.png){kind=small}
JIMMY GUO
.png)
In Fall 2023, my team collaborated with Mathworks to research college professors' needs using MATLAB. Our aim was to enhance their efficiency in assignment brainstorming and creation.
Our project began with a 1-hour meeting with the MathWorks Product Team, identifying college instructors using MATLAB for course assignments as our target group. We aimed to uncover their key challenges.To gain insights, we chose semi-structured interviews over surveys due to limited knowledge of their use of MATLAB and constraints on sample size.
We included 5 Gatech engineering professors, 4 teaching assistants, and 2 students in our interviews, refining our guides to cover various roles involved in organizing courses.
.png)
.png)
Understanding the complexity of organizing and grading assignments, we enhanced our interview approach by asking professors for Contextual Inquiry walkthroughs of their general assignment creation process. However, due to the collaborative nature of grading and privacy concerns about exposing students' work, professors did not provide walkthroughs of their grading process.
After finishing our interviews & contextual inquiries, we used a week to reorganize our notes into an Affinity Map to help us analyze the fragmented information puzzle and see the big picture of the problem space and target groups’ needs.
While working on the affinity map, we realized we lacked a comprehensive workflow overview, so then we quickly conducted a Task Analysis for MATLAB Assignment Creation and Grading process. This helped us break down the processes and identify key areas for improvement, simplifying the overwhelming volume of sticky notes.
At the same time, instead of solely gathering user information ourselves, we also explored existing market solutions. By examining Competitors' products and assessing their strengths and weaknesses, we aimed to identify potential areas for improving our own design.
After extensive discussions within our team and with our client, the MATLAB development team, we decided to focus exclusively on the assignment creation process within MATLAB because:
As the next step, we consolidated the information we've gathered about our target users by creating two distinct Personas. These personas helped our team develop a shared, comprehensive understanding of our user base. In addition, we are eager to explore each persona's actions in more detail. Therefore, we have developed two User Journey Maps to provide an in-depth view of each persona's journey during the assignment creation process.
Building on our prior research findings, we brainstormed potential features for the platform using Crazy 8. Each team member independently generated eight or more ideas before our collaborative discussion. To better organize our ideas and prepare for expert testing, we developed three user scenario Storyboards, each accompanied by rough product wireframes, and a general User Flow.
.png)
We aim to design a platform for professors using MATLAB in their assignments, featuring these 3 main elements. (Due to time constraints, the Forum prototype was not developed in this project but will be addressed in the future)
.png)
.png)
Building upon the insights from the initial user testing, we re-evaluated the layout and features of the prototype. Subsequently, we crafted the Mid-Fi Version incorporating these refinements.
.png)
.png)
To ensure alignment with MATLAB visual language, we requested the MATLAB design system from client and utilized its elements in constructing our Hi-Fi Prototypes. In addition to the existing elements, we made some adjustments to them and add something new as well based on client suggestions, aiming to create a more lightweight, elegant, and friendly feeling.
.png)
.png)
Throughout our research journey, unexpected challenges, like difficulties in securing professors for user tests and time constraints, tested our adaptability. It became clear that flexibility is key; we often found ourselves practicing the art of "subtraction" from our original plans, forcing us to strategize on effective "additions" to compensate for what was subtracted. The importance of ALWAYS having a well-thought-out Plan B became evident, allowing us to navigate unforeseen circumstances and still progress towards achieving our desired results.
Our next steps involve addressing the usability concerns highlighted during testing, refining the point system to enhance user comprehension, and enhancing the landing page for clearer feature communication. Additionally, we'll explore alternative terminology for the marketplace to optimize user understanding. Finally, we will deliver our design and feedback results to the research and design teams at MathWorks, fostering collaboration and further refining our platform based on their insights.
.png)