gemini for students

User Experience Research

Enhanced AI usability for better, efficient student workflows.

when
duration, year
2 weeks, Summer 2024

Where

location, type
Petaluma, Independent Project

who

the team
Myself

Which

skills, tools
Product Research, Typeform, Figma, Balsamiq

ROle

my responsibilities
Researcher, Designer

Methods

techniques used
Qualitative & Quantitative Research

Project Overview

01

Background

This project is an exploration of how AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, and Google's Gemini are used by students, aiming to enhance their educational experience.

02

Research Goals

  • Identify Key User Needs and Pain Points
  • Compare the Effectiveness of AI Tools in supporting students' academic needs
  • Develop actionable User-Centered Design Recommendations
  • Explore ways to improve the overall learning experience for students
  • Identify Key User Needs and Pain Points
  • Compare the Effectiveness of AI Tools in supporting students' academic needs
  • Develop actionable User-Centered Design Recommendations
  • Explore ways to improve the overall learning experience for students
  • Generative Research
  • Data Synthesis
  • Personas, Empathy Map, User Journey
  • Competitive Audit
  • Ideation and Design Proposals
  • User testing and Iteration
  • Final Recommendations

Methods

I created a short mixed survey (qualitative and quantitative) in order to discover students’ usage habits of AI tools. There were 18 participants in the study.

After collecting survey responses, I interviewed two students to get a deeper understanding of their perspective.

Data Synthesis

The following are some of my research findings:

The empathy map reveals key insights into the needs, thoughts, and frustrations of student users interacting with AI tools. They say AI helps with research and writing but struggle to retrieve past interactions. They think there should be easier ways to organize information, feel frustrated by disorganization, and want intuitive solutions to streamline their workflow.

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03

Methodology

  • Generative Research
  • Data Synthesis
  • Personas, Empathy Map, User Journey
  • Competitive Audit
  • Ideation and Design Proposals
  • User testing and Iteration
  • Final Recommendations
04

Generative Research

Methods

I created a short mixed survey (qualitative and quantitative) in order to discover students’ usage habits of AI tools. There were 18 participants in the study.

After collecting survey responses, I interviewed two students to get a deeper understanding of their perspective.

Data Synthesis

The following are some of my research findings:

05

Empathy Map

The empathy map reveals key insights into the needs, thoughts, and frustrations of student users interacting with AI tools. They say AI helps with research and writing but struggle to retrieve past interactions. They think there should be easier ways to organize information, feel frustrated by disorganization, and want intuitive solutions to streamline their workflow.

Personae

From the data I gathered during user research, I developed personas like Rowan, a detail-oriented student who relies on AI for coding, and Teddy, a creative multitasker who needs AI to enhance their brainstorming and organization. Their distinct needs drive the project’s user-centric approach.

User Journey

Teddy and Rowan's user journeys showcase key moments of engagement with the AI tool, from idea generation to project completion. Pain points such as inefficient retrieval of past conversations and lack of project continuity guide the design improvements.

Competitive Audit

A thorough competitive audit compared AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Strengths in context retention and intuitive UI were evaluated against weaknesses in conversation retrieval and project management, highlighting gaps for improvement in Gemini’s student-focused functionality.

06

🧐How Might We...?

Wireframes

Changes made:

Gemini's homepage: Added Projects (icons), Recents -> Activity.

Activity page: Added search function and 'Gemini button' (for new chat or project).

Changes made:

Conversation page: Added in-chat search functionality.

On long press: Added first two (new) options to the menu.

Add to project: Users can add their notes to an existing project or create one.

Changes made:

Create new project: Added a page for creating projects and managing access (for collaborative work).

Project board/page: Added a cards-style layout for the page of each project, which can be modified.

      Included a search button and notifications for shared projects.

Other Design Explorations

These are designs that I felt didn't work or feel appropriate in this context. But I'd love to hear your take on this :)

07

Reflection

Guiding Principle

"It’s through mistakes that you actually can grow. You have to get bad in order to get good."

Paula Scher
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Methods

I created a short mixed survey (qualitative and quantitative) in order to discover students’ usage habits of AI tools. There were 18 participants in the study.

After collecting survey responses, I interviewed two students to get a deeper understanding of their perspective.

Data Synthesis

The following are some of my research findings:

The empathy map reveals key insights into the needs, thoughts, and frustrations of student users interacting with AI tools. They say AI helps with research and writing but struggle to retrieve past interactions. They think there should be easier ways to organize information, feel frustrated by disorganization, and want intuitive solutions to streamline their workflow.

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.

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Ordered list

  1. Item 1
  2. Item 2
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Unordered list

  • Item A
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Bold text

Emphasis

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