Welcome gift redesign for a coding bootcamp
Project summary
Prime Digital Academy, an accelerated, full-time immersion tech learning program, asked us to find a new gift for full stack software engineering students to replace a water bottle that some students had called unusable and impersonal.
As a solution, I prototyped a Countdown Calendar that would track students’ progress throughout the program and provide encouragement. I then tested this concept with full stack students and recommended it as a replacement for the original water bottle gift.
My role
For this project, I collaborated with a team to gather insights about full stack students. Individually, I created 3 concepts and prototyped one. I then came up with an evaluation plan on my own and moderated usability testing with 3 participants. I individually presented my final solution and recommendation.
Client
Prime Digital Academy
User
Full-stack engineering students
Methods & tools
Heuristic Analysis, Ethnographic Research, Physical Prototyping, User Evaluation, AEIOU Framework, Nielsen's Guidelines, Microsoft Reaction Card Method, Google Slides
AEIOU user observation
Goal
Understand the working and learning environment of engineering students
Findings
Full stack students are:
Trying to learn years of information in 20 weeks time.
Spending most of their day in a pretty sparse classroom.
Moving desks once a week.
Working on a computer day in and day out.
Trying to make a big, sometimes scary, career change in their life.
Notes from AEIOU observation done individually and as a group.
Heuristic analysis of current gift: a water bottle
Goal
Understand why the current welcome gift, a water bottle, was deemed impersonal and unusable using Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics.
Findings
During an heuristic assessment, our team uncovered these key problem areas:
Easy to spill since both openings (large and small) are either full open or closed, no straw or push element
The bottle’s silicone coating, though somewhat insulating, attracted dust and debris when dropped on the floor of the user’s workspace at Prime
The lack of personalization of the water bottle could prove to be a problem in an environment where each user is using the same areas
Though two lids of different sizes provided good options for cleaning, it also meant more pieces to lose (or break)
Compared to other water vessels available to users (pint glasses in kitchen), this bottle is small and doesn’t hold much water, so may be less useful
Design concepts
I developed three ideas on my own to help make Prime students feel welcome during their first week on campus: a lunch bag, a laptop pillow, and a countdown calendar.
Problem
How can we make full stack students feel welcome on their first day and feel a sense of progress as they move throughout the program?
Goal
Develop ideas for a new welcome gift that is:
Personal and authentic feeling
Usable by students on a day to day basis
Tied to Prime’s values of putting students first
Low-fidelity prototype of one concept
Process
Moving forward with the Countdown Calendar concept, I set out to make a low-fidelity prototype at a maker’s workshop to get some early feedback from students.
Key elements
This prototype included essential elements like:
Day counter: showed the day of the program they were currently on
Progress meter: represented the portion of the program they had already completed
Daily message: a message of encouragement relating to the day of their program
Ability to sit on desk: provided a stand so that the calendar could sit on desk without a wall
Customizable stickers: allowed the student to personalize their calendar pages as they moved through the program
Prototyping calendar at Leonardo’s Basement maker space.
Usability testing
Summary
As a replacement to the water bottle welcome gift, I wanted to understand if a Countdown to Commencement calendar would be a good replacement.
Goal
Understand the mindset of a full-stack student on their first day and if this calendar would provide comfort and a sense of belonging.
Evaluate if this calendar would provide a sense of progress to the participant throughout Tiers 2 and 3.
Determine whether this gift feels as if it is in the spirit of Prime. Does it feel “on brand” and part of Prime’s culture?
Method
Usability testing using Think Aloud Protocol and Microsoft Reaction Card Method with three current students.
I conducted usability testing on the Prime Digital Academy campus with three full-stack engineering students.
Synthesize findings
Key takeaways
Students said they would feel welcome, eager, relaxed, happy, and inspired had they received it on their first day
Unlike the water bottle, it felt personal and tied to the Prime culture
Next steps for improvements
Students recommended adding things like:
Milestones: start of solo projects, completion of “full stack” curriculum
Reminders: work on your resume, start applying to jobs
Industry tips: tech industry info, testimonials from alum
Proposal: Survey students
My recommendation for next steps is to mock up a digital welcome calendar, made in a lightweight way, like a Google Slides presentation. Use this to test the concept with a larger number of engineering students through a survey measuring the desirability of the prototype.
