AcadeME | Avital Negev

AcadeME
Design Thinking

This project was created as part of a Design Thinking course at UCLA Extension.

We were instructed to team up with a peer from class, and by implementing the Design Thinking methodology design a product suitable for that peer that would provide a solution for a certain problem.

empathize

My teammate for this assignment was Karyna, a student in the DCA certificate program.

The problem she chose to share with me was the difficulty and frustration in planning the schedule of courses for the program.

Karyna wishes to enroll in courses like Web Design, After Effects, and Illustrator, but she finds it impossible to fit them into her schedule, since some of them are not available every semester, or sometimes clash with her other mandatory.

She decided to enroll in an After Effects course at a private institution in Downtown LA. She was very satisfied with her studies, but she was frustrated with the time it takes her to commute with traffic, and with the fact she had to pay extra money for a course, which she will not be credited for.

dig deeper

In order to empathize more with Karyna, and to have a better understanding of what is important for her as a student, I interviewed her further to gain more insight on the matter. Here are some of the points she shared with me:

"I want to find a class that I can't take in the program I'm enrolled in."

"I want to read reviews before choosing a certain course."

"I want to learn something new."

"I don't want to spend hours in traffic."

"I don't want the course to be too expensive."

"It's important for me to study with a good and experienced teacher."

"I really want to find something with flexible dates."

"I don't mind taking online courses if there are good videos and reviews"

define

After empathizing with Karyna, I was able to define a Job Story reflecting her problem:

I would like to easily find a design course that is not part of my certificate program so that I can expand my knowledge in the most efficient way, and with the least waste of time.

Furthermore, we defined together her Pains and Gains:

Pains

*Traffic!

*Waste of money

*Enrolling in a course without knowledge of the teacher's quality.

*"Wasting my weekend days on studies when I'm supposed to have fun!"

*Not gaining a constructive learning experience.

Gains

*Efficiency of time.

*Value for money.

*Receiving great criticism from teachers.

*Feeling happy with the choice I made.

*Flexibility with time.

*Have the ability to help other people choose their courses too.

Key insights

1. Karyna would enjoy a course far better if she could spend less time driving, and pay a reasonable amount of money.

2. Karyna would become a better designer if she could enroll in high-quality courses with flexible timetables, taught by teachers who give constructive criticism.

ideate

After defining Karyna's needs, it was time for me to start coming up with ideas that could solve her problem.

I made a list of ideas, using the HMW (How Might We) process, and presented them to Karyna.

We agreed upon one idea that could be most suitable for her:

How might we collaborate between many design institutes in Los Angeles, and allow students to credit academic points for their certificate program, by enrolling in courses at more than one institution?

Considering all Karyna's requests and needs, this idea could be implemented in a digital interface, allowing Karyna, or any other student, to look for courses in her fields of interest -available in all design institutions located in her town, read reviews about the content of the course and the teacher, and finally plan a schedule suitable for her time, budget and location.

sketch

Before I started to prototype the product, I sketched some ideas showing which features the system will include, and how it might look.

I shared it with Karyna and received her comments. Overall, she was satisfied with what I presented; she liked the fact she could customize her schedule by using filters and reading reviews. She also pointed to some features she felt were unnecessary for her.