THE PROBLEM

People aren’t reading anymore when they want to know the answer to something.

When someone has a question or wants to learn something new, they are going to youtube to see if someone has a video on the subject. Or they are stating some fun fact they learned while mindlessly scrolling through Tik Tok.

THE SOLUTION

Create a place that is solely focused on teaching through short-form videos.

RESEARCH

Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text.

According to an article at WordStream, viewers retain more information when a marketing campaign is a video rather than a written ad. What’s to say this isn’t the case for learning as well? If we can create short-form videos that are informational, then users can retain more of the information.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Who can we trust?

To find out what the current market is like, I started looking into websites that are focused on providing information, such as Wikipedia. Since the function of Ask Away was to behave as a social media app, I also looked into video-forward social media, Tik Tok, and Instagram. After reading comments on the educational video’s throughout these apps, I noticed that credibility was a huge factor. People posting informational content were constantly questioned on whether they knew what they were talking about.

USER INTERVIEWS

My interviewees prefer learning through short-form videos but don’t retain information when surrounded by entertainment.

I conducted 15 interviews with young professionals that have grown up using the internet for answers. They are each frequently using their phones both for research and for entertainment. I asked them the questions below to better understand their needs as well as how effective crossing those two worlds would be.

How often are you googling/searching for answers throughout the day?

• When not at work what are some of the things you might need some quick answers to? Recipes? Medical/Symptom solutions?

• Do you feel like you trust your sources that you are getting information sites?

• Do you use video-sharing apps such as Tik Tok or Instagram?

• What topics are on your FYP?

• Have you learned anything interesting recently from one of these apps?

• Do you like having a mashup of educational and entertainment on your feed?

INSIGHTS

Users don’t want the MEDIA MUSH anymore and it is making them trust the sources less.

After sifting through my results through infinity mapping, I found that users are getting bogged down by having the media they are consuming vary in its purpose and content. The entertainment videos they are watching are interesting because there was something educational before them. The informational ones are being spoiled by upsetting news videos. My interviewees have stated that they would prefer to go to a place to learn and go a place to be entertained, separately.

THE YOUNG TEACHER PERSONA

SITEMAP

DESIGN

Refine. Refine. Refine.

The design of the Ask Away app has changed pretty drastically from the original conception. Working through each section I refined the concept and pathing the user will experience and take, as well as honing in on what the overall theme and feel of the app looks like.

TESTING & ITERATIONS

Places in my design that needed to be improved.

Taking feedback from peers as well as some A/B testing, I have made many iterations to my design.

FINAL DESIGNS

The end results

STYLE GUIDE

REFLECTION & NEXT STEPS

My first project is in the books!

This was the first UX project I have ever completed and I am excited to say that I have learned a few things through this process:

The concept can change - Throughout this entire process, the concept of the app changed from being an article-based app to focusing more on video responses. This made me feel overwhelmed and was making me lose sight of the big picture. But I learned that this is a part of the process. The idea changed because of what I was learning through research and interviews. Now I have landed on a product that I am excited about and will be useful for the user.

Make sure the features/goals are clear - On the topic of the concept changing, I learned that keeping a list of the ey features next to me at all times helped with the creation of user pathing and building out each screen. That features are the basis of the concept and making sure that those are simply laid out helped a lot with improving the design.

Mistakes don’t mean failure, they mean growth - From little UI mistakes to the structure of the app, I made mistakes along the way. I am proud of this being my first ever UX project and I am thankful for the external insight peers had given me which helped this design come full circle. I am coming out of this project feeling like I have learned a ton about the design process as well as my own personal system and how I need to work to be the most creative and pragmatic.

Thank you for reading!

Please reach out to budrispat@gmail.com for more work inquiries