Helping students make better career choices using the principles of gamification
Disclaimer
This case study covers only parts of several months of design process focusing mainly on my role within the project. I have retracted or changed portions of findings to conceal any confidential information.
About
SoftClay is an education technology mobile app that helps high school students (grades 8 to 12) explore different career paths and gain exposure to various professions. It offers a range of interactive features such as cards, bookings, points systems, and challenges, to assist students in identifying their ideal career path.
The Challenge
Softclay developed an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) using a platform that does not require any coding, to test the functionality and assess market demand. Now, they wanted a full-featured product that would be more of a premium product for larger businesses. To this end, it was in need of professional design to make it viable for the market.
Role
Project Lead
User Experience (UX Researcher
Interaction (IxD) Designer
User Experience (UX) Designer
User Interface (UI) Designer
Timeline
6 Weeks
Skills
Product thinking
Interaction design
Market research
Tools
Figma
Miro
Illustrator
Notion
Photoshop
Objective
As the lead designer of the platform, it was my responsibility to create a cohesive and intuitive user experience that effectively communicates the service offerings of the business to students.
We also worked closely with the business to understand their service offerings and identify the most effective way to present these offerings to students in a way that is easy to understand and use.
Create a platform that is engaging, user-friendly, and helps students make informed decisions about their future career paths.
Objectives to Actionables
We had to carefully consider the needs and goals of our target audience, as well as the unique value proposition of the business, in order to translate these elements into a unified platform that meets the needs of both the business and its users.
In order to achieve this, we conducted user research and gathered feedback from students to inform the design process and ensure that the platform was tailored to their needs and preferences. We also worked closely with the business to understand their service offerings and identify the most effective way to present these offerings to students in a way that is easy to understand and use.
Ultimately, our goal was to create a platform that is engaging, user-friendly, and helps students make informed decisions about their future career paths by providing them with the tools and resources they need to explore different professions and gain exposure to different industries.
Research Phase
Understanding the Existing Structure:
Facilitating user onboarding via telephonic calls and WhatsApp.
The Q&A session was conducted through a Google Deck presentation.
Communication conducted through WhatsApp groups lacking defined administrative roles and responsibilities.
Students were using a self evaluation method for their quizzes.
Understanding Business Goals:
Creating a platform that can enable key monetisation strategies.
Creating a seamless experience for the students is key to customer retention.
Creates a unified platform that facilitates personalized courses for learning about new careers without external interference.
Identifying Challenges Faced:
Reliance on traditional tools leading to system maintenance issues.
Utilization of disparate tools resulting in process inefficiencies.
No structure or incentive for users in place, hence there was a drop/stagnancy in the engagement rates of the product.
Difficult to measure retention on their current tools, and there were no tools in place to increase retention.
Objectives to Actionables
Type AC - A student that has some clarity about their preferred career choice, has the resources to learn more about their choice, but lacks a platform where they can explore their interests freely.
Type BC - Someone who has the interest to learn more about different career choices, is aware of the platform, but lacks clarity about their career choice preferences.
Type AB - Someone who is aware about the platform, has the clarity about their preferred career choices, but lacks the interest to learn more about their choice.
Type ABC - Someone who is aware of the platform, has an interest to learn more, and the resources to actively takes steps towards their interests.
Problem Statement
How might we build a unified platform that allows high school students (Grades 8 and above) to explore and learn about different careers options using gamification principles, thus allowing them to make informed decisions about their future?
Information Architecture
This step was incredibly crucial to the entire redesign, considering the abundance of data to display and numerous actions to perform. With a clutter-free interface in mind, the following architecture for the Platform was devised.
Exploring Visual
Design Trends
As a designer, it was important to create the relevant experience to align with that intent. I studied the trending trends in the medium of application design to understand and narrowed down trends and practices which would align with the domain application that I was building.
Visual Design Directions
In our creative process, we meticulously explored various visual design directions, drawing inspiration from the latest trends in the industry. Through a thoughtful analysis, we curated a selection of compelling options, each showcasing unique aesthetics and potential impacts.
Subsequently, we presented these diverse design directions to our client, fostering a collaborative dialogue to ensure alignment with their vision and objectives. This iterative exploration allowed us to refine our approach, ensuring a visually stunning and strategically sound final product that resonates with contemporary design sensibilities.
Low Fidelity Wireframes
Final Design Screens
Micro-interactions and animations
We built a series of micro-interactions and animations that would help enhance the MVP and add character to our design. These interactions were crucial in bringing our vision of using gamification principles to life.
My Learnings
Sometimes, indirect competitors can be a bigger source of inspiration than direct competitors of a product.
This project made me realise that everything that is pretty isn’t necessarily good for a product. I thought using 3D icons would be a fantastic way to stand out and appeal to young children. Our development team had to step in and point out that the load time on a 3D icon would be too long and optimising such icons for shorter load times is no joke.
Iterate, iterate, iterate.
Working with this startup makes you appreciate lean methodologies. Building fast, using Figma prototypes to quickly test ideas with users, and finding ways to creatively express ideas with limited resources. For example, I really wanted to build a 3D button for this project, but given the tech limitations, we ended up designing the buttons with a gradient hat would make them feel “shiny” and “bubbly”, thus making them seem more clickable.