Responsibilities
Web design
Graphic design
Illustration
Animation
Branding
USER
High school and college educators, topic experts, and students

CLIENT
Highly Nriched

ROLE
Lead UX Designer
User Researcher - User Advocate

Highly Nriched Platform & Branding


Project summary: A product from a nuclear deterrence incubator held by NSquare Collaborative, Highly Nriched is an educational platform designed for high school and college teachers to find learning resources and curricula related to topics surrounding nuclear weapons.

The Highly Nriched platform, created in partnership with NSquare Collaborative and funded by Ploughshares and Cardiff University, engages students and teachers in discovering new, experiential learning tools from experts in the nuclear field that reframe how we perceive nuclear weapons and their indirect impact on us every day.




︎
Problem statement


New perspectives in the nuclear weapons space have been declining over the past decades as less information about how nuclear weapons shape our world is made available to new adults choosing their desired fields. When shared with young people, the field of atomic weapons is told in the past tense when it is an ongoing effort.

︎
Challenge


How might we enable young people to access other and ongoing perspectives of the nuclear weapons story and inspire them to pursue a career in nuclear weapons?

︎
Unique Solution


To design an all-in-one platform that: 

1) Connects students to mentors in the nuclear weapons space so they can meet real people and hear their stories

2) Serves as a hub for new, engaging activities on nuclear topics for teachers to introduce to their classrooms

3) Hosts content created by curriculum experts and allows them to receive feedback and compensation for their work.





(A) Identifying the problem space



Tasks:

︎ Research what is needed to enter the nuclear weapons/ policy space

︎ Research how people make career decisions

︎ Identify when most US people make decisions about their careers

Problem
Every year, fewer and fewer young professionals
are entering nuclear defense positions, causing
fewer diverse voices in nuclear policy.









UNDERSTANDING

︎︎︎How do people choose a career path?

Career decision-making research*


Stats were derived from a voluntary Google form to 12 young professionals and 27 students (undergraduate, upperclassmen)*

53%


Discovered their interest from outside of their initial career pursuit

51%


Spoke with someone about what they did, and was influenced by their story

35%


Knew exactly what they wanted to do and have continued to this day

17%


Had a clear path with milestones to achieve the career they desired

64%


Knew what they wanted to do when they entered higher education









UNDERSTANDING

︎︎︎What is the current landscape in secondary schools and/or higher education?

Driving Insights

(B) Problem framing & establishing context


Tasks:

︎ Develop user profiles to understand the needs and priorities of the targeted audiences.

︎ Derived from the following research, create design parameters to guide the design.

︎ Gather market research to identify opportunities in the digital learning resource space and gather data for strategically positioning Highly Nriched’s mission, features, and branding.










Hypothesis:

For a young person to choose a career as a nuclear weapons expert,
they need to find themselves and connect to previously untold stories from people and events in the field that challenge preconceived notions of what national security looks like.











UNDERSTANDING

Studying the means of nuclear weapons information exposure


As the Lead Designer for the Learning and Human Factors group, I led the team in starting with the question of what the current, most accessible educational resources were available to young people aged 14-18, and how those resources presented nuclear weapons. Was it in the past tense of the current day? What were the objectives of that resource? How did learning about nuclear weapons from that resource leave you feeling?

Identifying points of confusion,
strategic storytelling, and outcomes










Summaries of forms where nuclear weapons education exists









(C) User & Product Research


Tasks:

︎ Develop user profiles to understand the needs and priorities of the targeted audiences.

︎ Derived from the following research, create design parameters to guide the design.

︎ Gather market research to identify opportunities in the digital learning resource space and gather data for strategically positioning Highly Nriched’s mission, features, and branding.

︎ Interview RISD’s TLAD leadership to start shaping the needs of educators from different school levels

Identified Users




User 1:
Undergraduate student

User 2:
College Professor

User 3:
Education content creator

User 4:
Graduate student

User 5:
Expert








Curated Personas


Inspired by the core identified users, personas were created after conducting extensive interviews with RISD’s TLAD group, college students at Brown University, five high school teachers from private and public schools in Tennessee, and 12 high school juniors from those schools.

The persona boards help shape the key features of Highly Nriched that will encourage our identified users to use the platform and get the most out of it.












(D) Further research to shape design


Tasks:

︎ Map out key stakeholders’ opportunities to impact the site for their educational purposes

︎ Design and refine a clean user flow to achieve each of the identified needs of targeted audiences






UNDERSTANDING

Market Research


The educational platform/ digital learning resources are saturated with established products. Upon designing this platform, market research was conducted to identify opportunities for differentiation and address a pressing need.




Takeaways ︎︎︎

  1. The majority of educational content sites have a focus on the kind of resources/classes they provide (i.e., business, general grade level education, global relations, creative skills)
  2. Most focus on students finding their desired content and using it as a motivator to learn.
  3. Certifications as drivers for completion
  4. Educational resources often include a video component that allows an expert to tell a story.
  5. Follow-up may be found in related reference materials or complementary subject courses.













UNDERSTANDING

Competitor features analysis:
Insights into the Teachers Pay Teachers tool 















UNDERSTANDING

Objects in the
customer’s ecosystem


College students utilize a variety of devices to access class assignments and complete their homework. A 2015 survey by Pearson found that most students study on portable computers, primarily Apple or Microsoft products, with their smartphones coming in second at 64% of students using them to view school assignments.





Takeaways ︎︎︎

Designs must be compatible and equally, if not uniquely, engaging for the laptop and mobile formats. Create a system that is modular with independent information in clusters.











(E) Prototyping & Testing

Tasks:

︎ Integrate data and objectives into the wireframe and identify a high-impact visual system

︎ Organize content that feels organic, intuitive, and optimizes clarity to decrease friction, letting the contributed work be showcased

︎ Pinpoint moments for activations to engage the users to create an exploratory experience



PROTOTYPING

Initial Napkin Sketch


Over a group lunch, the Human Factors and Learning team sketched out a version of a nuclear-specific platform for educational materials; this sketch allowed us to walk through first thoughts, pose questions, and start mapping the information hierarchy.










PROTOTYPING

Information Architecture



PROTOTYPING

Wireframe Sketches


Examples of sketches collected during the brainstorming process to identify different layouts that house all the different features needed for each use case, while still providing a flow with clean organization that is scalable







PROTOTYPING + TESTING

Low-fidelity prototyping + collected feedback
















PROTOTYPING + TESTING

A/B Testing features and processes


Explore the proof of concept here︎



Test page #1

︎ Homepage Navigation


Test Page #2

︎  Curriculum Search








USER TESTING

Beta Prototype User Testing


Testing on 12 potential users of Highly Nriched (8 professional educators and 4 high school students), the findings here show how the website was easy to navigate, but the users needed more time to read through the text to find key information.

Goal: Upload a piece of content


Goal: Find specific content using time requirements

Goal: Find out how many mentee requests you have

Goal: Sign up to be a contributor



Quotes for user(s):

“The section for uploading information is too long. The number of boxes does not make me want to go through all of it. I have at least 3 drafts going.”
Quotes for user(s):

“The UI is cramped and overwhelming with information. I don't know where to look.”
Quotes for user(s):

“I would love a way to call up with my mentees through the dashboard. I have connected with 2 over Zoom, but I would rather not give out that kind of information.”
Quotes for user(s):

“Overall, I love the way it looks, and a lot of this content is very pleasing to see... [user] would like a way to know this is a secure site.”














ADDITIONAL METRICS

Beta Prototype Launch Outcomes


Between the A/B testing and the refined iteration of the platform, we launched a beta prototype to test the desire for a website specific to sharing learning tools and sharing time for mentorship to potential young professionals. The site was advertised in person at conferences such as IDSA to gain contributors, mentors, and connect with educators at secondary and college levels.

+130



Added approved content

+45



Approved contributors

+155



Number of total curriculum downloads

+56



New Mentors










PROTOTYPING + TESTING

Actions from Feedback


Instead of a single scrolling page, break up steps into screens

Build a clear. skimmable hierarchy within product cards
Refine information pages to be more legible and organized with digestible segments
Dashboard UI showcases activations and connections
Security and safety are highlighted more clearly for potential mentors









PROTOTYPING + TESTING

High-fidelity prototype edits






Curriculum subpage


For faster reading of curriculum materials, call-outs for time, rating, number of participants, and number of downloads were brought to the top for speed of reference. For the students, downloading Pre-reads was made easier with larger visuals to represent each of the materials instead of busy and long hyperlinks. 









Curriculum Uploading Screens


Instead of a long single screen that caused fatigue and led users to pause their uploading for another time, actions were divided up, and a progress counter was used to step the user through the content loading process.









Educational Card Hierarchy


Card key information is divided, with the image being the most important idenitifier followed by name and the contributor’s username.





User Dashboard


Currently, our goal is to encourage educators to use Highly Nriched and participate on the platform. For ease of use, their particular statistics are called out at the top of the dashboard with visuals of what they do and do not have access to, depending on their contributor status.














(F) Visual Identity

Tasks:

︎ Use visual components to help move the user through the site and improve their overall web experience

︎ Create assets that elevate the page and do not compete with uploaded materials

︎ Design custom illustrations that are eye-catching and orient the user in the user flow









In this digital experience, illustrations were utilized to both orient the user and provide additional context for the page. Illustrations provided us with a great opportunity to apply the branding in new ways, further define Highly Nriched’s goal and focus, encourage connection, and change a person’s perspective on these subjects.








Branded elements


To distinguish the Mentors pages from the Contributors-related pages, selected colors from the color palette were used for the buttons to orient the viewer in the Highly Nriched site visually. The buttons were also designed to have moving gradients when the participant would hover over them to give a sense of activation.

The right image shows a document that served as a reference tool for the developer and the designer to communicate the different colors used, their configurations, and the sizes of the buttons.




Additional elements for an
improved user experience


Question ︎︎︎ : How can the branding be utilized to help lower the barrier of entry for newly adopted users?

Several opportunities for photography are available to provide information, add interest, and showcase the work and mentors of the Highly Niched platform. A series of thumbnail illustrations was created to serve as an alternative option if photography was unavailable or if the contributor or mentor chose not to share their images.


Profile stand-in images






Activity icons/stand-in images




Facilitation of project upload completion


Question ︎︎︎ : How can design help contributors with submitting their educational materials?

Upon interviews, a point came up about people not having artwork for their work that was primarily written, such as simulations. This obstacle kept collaborators from submitting their work, as they never went back to the draft. In response to this pain point, these illustrations were designed for contributors to use in case thumbnail material has not been developed yet or any other circumstance where they would need illustrative help to submit their work to the platform.








(E) Execution

Tasks:

︎ Implement designs with interactive elements for users to test during the IDSA conference.

︎ Collaborated with a software engineer to translate the design into applicable components and creatively solve obstacles to keep the goals of the product intact.

︎ Revise the design as implementation occurs and adjust deliverables for ease of application into website-building software.

︎ Review over a year for later adjustments and design feedback.



NEXT EVOLUTION

The creation of a nuclear content ecosystem: 


The Decolonization of Nuclear Studies Project consists of a diverse team of nuclear experts and educators who will create new educational tools for students to reframe the topic of atomic weapons and how they connect to us. The DNS Project comprises three teams that focus on a particular aspect of Antiracism, to shape a lens (Feminism, Environmentalism, the story of nuclear weapons around the world. At the end of the project, each team shares its curriculum and works with a designer to create a digital experience to engage the viewer and support the readings and activities they have gathered.

For this cohort project, I translated the activities and goals for their modules into interactive maps, illustrated complex concepts, and other interactions for custom-built digital sites that will be housed on the Highly Nriched website.














Going Deeper: Curriculum Testing


In the IDSA Conference, the Decolonization in Nuclear Studies team held small focus groups to test the learning materials the cohort developed. Participants were introduced to 5 modified learning activities currently published on HighlyNriched.com and asked to leave feedback about each activity.




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