Knowl
A minimal desktop app that makes classroom learning more accessible
Overview
Services primarily provided by universities to accommodate classroom learning for the deaf are focused on the profoundly deaf creating a gap in addressing the needs of the mild to moderately deaf/hard-of-hearing(DHH) community. "Knowl" is a minimal solution designed to best equip this section of users to have a comparable classroom learning experience.
My key contribution
Duration
12 weeks (Sep - Nov 2022)
Tools
Figma, Zoom
UX Research and Ideation | Leadership
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Research planning
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Conducted user interviews and tests
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Collaborated with the designers to brainstorm and inform solutions through research insights
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Led the team through research and design phases
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Documentation of the entire process in the form of a report
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Presented to academic and industry experts
Team
2 researchers, 2 designers
Solution
The research identified three primary concerns hindering classroom learning:
1. Reduce the barrier to accessing contextual/oral information missed out in the classroom.
2. Reduce the dependence on student position in the classroom for effective listening.
3. Reduce cognitive effort to consume information in group/noisy environments to enable active participation.
The solution is aimed at best equipping the user without major changes in the existing environment. Hence, the solution is built by leveraging in-class resources, Peers, Meeting Owl, and laptops.
Advocate for information needs
Request peers for information missed or access requests made by classmates to stay on track
Position Independence
Effective live transcription using audio input from the meeting owl irrespective of your seating in class.
Better note-taking using smart summaries, highlights, and comments.
Enable active participation
Tuned transcriptions to your group using voice recognition and feedback mechanism for better comprehension in noisy environments
Research
Goal
Best equip the Mild-moderate DHH students to have a comparable classroom learning experience
What barriers do deaf people with mild to moderate severity experience in learning in classrooms at the university?
Questions explored through secondary research
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How do the special schools for deaf/heard-of-hearing function?
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What issues are discussed in online forums/communities about classroom learning?
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What are the characteristics of people with hearing loss?
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What are the existing solutions that support learning for people with hearing loss?
Affinity Mapping
To inform the design direction it was essential to segregate our findings and thoughts. we achieved this in two steps
1. Individually noted down concrete issues and discussed solutions on sticky notes.
2. Performed affinity mapping as a group to bring shape to the insights.
This resulted in 13 different categories. Three directions emerged after two iterations of filtering and modification through discussions.
Three directions emerged after two iterations of filtering and modification through discussions. Based on what can be solved in the given limitations and is central to the “learning” of students, we primarily focused on designing solutions for missing out on information in the classroom learning experience.
Research Insights I - Setting the primary focus
Social Isolation
Large number of community and clubs at UT for awareness on services, accomodations, connecting with each other.
Not much efforts towards connecting everyone
Further research required on knowing diverse experiences to build a solution.
Everyone is different
Figuring out assistive tools that work for them can be extremely draining.
Emotional and financial impact while experimenting technologies
Unexpected barriers during usage
Further research needed on breadth of requirements in this context to build a platform that serves the community
Missing out Information
Acceptance on reduced capabilities in learning.
Social inhibitions and isolation
In depth interview insights on the problem space. Potential technology solution addressing independence and learning.
Research Insights II - Implications for design
Advocate for needs
How might we reduce the barrier to access contextual/oral information missed in classroom
Position Independence
How might we reduce the dependence of position in the classroom for effective listening
Active participation
How might we reduce the effort to consume information shared in group/noisy environment to enable active participation
Persona
We created a persona, Kevin to visualize the user needs and characteristics. This played a crucial role in the ideation phase to critically evaluate the relevance and adaptability of the solutions brainstormed for target users.
Design
To break out of our linear thoughts we first tried the worst possible idea with respect to feasibility. This was followed up by sketching and brainstorming to build upon the ideas.
The ideal solution needs to be:
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Seamlessly integrate into the classroom environment
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Need minimal effort from the user’s side
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Practical in solving the purpose
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Least visual overload
Expanding
Refining
Dealing with undesired usage
It was important to ensure that the request is not represented as a messaging channel as it can become a distraction. Yet it needs to be portrayed as a conversation to feel natural and connected with peers.
The following features were implemented to achieve this:
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The anonymity of users while requesting and replying.
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The number of text replies per request is limited.
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If a peer accepts a request, the notification disappears for the rest.
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The notification of a request is the least distractive with just a highlight on the "request" tab.
Reduce nuances in the suppotive group discussion tool
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Voice recognition may not be as accurate. Users have the ability to modify mistakes in recognition by editing the labels.
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Users have the ability to choose what's noise to differentiate in-group and out-of-group information.
Reflections
Accepting limitations yet pushing boundaries as researchers and designers
It is a hard fact that some issues are beyond the scope of a researcher or a designer. However, research has the potential to pave a path to best address the issues, which is only possible if you accept the limitations.
Transfering context behind insights from research to design
Brainstorming solutions along with the designers made me reflect on the importance of transferring the contextual knowledge around insights generated from research.
Evaluating impact of design decisions in ethical and social contexts
I learned to be more conscious of my responsibilities while making strategic decisions, particularly when involving vulnerable populations.