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A virtual experience where students interact with each other and the application to understand personality types and industries.

Mobile Phone Application Screenshot

An educational institution knew the power technology has to engage and educate people. They wanted a way to educate and empower students on career choices, tuition, and colleges.

CLIENT: DeVry

TEAM: Creative Director, UX Designer, Art Directors (x3), Creative Writer, 3D Animator, Developers (x3)

PROPS: Aaron Cacali (CD), Maria Bowers (AD),Jess Farnish (AD), Matt Wolford (AD), Heather Knight (CW), John Kramer (DEV), Trent Athens (DEV), Matt Trout (DEV)

MY ROLE: I worked with the team to develop the user experience and interactions for the tablet application. I also developed the information architect and responsive layout for the web portal.

Understanding

The team needed to counter the perception of boring, slide based presentations used in the past. The application had to connect the students and the presenter in real-time, allowing students to interact with the application and each other during the presentation.
The team had to develop an experience and interface designs for three different audiences types:

  • Students needed to participate in classroom presentations and access their information outside of the classroom
  • Presenters had to facilitate the conversations, help students remotely, and track time.
  • Parents & Educators needed away to access student results to help continue conversations.

Mobile Phone Application Screenshot

Developing the presentation experience

At the highest level the team was tasked with creating four dynamic & interactive presentations using the Apple TV,iPad, and network router. Doesn't sound incredibly complicated? Let's break it down.

  • 3 interactive presentations focusing on different information for Freshman, Sophomores, and Juniors/Seniors
  • 1 application that rules and commands all
  • 1 presentation projected in the classroom that was in-sync with the presenter and students

After each presentation the information captured was automatically uploaded to a student and educator web portal. The portal was a tool that provided users with additional information from presentation activities along with other information resources.

Mobile Phone Application Screenshot

Creating a unified view

To help the team keep track of key moments in the experience and visual style we printed each screen and tacked it to the wall. The wall was as tool to create shared views across teams and captured details in such as design patterns, copy changes, and other elements that affect how the application behavior.

Mobile Phone Application Screenshot

Making the Application

The application was designed to handle up to 36 students across 10 iPads; the average number of students was 18. To accommodate different team sizes the experience was broken into a series of short activities, keeping students engaged and promoting conversations between students. The application style took on a futuristic look and feel--think Minority Report. We pushed the style further by utilizing 3D graphics, animations, and touch-gestures during activities. The interaction design was

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Making the web portal

The web portal was a tool for students, parents, and educators to build awareness, understanding of the type of college degrees and careers. The portal used a responsive layout for mobile phones, tablets, and desktops. The Art director kept visual style simple, but made subtle tie-ins to the futuristic style of the classroom presentation.

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