GeoTrove
How I Developed a geography-learning website that adapts to unique user interests
The Problem
This product addresses the lack of geography education found within the US education system. As a designer, I wanted to use the skills I learned from my Emerging Technology in Business and Design degree to create something that is engaging, accessible, and effective.
Research
This was a very research heavy project, incorporating interviews, literature reviews, frequent meetings with my mentor, and presentation reports of progress with lots of feedback. My interviews were as follows:
Interview #1
High School Student
This interview was a direct interaction with someone in my target audience. It helped me gauge if there was an interest in geography in a high school setting and what challenges students face in geography learning.
Interview #2
Social Studies Education Major
This interview provided a lot of helpful insight on effective teaching, and revealed that teachers often lack the resources and support to teach geography effectively.
Interview #3
Software Engineer at International Company
This interview revealed that geography has a place in the workforce, even in fields that may not seem directly related to geography.
Insights
From my research, I derived the following insight statements:
Insight #1
Student learning should be delivered in a way that’s accessible, social, and student-led, allowing them to learn how to form their own opinions, explore their own ideas, and develop skills that will prepare them to be informed citizens and open-minded to different cultures and ideas in the future.
Insight #2
Current issues and recent changes such as new laws and online learning from COVID are increasing the numerous challenges teachers are facing, and require solutions that take these new developments (e.g. students are behind and learning due to COVID) into account.
Insight #3
People are particularly interested in geographic topics that are applicable to their work fields, personal interests, school studies and current news, which provides a convenient, preferred medium in which geographic education can be introduced and applied.
My Persona
My Process
Define & Research
Topic Exploration
The first step of this project was to identify a project to solve.
Pitch Presentation
In order to pursue my topic, I had to prove that there was a problem to address.
Literature Review
My literature review consisted of several sources related to my topic.
Competitive Analysis
I analyzed what competition my solution would compete with, including the American education system.
Primary Interviews
I interviewed three different people with different connections to my topic.
Ideate/Prototype
Coding A Generator
I coded some example generators using HTML/CSS in Replit.
Creating A Visual/Marketing Guide
I established a color palette, icons, fonts, etc. that would guide me as I developed my Figma prototype.
Wireframing My Figma Prototype
I drafted my Figma prototype by creating the main screens and mapping out the navigation.
Developing my Figma Prototype
My Figma prototype was the big deliverable for this project. I put a lot of effort in making sure each feature was clearly shown in the prototype, and that all the visual and content details were well thought out.
Test/Feedback
Mentor Reviews
I met with my mentor several times throughout the semester one-on-one for guidance and feedback. She really helped me come up with ideas to make my design as effective as possible.
Classroom Feedback
I presented my work frequently to my class, and we shared ideas on how to improve each other’s projects.
Final Submission
Video Final
For my final capstone project, I synthesized all my steps into a 25 minute video detailing my research, process, and deliverables.
If you are interested in viewing the video in full, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Get To Know Me Through My Work
Insight & Reflection:
I am a Thoughtful Communicator
The goal of this project was to bring geography to students and teachers, with my design doing the heavy lifting of encouraging interaction by incorporating user interests into geography education. Each element of this website comes from careful consideration and real user research, addressing what I’ve learned in my interviews and readings. I am satisfied with the way I made thoughtful decisions in this project, and used my research meaningfully to create a user-focused deliverable.