I actively contributed to all aspects of the design project and worked alongside 2 team members. In the initial User Research phase I designed and distributed the Online Questionnaire along with conducting, transcribing and interviewing participants. I also completed a day of Overt Ethnography sessions within a High School Staffroom. 

Additionally, I carried out Card Sorting as a synthesis technique to highlight the patterns within the raw data collected through the Interview, Questionnaire and Ethnography. I also assisted with initial idea generation and concept development through creating storyboards and generating design ideas. I was responsible for conducting user testing and transcribing these sessions across all rounds, collating the results and reporting back to the team in order to develop and iterate upon the design.

Semi structured interviews were conducted with 28 participants ranging from different faculties and years of teaching experience. This ensured the team were gathering a wholistic experience of a teacher from a first year to years of classroom experience. Interviewees also had experience teaching a range of abilities including students in enrichment classes to those with extra learning needs.

Statement Card Clustering was used to organise the qualitative data generated by the Questionnaire, Interviews and the Ethnographic research. This synthesis technique allowed the team to recognise and organise the common themes discussed and mentioned throughout User Research. Each research technique was assigned a different colour to allow for quick identification of the origin of each statement. Each group was labelled with an overarching theme, these were the key take aways from the research.

The team placed the user needs developed through research in the middle of a Miro canvas. Design ideas and concepts were then placed underneath each need. This ensured that each concept was answering a specific user need. The exercise was used as a warm up before jumping into a deeper idea generation session.

This design concept provides users with an immersive world to understand how their body language and tone can affect how their students react. Users are able to run simulations and scenarios through Virtual Reality (VR) goggles that will assist an individual’s decision making within the school environment. These scenarios will emulate various situations that teachers may face throughout their career. The decisions that users make will affect how the remaining simulation will play out. Once the simulation is over, the user receives feedback about how they have handled the situation. The feedback is designed to assist the user in developing their skills in navigating difficult situations that may arise.

This design assists teachers with the management of the day-to-day tasks that users face in their career. This can include navigating the classroom, staffroom and administrative tasks. The wearable technology ensures that items such as to do lists and the users daily schedule are always accessible no matter where the user is around the school. This reduces cognitive load and allows teachers to focus on their tasks at hand. Helpful student information will be available including the student’s strengths and how they learn. This will assist users to be able to successfully plan productive lessons, catering to the specific needs of their students.

Flow diagrams were used to understand the key components and objectives of the design. This was used to explore different interactions between the design and the user as well as a rational flow between various elements of the design.

The flow diagram allowed the team to conceptualise how each element mentioned in the diagram may appear on screen. The team developed wireflows to show interactions and the location of each element. This sketch flow was the first step in developing a running prototype to begin user testing.

Several changes were made to the prototype based on the feedback received through the previous round of user testing. This included a major change to the way users interacted with the device. Originally users were able to interact with the menus by blinking and winking. Users found this awkward and the team implemented an app to connect to the lenses to act like a track pad. The app also allowed the users to input items into their "to do" list and schedules. A classroom management tool of seating plan was introduced to assist teachers in remembering their students’ names, especially in the first weeks of a new school year. In addition, mental health tools were added such as breathing and mindfulness techniques. 

Participants had no trouble interacting with the device using a trackpad and they saw how the design could assist them within the classroom. Sentral was once again mentioned as the way that teachers are currently organising their work and gathering information on their students. The addition of mental health resources such as the breathing exercises received positive feedback from the participants.

This project highlighted how important it is to understand all aspects and factors that could influence the problem space. Observing and interviewing participants within their workplace during the User Research phase of the design process allowed me to be able to understand the implicit and explicit reasons for teacher’s burnout within the workplace. When developing the prototype, multiple prototyping tools were considered in order to emulate the developing technology of Smart Lenses. This introduced me to several different prototyping tools such as Figma and XD.  

The project was completed over an 8-week period. Having such a short deadline required the team to work collaboratively and be in continuous communication with one another. This project emphasised to me the importance of honest communication and transparency when working in a design team.