Streamlining collaboration between academic stakeholders for a holistic and engaging learning experience.
Co- was born from my role as a Project Lead with the University of Washington’s chapter of Design For America (DFA) for the 2021-2022 school year and inspired by my fulfilling experiences in women studies courses. My first experience with UW DFA dates back to Fall 2020 as a team member for a project that taught me valuable design skills and motivated me to apply as a team lead. I interviewed a dozen students interested in my project proposal, and proceeded with five applicants. My team consisted of varying skill levels so my role throughout the year involved acting as a mentor while we researched and designed our desktop app solution.
enable students, educators, and administrators to co-design
equitable, accessible, and inclusive learning environments?
I have always valued the collaborative nature that my Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) department fostered by encouraging students to reclaim autonomy in the classroom. An emphasis on community-building contributed to highly engaging lessons. To honor these roots, we began with a foundational reading shared and referenced often in GWSS classes: Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
This reading served to situate our vocabulary and knowledge on education that challenges hierarchy and traditional “teacher/student” roles to promote dialect and collaboration. We followed this by further researching the pros and cons of different pedagogies, inequities in education, and the effect of classroom environment and circumstances on students.
After considering which methods would best suit our goals, we created and disseminated an initial survey. Our questions sought to understand if/ how educators currently implement co-design in their classrooms and if/ how students seek out co-design in classrooms. We expected this data to inform which primary user population to design for between high school/ university educators/ students.
Our survey reached 60 total participants from Slack, Reddit, Instagram, and our personal channels. Per our survey insights, we uncovered frustrations on high school educators’ behalf towards admin: ”My district administration has tied my hands on pretty much anything.” Another teacher recounted—
“There is a disconnect between my desired classroom set up and the classroom set up I have to implement. If given support by the district, I would set up my room in socratic method. But due to the type of tables I have, the small class, class sizes, and because I need to share my classroom with other teachers, I am forced to compromise with Table Groups… In this district, I was told not to set my classroom up socratically.”
The Classroom Set Up Feature lends a voice to students and serves as a way to validate an educator’s proposal for a desired physical classroom environment should they need admin approval to implement changes. This reflects some of the below research findings.
Educator Pain Points
Student Needs
Later in the quarter, we revisited our research to garner more insight into the tensions between educators and administrators evident in teacher’s surveys.
We interviewed a board of directors, an executive director of education, an associate superintendent, & a tenth grade history teacher. Our findings prompted us to prioritize the relationship between educators and admin. Realizing that a systemic undertaking would ultimately benefit students further enforced this decision.
Sustainable
Creating systemic and meaningful change through a long-term intervention.
Approachable
Inviting, engaging, and intuitive for users of all generations.
Radical
Upholding feminist values and challenging existing forms of oppression.
After weighing pros and cons of all the suggested mediums, my team settled on a desktop app as computers are most accessible to educators.
To determine key features, we affinity diagrammed our app ideations and identified the following core components: classroom co-design, collaboration, course management, and resources.
After eight months of research and ideation, my team prototyped Co- a desktop application that facilitates collaboration across high school educators, students, and administrators. My team presented the summarizing poster and slideshow at the final expo, showcasing each UW DFA team’s project. Both artifacts detail key features, design decisions, and room for iteration. Click through below to explore!
This nine month project represents my experience leading and mentoring a design team. My team met twice per week throughout the school year, with increased frequency as our showcase neared. Independently planning and facilitating these meetings taught me to build a successful team dynamic based in trust, collaboration, dialect, and respect. True to the project topic itself, I challenged hierarchy and prioritized mutuality among the team- ensuring each member felt autonomy over the project. I was honored to witness each member grow and develop confidence in their design and research skills. One tangible measure of the impact that this project had on my team is the successful admission of all four teammates who applied into their desired UX-related program. Each of them spoke about the effect our project and team had on their design skills in their applications.
This was not an easy feat to engage in during my final year of my program, especially alongside work and a time-intensive Capstone Project, so I recognize both successes and room for improvement in each step. Overall, this project represents the very intersection that inspired me to pursue design. My background in Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies prompted me to explore HCI for the opportunity to actualize novel, feminist solutions. Co- represents my curiosity and passion to engage in inclusive EdTech & eLearning design.
A Brief Summary: