BACKPACK

Helping students with dyslexia lighten their load together

Students with dyslexia sometimes feel isolated and left behind in traditional classroom settings, and their families usually lack access to the individualized and project-based learning strategies that are offered in private school.

Backpack is a mobile app that leverages the power of storytelling and visualization to connect students with dyslexia on a virtual platform, allowing users to share and reflect upon their collective experiences with a supportive community.

MY ROLES

Needfinding

UI/UX Design

Prototype Development

TEAM

Taylor Bacon

Priya Chatwani

Angelo Ramos

DURATION

Sep 2018 - Dec 2018

(3 months)

Needfinding Concept Prototype Coming Soon
NEEDFINDING

Understand target audience

To better understand our target audience's behaviors and emotional needs, we interviewed four educators, children and parents from Athena Academy, a nonprofit private school for dyslexic students in Palo Alto, CA.

The empathy map below shows key information highlighted from what they say, do, think and feel.

Insights and Needs: Tackle challenges through a Strength-based Learning Approach




3 Main Take-Aways

Dyslexic children struggle socially, academically, and psychologically in traditional classrooms

Project-based learning and gamification of learning allows students to feel invested in their work

Assistive technology (e.g., screen-reader, voice-to-text) can make learning easier if designed well

CONCEPT

The Core Concept: Unpack the Backpack

After distilling all the information obtained from user interviews, we decided to focus on the concept of unpacking the invisible backpack for students with dislexia. Storyboarding and filming this concept video was crucial to our design process.

PROTOTYPE

Low-Fi Prototype

We started with brainstorming design solutions driven by different technologies, such as an audio-driven solution and a wearable. Eventually we decided to create a low-fi prototype of a mobile app, which is far more accessible for children than other solutions we initially proposed.

Mid-Fi Prototype

After conducting user tests with 3 users, we fixed design problems based on user feedback. We created the mid-fi prototype in Gravit Designer. Then I added the interactions and fleshed out the design in Marvel App.

FUTURE DIRECTION

Our Next Step

A revamped design of the app is coming soon....