Client
Jagrati
My Deliverables
Service Design, Wireframes, Android Product Design, Front-End Development, Bug Reporting
Tools
Sketch, Zeplin, Photoshop, Illustratur, Android Studio, Github
Year
2018
Team
Rajeev: UI Designer & Font-End Developer
Leeladhar: Strategic Design Manager
Avinash: Lead UI/UX Desgner
Sachin: Full Stack Developer
Jagrati
Jagrati is a student-led initiative at IIIT Jabalpur which provides free education to underprivileged children living in villages around the college. Students make it all possible.
Jagrati mobile app helps volunteers to manage this club effectively. Various tasks, like assigning teachers to classes, taking attendance, making announcements, etc., can now be performed on a single screen. No more cluttered WhatsApp groups where messages keep getting missed and unnoticed.
MY ROLE
I joined the team during the research phase. During that time, my role was to assist SDM with field research and data collection. In the Jagrati club, we participated in almost all kinds of activities.
Later, I assisted the Android Product Design Team with initial wireframes and user experience design. Additionally, I contributed as a front-end developer. Having no choice but to learn Android Studio, it was an amazing experience to learn something completely original.
Stakeholders of the system i.e. us students, children from village & some staff members like bus drivers, security guards.
IMMERSION
We started our research by defining the Target User Group. This project was explicitly dedicated to Non-Government & Public-Sector organizations in the education system, like Jagrati, Private Institutes & Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Ministry of Human Resource Development, India).
We carried out user research on Teaching staff, Non-teaching staff, Management Staff, Implementation team, and Support system. We used tools such as user journey mapping and the Thinking Aloud strategy for stakeholders.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
After a strained & hectic morning class schedule, what better relief than seeing the same classrooms now filled with curious and jolly spirits? Innocent smiles on their faces push all tensions and confusion out of our heads. Their eagerness to learn and explore something new never fades. This along with a bit of fun and frolic is sufficient for their day and enough for our satisfaction.
Extra curricular activities. Who likes books all the time? ;)
OTHER TOOLS & METHODS USED FOR DATA COLLECTION
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Interviews were conducted with students and teachers.
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Direct observation was performed in the class.
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The indirect observation was done using hidden cameras & shadowing.
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A questionnaire was used for the study of students aged 11 to 16. Another questionnaire was also given to volunteers. Their response was recorded on the Likert Scale which was later used to validate their opinions & feelings.
After spending a month in the system, it was time to conclude the various data collected.
USER JOURNEY MAPPING
I started the project by analyzing the hierarchy of the system. We found the system to be divided in 5 parts, each with its specific role & the interactions between them.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
Enhance the efficiency of education systems such as Jagrati, Navodaya, and many others. During our study of Jagrati, we found a lack of communication between club departments.
Due to the busy lifestyle of college students, i.e., club volunteers, they could not communicate efficiently. They had a Whatsapp group where announcements, schedules, and books were shared. Moreover, since the group had more than 80 members, many details were lost in the long chat list.
To record children's details and attendance, they used a hardcover notebook. And many other essential logs were in a form that caused problems such as:
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Weak linkages in monitoring and supervision.
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Misunderstanding of roles & responsibilities - of teaching, and non-teaching activities amongst staff.
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Lack of community-based monitoring with full transparency.
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Data loss is highly likely.
Feedback - By the volunteers
UNDERSTANDING USER NEEDS
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Transparency of system
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Peer-to-peer connection
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Ease of communication
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Data loss management
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Resources & study material management
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Live Interface
CONCEPTUALIZATION
In order to conceptualize the product, we started by creating a timeline for developing our product.
Timeline & Planning - By SDM
ANDROID & IOS
Because Google has a faster review process we decided to launch for Android first. We studied our analytics and we learned that the majority of our user group is android users. Since this was a first-time launch, we decided to design the UI in such a way that it can later be used for iOS without compromising the user experience.
APP FLOW & WIREFRAMES
This was the first time for any club to use a dedicated app for its functioning. For the solution system, two profiles were developed for the decision-makers (admins) and volunteers. In order for this digital solution to work, we had to ensure that our first-time user experience helped users to communicate and manage more effectively.
Initial Wireframes - By Lead Designer
Based on user mapping, we found five teams involved in the system. In response to some discussions about the app's flow and features, the lead designer developed the initial wireframes. Testing it with volunteers & discussing it with the team led to changes and refinements in the flow, information architecture, and wireframe.
The App flow & wireframes were first sketched on paper and later finalized digitally.
FINAL DESIGN
As a result of the changes made, it was time to finalize the wireframes and start designing the user interface. I was assigned the job of front-end development. I worked with the developer on creating the app, and SDM did the testing.
LOGIN / REGISTER
The user can log in or click Join Us to request membership after the splash screen & onboarding screens. The request is sent to the admin once the user enters his/her name and email address and clicks SEND REQUEST. The user receives a password after approval.
HOME
Upon logging in, the user will be taken to the Home screen. On this screen, the user has a Profile and a Notification section at the top. Announcements, updates, meetings, and events are all included in notifications.
For the Volunteer profile, there are four features which include Class activities, a Study Material database, Event management, and a database of volunteers.
For admins, there are two additional options: class management and volunteer management. Admins are at the top and manage the whole system. They can use these two options to keep track of daily sessions, assign volunteers to classes, and manage volunteers.
CLASS
Classes, a dedicated feature for teaching and non-teaching staff, is the first feature of this interface. This section includes actions such as children's attendance, a database of class feedback, and a history of past classes.
Additionally, it has a database with details about children, including whether they are active or inactive and their complete information. The admin can add new children to the database.
STUDY MATERIAL
Teaching and non-teaching staff can create a creative database of study materials in this section.
Study materials include activity books, workbooks, homework assignments, songs, videos, games, etc. For teaching & presenting to the children, volunteers will be able to access study material. The admin will be able to edit the database of study materials.
EVENTS
Management teams who conduct various meetings and events can take advantage of this feature.
When events and meetings are posted or edited by the admin, volunteers will be notified of details such as venue, time, description, etc. At the same time, this will create a database of events and announcements.
TEACHING DEPARTMENT
This section includes a database of volunteers tagged with different subjects and skills. With a database of all the basic information about volunteers, the system will have a better understanding of the roles, responsibilities, teaching, and non-teaching activities.
It will also create system-based monitoring with full transparency among members. Admins and volunteers can both access this section, but only admins can add, remove, or make changes.
TESTING & VALIDATION
The developed mobile application was tested with 15 users and defects in operations were recorded. I worked with the back-end developer on the debugging process.
In order to validate our solution, we followed the following steps after debugging.
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A/B Testing
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Usability Testing
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Insights from admin
While testing the app with different user groups, we found that a lack of internet connectivity prevented various actions from being completed, such as taking attendance, accessing books, etc. As a result, real-time actions were greatly hindered.
So we fixed the problem by adding an on-device data-saving feature. Users can now save some vital information on their devices and take attendance even when they are offline. When the internet is available, the data will automatically sync.
IMPACT
The feedback was very positive. According to our findings, users now take 60-80% less time to complete major tasks than before. Significant time savings were observed in taking attendance, updating curriculum history, updating meeting & event details, and managing children & volunteers.
To compare the functioning of the system before and after the solution was implemented, we collected feedback from users. Among the questions we asked were:
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Are there assessment quality indicators?
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Are students' attendance taken properly?
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Is the history of the curriculum maintained?
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If dropout students are monitored?
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+12
After the proposed solution, 15/16 marked YES, up from 4/16 before.
CONCLUSION
I began the project by helping a friend with initial research for her thesis. As time progressed, I became an integral part of the team.
We aimed to analyze the current state of the Indian education sector and pinpoint the problems it faces. The results and insights from the research helped identify areas where improvement is required and the direction to move forward. As a result, numerous possibilities and areas of improvement were identified in the education field. Furthermore, it illustrates the importance of modern technologies and their lack of implementation in the current era.