Results

Initial Design

After our various brainstorming and initial need-finding research we came up with a prototype that was based entirely in Google sheets where users filled out their user information manually in different tabs. The features we really wanted to offer with our first prototype were as follows:

We wanted to connect students that were already friends on Facebook. There were a few times we had friends in our classes in past quarters but didn't run into them until week 5 or later due to how big lecture halls can be.
We wanted to offer communication and interaction between students that normally wouldn't be there, but we wanted it to be quick and not distract students from what was going on in lecture.
We wanted a hub where students could easily access their friends contact information if they had lost or didn't have that information.
We wanted to facilitate possible communication or connections after class that might not have taken place without communication. Perhaps students both wanted to study or get food after class, but if they were seated far away from each other they might not make that connection naturally.

We tried to separate students into small groups of five to represent realistic friendship cliques students might form naturally. We didn't want to "pool" or facilitate a giant network of students that would stop focusing on class and just start chatting among each other in class.

Describe how your team conducted each evaluation session

Our evaluation for each prototype consisted of a question session and a feedback survey. After we finished our prototype, we opened discussion to the students to see what they struggled in or what they enjoyed to gain qualitative feedback on our prototype. For the feedback survey, we formulated the questions based on our evaluation plan to determine the success and thoughts on our prototype that may have not been covered in our discussion. We agreed to meet up physically after every prototype session and analyze feedback from the past prototype, reassess from that feedback what our new focus should be, and divide the work in an even fashion that would benefits the strengths of whomever was working on it.

Image of our first prototype (profile picture malfunction)

Image of our second prototype (most favored feature)

Prototype 1

Question Session/ Observations

Students were mainly confused about setting up their profile which included name, class schedule, link to Facebook, profile image, and email address. They especially had trouble finding the link for their profile picture and the profile picture would appear obscured or not appear at all in the google sheet.
The TA asked if the professors would be able to see the chat activity and if this app would be a distraction for students during class time.
Students were confused about the chat feature like where to type in to send a chat.
Students wanted a mutual friends feature where they can see if some people in the class have same friends who are not enrolled in that class

Feedback Form

Students were again confused about the chat feature ("I would type on one block to chat but someone had already started typing on it.")
Students saw our app competing against Facebook ("How to prolong usage of the application when there are competitors like messenger.")
Students couldn't figure out how to input information especially the profile picture ("Only trouble was with the facebook profile image as it wasn't 100% clear how to input it."

Lesson Learned

Initially, the students had trouble with inputting their information especially the profile images. A lot of the images appeared choppy or did not appear at all. We realized that, since the users know each other, it is not necessary to have a profile picture. Adding a direct link to the Facebook would suffice to connect the students. Having too many extra features like other classes, profiles pictures, and email address might just clutter the information and prevent our app from functioning efficiently. To simplify the overall process of filling out their information, we decided to take Gus's advice and use a google form instead of a google spreadsheet. By doing so, we were able to lessen the cognitive load for the students and they were able to focus their attention on the intention of our prototype.

We wanted to include chat function but we realized that it actually just confused the students. Instead of competing against Facebook as a message app, we wanted to piggyback off of Facebook so we decided to eliminate that function. Also, having a chat feature would cause distraction in a classroom setting which was brought up by the TA. Additionally to the chat feature, having a mutual friends feature would create a larger network of people which we thought would take attention away from class. Therefore, we decided not act upon that feedback in our next prototype. Our intention for this app was to create a natural connection between students rather than pool a huge group of people into a social atmosphere.

Prototype 2

Question Session/ Observations

Form based information input was much preferred and faster.
Students still didn't seem to get the interactive space the application was targeted to facilitate.
Pin-able seat location much more useful than seat description

Feedback Form

Students still expressed they would use Facebook messenger as their primary method of chat.
Most favored feature was the flagging of interests for after class activities.

Lesson Learned

In first prototype session we had a few of students get hung up on linking their profile image and having their inputs display the way they wanted. To simulate chat functions we had students use the chat features embedded in google sheets. Bought up almost immediately by students during the prototype session and in the form feedback we collected afterward, was that students didn't want to us a different chat feature they were not accustom to. So we decided to piggyback chat on Facebook messenger which seemed to be the most popular and widely used chat program. It seemed that users were not only reliant on the connectivity that Facebook offers, but users did not want to shift from the robust features messenger has to offer like spellchecking, image and video embedding, account hyperlinking, and emoji and GIF displaying.

The User Interface of the application would have to be extremely intuitive to communicate to the user what the interactive space is supposed to facilitate. During both prototypes users were confused not necessarily how to use the application, but why they would use it. After explaining the space and setting in which students would benefit from the application they understood and agreed they would use it, but bridging that gap of explanation is key to instilling a smooth intuitive transition, which the UI might be able to facilitate.

The form based user input really helped minimize user error and speed up jumping directly into the application. This increase in input speed seemed to be because users have a performed this type of action for many different technological applications in the past. By removing the distractions of other sheet tabs and dashboard, we funnel the attention of the user to only focus on inputting personal data, and once it's inputted the application takes the user to the interaction section automatically.

One problem we found with the user feedback is that about half of the users said they would use the application for situations we were purposely trying to design around. Although some of the user feedback might have been in just, they suggested they would use the application to make jokes, hit on other students, and genuinely distract themselves and other students from the lecture, which is something we also wanted to avoid. One could argue that with communication comes all the possible negative uses and that they are unavoidable, but it is why we designed the application to target small group of friends that would more likely to provide each other with beneficial communication, and why we focused on making the application funnel communication after class in the form of getting food or studying.

What did prototyping reveal about the chosen social structures?

After conducting both prototyping sessions we learned:

Overall, students were not sure if our product would be beneficial to their in-class room learning experiences. Perhaps students are already accustomed to a certain social norm, where sitting next to their friends in class is not an extreme priority. However, students did express that they felt this tool could be beneficial in their learning experience after class. This reveals that there is potential for this application to transition the relationships that were developed online to offline where people could foster and develop relationships.
A concern that people have brought up multiple times is whether this application will be distracting in classroom lecture and halls. This reveals that many students who wish to balance a social experience in class with learning consider the impacts of technology on their education; however, there are already existing applications that distract students where this product simply shows a status. It is meant to be a simple, clearly designed application with the function of informing students about the position and status of their peers to further connections in and after-class. It should also be noted that some of the feedback from prototyping suggest that more features be added that could "distract" classroom lectures such as: "class snaps, direct message, and more things to do."
There are many different relationships and groups that exist in classroom. A typical person only sees student and professors, however, within students are also groups and cliques such as acquaintances, friends, strangers, and peers. Prototyping and the development of the idea of this app revealed that students have preferences towards certain features and groups of people.
There are many tools that can be used in order to enhance the classroom experiences and that there are a wide variety of emotions that people feel during a class, it is not solely limited to taking notes and listening to the professor.
The functionality of an application is important because if one feature doesn't work, students often become preoccupied in trying to get it to work and it will end up being distracting overall.

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