CASE STUDY
Overview
The goal of this project is to develop a comprehensive educational course tailored for young learners aged 6-12 who are learning English and other subjects for the first time. To make it user-friendly for teachers, learners, and parents, the project’s core principle is simplicity and clarity. This project emphasizes flexibility by combining a digital prototype with a print-based working model.
Role
UX Design
Prototyping
Deliverables
Market Research
Site Map
User flow
Prototypes
Time
2 Months
Challenge
Provide cutting-edge educational courseware to schools in China, Latin American, Turkey, Indonesia, and possibly Spain for students aged 6-12. We must adapt to the rapidly changing education landscape, recognizing that teachers will deliver lessons in various formats, both in the classroom and at home.
Utilize the Smithsonian's vast resources and leverage AR, VR, video, and more to create an immersive, personalized, and engaging learning experience. Provide a dynamic range of content options, enable progress tracking, and adopt flexibility for both in-person and remote learning to maintain quality.
Solution
By using gamification as a central component of the learning experience, we provided a user-friendly, adaptable, and accessible interface that promoted global themes, sustainability, diversity, and innovation. This facilitated an environment where children aged 6-12 are rewarded for participating actively.
This gamified approach not only enhances engagement but also encourages effective learning and knowledge retention across diverse regions. As well as hybrid synchronous and asynchronous learning in both physical and remote settings.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
Discovery
Business Perspective
This will be a brand new course using trusted and admired teacher trainer and author, Mario Herrera. Herrera has written many successful courses for Pearson. Embrace Pearson's high standards in pedagogy, emphasizing learner-centered activities, integrated skills, vocabulary, grammar, and progressive teaching methods.
Business Goals:
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Providing students with a variety of learning experiences by experimenting with different content configurations
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The courseware should accommodate both in-class and home learning
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Integrate Smithsonian resources, virtual reality, and video
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Enhance accessibility, adaptability, sustainability, diversity, and innovation throughout courseware
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Track quality assurance progress by focusing on a variety of content options.
User Perspective
We tapped into children's curiosity to encourage them to play with the interface, discover new tasks, and take their learning journey into their own hands. By taking this approach, Pearson ensures that its courseware not only meets the high standards of its curriculum but also aligns with the wants and needs of its users.
User Goals:
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Provide engaging and motivating learning opportunities for students aged 6-12.
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Enhance the ability to explore various subjects interactively and immersively.
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Establish a clear and intuitive learning path
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Exploration and play to help achieve goals
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Research + Definition
Key Insights
Gamified Incentives: Encourage students to learn, gain points, and actively participate throughout lessons.
Progress Transparency Over Testing: Educators and learners can progress and achieve lessons while relying less on conventional testing.
Effective Exploration: Enable interactive and immersive exploration of various subjects, fostering curiosity.
Adapt to Evolving Education: Create courseware that accommodates diverse teaching formats, including in-classroom and home learning.
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EXPLORE
User Flow
Our map-like user flow serves as a playful and intuitive guide, leading users through lessons and topics with an emphasis on exploration and interaction.
Drawing inspiration from the success of learning game apps, our approach leverages children's inherent curiosity, encouraging them to interact with the interface, discover new tasks, and take an active role in their educational journey.
I relished the moments when I had to make decisions that balanced user preferences with business objectives, and it was immensely satisfying to see how these choices transformed into a structured, user-centric pathway. As I refined the user flow, I constantly put myself in the users' shoes, envisioning their journey and interactions.
EXPLORE
The Prototype
Our challenge lay in striking a balance between transforming the content from static textbooks into engaging interactive tasks within the user flow.
We aimed to create a seamless journey as students progress through the screens, allowing them to delve deeper into the lesson and uncover more about elephants with each step of their learning adventure.
OUTCOME
Adaptive to
Evolving Education
We seamlessly integrated task prompts derived from educational textbooks into our app.
This allows students to access and complete these learning lessons both in and outside the classroom.
Whether used at home or as part of a classroom curriculum, this approach offers a flexible, cross-environment solution where parents can actively engage and support their children with supplementary educational tasks that are both enjoyable and instructive.
OUTCOME
Effective
Exploration
We have included engaging elements in our courseware, such as hidden interactive quiz games that appear after users have reviewed new material.
To test students' knowledge, we also use card-sorting games and interactive activities. Playing these interactive games can help aid memory retention and practice proper word pronunciation.
Through exploration and interactivity, we encourage students to actively participate in their learning journey, making the educational experience more enjoyable and effective.
OUTCOME
VR
Interaction
Children will be guided through the VR tour by prompts and tasks to encourage them to explore more of the possibilities and contents.
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These virtual tours consist of historic exhibits, scientific simulations, or VR adventures through cultural artifacts that can capture children's imaginations and deepen their understanding of a variety of subjects.
OUTCOME
Gamified
Incentives
As the children complete their lessons, they earn fun points and badges that they can use to unlock other distressing and educational games.
These "Fun Room" games encourage them to continue taking lessons. Critical thinking skills can be developed through these games, which can have a strategic component.
