WEKNOW: A Peer Tutoring Platform to Enhance Academic Support on College Campuses
This thesis details the design and development of "Weknow," a service design platform engineered to improve the process through which college students access peer tutoring within their academic environment. The application aims to enhance the educational landscape on college campuses by enabling robust connections between students seeking academic support and those equipped to offer tutoring. College students often require timely guidance to navigate academic challenges, yet existing solutions fall short in providing precise and prompt services, and they lack mechanisms for ongoing inquiry and enhanced comprehension. Moreover, seeking answers online often fails to guarantee accuracy or sustain dialogue necessary for deeper understanding.
This article introduces the "Weknow" service platform, which encompasses a mobile application and two associated physical product designs. "Weknow" features a user-friendly interface, real-time communication tools, and advanced matching algorithms to ensure students can efficiently locate the academic assistance they need. Additionally, it includes the "Flexy," a versatile recording camera designed to record essential course content and provide users with opportunities for subsequent learning and review.
This paper outlines the entire design process, including the secondary research, primary research, ideation, UI/UX design, physical product development, and evaluation. The research phase involved interviewing potential users to identify prevalent issues and develop timely solutions for the academic challenges faced by college students. The design process section details the development progress and resultant interfaces through user flows, journey maps, prototypes, and user testing. The paper concludes with a heuristic evaluation that assesses the usability and user experience of the finalized project.
History
Degree Type
- Master of Fine Arts
Department
- Visual and Performing Arts
Campus location
- West Lafayette