OpenRoom
Enhancing virtual study experience
OpenRoom is a virtual study group platform where users can form study rooms and set common goals. They can stay accountable to each other for continuous motivation and build study habits.
Over the course of four months, I had the privilege of leading a team of two talented designers, working collaboratively and seamlessly throughout the entire design process for this project.
Context
In my role as project lead, I took the responsibilities of organizing user research, synthesizing data, and providing guidance to our exceptional design team to ensure the best possible user experience for our product. Collaborating closely with my team, we worked hand in hand on every milestone of the project, fostering a seamless and cohesive workflow.
Starting from our initial problem recognition on the hardships that learners faced during the pandemic, we wanted to build something viable that empowers individual learners to get into a healthy study habit with these key goals in mind:
1. Simplicity at its finest: We aimed to craft a product that effortlessly welcomed users, enabling them to dive right in and embark on their learning journey without any barriers or complications.
2. Realism and refinement: We were driven to build a product that not only reflected the real-world challenges faced by learners but also remained open to iterative improvements through rigorous testing and user feedback.
Project Brief
In the midst of pandemic, many students and workers were forced to shift their environment to online being both physically and mentally distant from others. From this, we realized a high number of students around us felt distracted and rather demotivated to study which resulted in behaviour change in students to procrastinate.
Therefore, our focus leads us to the question of how we can help people feel continuously motivated and achieve their study goals in a remote environment.
Design Process
As our team actively sought advice from external developers and designers, we embarked on an iterative journey, refining our product based on their valuable insights.Considering visual language, accessibility, and user experience, we decided on a web-based study platform accessible on both mobile and desktop. It enables students to study together, share common goals in virtual study rooms, and remain accountable to each other. Study rooms also provide question boards and live chat for limitless learning.
Users have the flexibility to create or join study rooms with like-minded individuals, sharing a common topic of interest, while also having the option to keep the room private if desired. Within these study rooms, users gain access to a dynamic question board, where they can actively engage in discussions, as well as a live chat feature for real-time interaction. Additionally, members can easily track each other's study progress and goal completion, providing a holistic view of everyone's dedication and achievements.
Drawing from research, we harnessed the power of commitment and accountability in goal attainment. Recognizing that people tend to achieve their goal better when they commit their goal to others, we implemented a feature that allows users to set and share goals within study rooms. By doing so, members can keep one another motivated and driven, fostering a shared sense of purpose and unity towards achieving their objectives.
Based on a study's findings, we understand the importance of visual progress representation in motivating users to achieve their goals. With this in mind, our platform offers a visual summary of study progress, along with badges that users can earn by reaching personal goals and completing study challenges. This provides continuous motivation for users to stay engaged and motivated throughout their learning experience.
Outcome
Through multiple rounds of rigorous usability testing and dedicated design iterations, our team successfully crafted a product with essential features for MVP. While the project impeded due to our inability to secure an investment partner, the project provided us with a truly rewarding experience. Collaborating with like-minded creatives allowed us to foster a spirit of learning, mutual growth, and continuous improvement as designers.
What it taught me
Design iterations are critical in finding the best possible design. Whenever our team felt unsure of anything from user flow to UI design, we came together to generate as many design iterations as possible, which helped the process move forward with the design we all love.
Teamwork is everything when working together. Each member was highly responsive throughout the project, bouncing off each other’s ideas during brainstorming and helping to move the process forward by utilizing the individual’s strengths to their maximum.
