; which is an added hassle.
For the learner hoping to utilize a robust memory recall experience through their flashcard app, incorporating all the digital environment has to offer, they should look elsewhere.
Key Insights
Brainscape has the appearance of being a sophisticated learning experience. Their website is riddled with claims about the superior research supporting their app and the app’s editing capabilities.
Unfortunately, while the interface itself has quality design elements, user’s have very little capacity in-app to tailor their learning experience. With no in-app functionality to incorporate visual or audio elements, Brainscape falls behind it’s less stylized, but more effective competitors
Key Insights
Quizlet offers some compelling functions for the user that is sourcing their information from handwritten materials. The scan document function is a great addition to the vocabulary learner’s toolset.
Unfortunately, while Quizlet has image capabilities (but not audio) the functions are clunky. Most images are kept to a small size in the review process begging the question of why this function exists at all?
User Interviews
Having better understood what solutions exist it was time to understand what users do within the apps and how users think and feel about the app experience. To that end, I interviewed three users all of whom self-identify as vocabulary app users.
Interview Script
“Hi [insert name], my name is SallyGrace and I am going to be asking you a few questions about your learning experience using vocabulary apps. This will only take about 15-20min and nothing you say is a “wrong” answer. Feel free to ask questions or stop me along the way if you need a break. If you feel ready, let’s begin!”
Interview Questions
1) Are your vocab learning goals for professional or personal development?
2) What’s the importance of studying vocab for you?
3) What made you decide to use an app to study vocabulary?
4) How often do you study vocabulary and what (if anything) keeps you from studying vocabulary as much as you’d like to?
5) How has the app experience been for you?
6) What forms of studying do you prefer and why?
7) Have there been any roadblocks in your learning process? If so, how did you address them?
8) What about the digital learning experience do you enjoy the most and the least?
9) Are there learning techniques/modalities/tricks that you wish more digital programs would explore?
Interviewees
Doing, Thinking, Feeling Results
Concepting.
User Personas
From the insights gained from my user interviews I created two proto-personas and restated my project brief utilizing user stories, a problem statement, and a hypothesis statement. These personas helped anchor the development of MindPalace’s prototype by continually rooting me in my user’s needs and goals.
Problem
Laura needs a way to incorporate kinesthetic learning into her ADHD child’s educational process because her son has trouble sitting still and has better memory retention when he is kinesthetically engaged. We will know this to be true when Bradley uses MemoryPalace to perform better on his tests.
Hypothesis
We believe that by creating an app that incorporates augmented reality (AR) into Bradley’s vocabulary learning process we will help him meet all of his school’s learning requirements so he can move on to the next grade.
Task Analysis and User Flows
Having put in the effort to understand my user I can now sketch out two important tasks my users will need to accomplish to meet their learning goals including the entry point and success criteria for each task.
Entry point: Splash Screen | Success Criteria: Create Memory Palace
Entry point: Splash Screen | Success Criteria: Set Study Reminder
Prototyping & Usability Testing.
Wireframes and Prototyping
From this point, I sketched out wireframes on paper to find the most user friendly screen for creating a memory palace and setting a study reminder. From there, I prepared a low-fidelity prototype in InVision to simulate what the user would need to do to reach their goals in the MemoryPalace app, which is creating a memory palace to begin studying and setting a study reminder to schedule daily prompts to study for the upcoming exams.
Create New Memory Palace Wireframe
Set Study Reminder Wireframe
Create New Memory Palace Low-Fidelity Prototype
Set Study Reminder Low-Fidelity Prototype
Usability Testing
In the next phase of the process, I created a usability test plan and conducted four moderated usability tests where I gave participants access to a clickable low-fidelity prototype of the MindPalace app created with InVision. I asked participants to complete four tasks using the prototype and to give me their impressions of the overall experience. Afterwards, I examined usability using Jakob Nielsen’s Error Severity Rating Scale.
Direct Tasks
1. Register as a new user
2. Change your password
3. Search for popular subject decks
4. Make a memory palace from stock images
Scenario Tasks
1. You have a big test coming up and you want to be reminded to study for it everyday before test day
2. You are commuting to school and want to review your flashcards in one of your saved memory palaces
3. You just saved a new deck of flashcards in the app and want to create a new memory palace for them
4. You have a test coming up in Spanish 101 and are curious about how other people have made their memory palaces to study.
Interviewees
Revisions
From the usability tests I conducted, my users helped me discover some friction points in the overall app experience.
Problems
1. Users were confused about the AR capabilities of the app.
2. Users felt uncomfortable giving their email to an unfamiliar app.
3. Users were confused about how to partner decks and palaces to one another and didn’t understand their inter-functionality to one another.
3. In-app jargon wasn’t explained to users during onboarding making navigation difficult and community capabilities were requested.
Login Revisions
Modified the login screen to offer more options for users to create an account in case they feel uncomfortable sharing their email with an unknown app.
Definition and Community Revisions
Many users had trouble differentiating what ”popular palaces” or “popular decks” were in reference to aka whether they were popular on the app or popular because they were of utility to the user personally. Users also mentioned wanting to have more ways to connect with their classmates and friends. To address both issues, I created a community button on the side menu that directs the user to the communal hub of the memory palace family. There they can find friends to study with, see what others are up to, and even share their own work with the rest of the clan.
Onboarding Revisions
Many users were confused about how to interact with the AR of the room scans. To guide the user through the process of navigating the decks and palaces I added an onboarding process that uses animated hands to show how users should utilize the virtual environment. When users first use the appthey will be guided through the process of making a room scan and deck coached by these animations.
Navigation Revisions
Many users were confused about how to navigate the homepage especially when it came to tests regarding making new memory palaces or populating palaces with a new deck. To that end, I added a side menu that give quick links to a number of the functionsusers would need when using the app as well as a user guide that will explain what is the language of the app and what’s the difference between decks and palaces and how they function in symphony with one another.
Next Steps.
1. Continue creating wireframes to graph app’s full functionality
2. Conduct further usability tests to see if app improvements address user’s concerns
3. Make higher fidelity wire frames and prototypes based on feedback
Takeaways.
1. Critique is the key to better serving your users. Seek it out and integrate it because it will only make your designs stronger.
2. My understanding of functionality isn’t identical to everyone else’s. What seems intuitive to me can be confusing to others hence why fresh eyes are important for strong applications.
3. Failure helps you grow. Be bold in failing and learn from your missteps.
