Diya Bhatia — Flourish

Designers are “only sometimes” considering how diverse users interact with their designs.

I conducted a survey across Virginia Tech’s School of Design to gain more insight about how designers approach a design-related issue. Although the 30 respondents come from a diverse set of backgrounds, only about 50% always consider how their designers can fit multiple user groups’ needs. Moreover, 60% use secondary resources like Youtube, Pinterest, or Behance during research over a data-driven approach. This research let me to dive deeper into the world of design research resources.

Platforms today aren't specifically aimed at diversifying design using data-driven facts

Using the data from surveys as well as my own research, I put together a market analysis to understand if there was room for improvement in the research process. From here, I started to put together what people were used to with what I could do to help them improve their circle of users.

Understanding the root of the issue that begins in the classroom

The world is constantly evolving, and the knowledge that professors gained during their student years may no longer be relevant to their fields. I set out to create a platform that would not only aid students in their projects but also help teachers modernize and empathize with a newer and more diverse generation.

Individuals often feel inspired to make a difference, but feel uncomfortable or unwelcomed by the idea of change

Through empathy mapping, I gained a deeper understanding of user needs and emotions. This process influenced my design approach, ensuring that the platform met the diverse needs and perspectives of its users.

With this information in mind, I set out to find the most efficient path to attract users

I began ideating by sketching out possible user flows onto paper. This allowed me to solidify how I users will interact with the site and what order they would perceive information in.

Users were drawn in by the interactive elements, but discovered they needed more context on each story.

I conducted user testing during both during the low-fidelity and high-fidelity phases to make the user experience as smooth as possible. Here’s what I learned:

17% of users had trouble understanding what the site was supposed to accomplish at first. This guided me to refine the landing page to define what its purpose is more clearly.
33% of users struggled to understand how to filter results. Knowing this, I decided to add a Search feature to the navigation bar for easy access to articles topics.
50% of users felt that there was not enough information provided about what each article was about. I added tags, short descriptions, and carousel titles to help guide users to find what they need.

Featured Page

The Featured page is designed to capture the user’s attention using vibrant images, bold titles, and interactive elements. The titles are selected by the website administrator to attract users to stories they may not usually pay attention to, but which are prevalent in the design world today.

Personal Interests

The Explore page is curated specifically for the user. Using generative AI, results will be filtered based on individual interests and activity.By showing users similar articles to what they’re looking for at that moment, users are more likely to come across stories that will help them diversify their designs.

Inspiring Content

Authored by UX researchers, the articles cover topics that give users insight into an entirely different aspect of their designs. Users can easily keep track of stories by saving them to their profiles or sharing them with their peers.

All articles in the prototype were written by ChatGPT

Reflection

This was my first long-term project and an opportunity to conduct an in-depth analysis during the research and testing phases. Receiving sufficient user feedback greatly inspired my process and helped me create the most effective prototype possible. Towards the end of my thesis, I was given the opportunity to continue developing Flourish and making a live site for the students and staff at the School of Design. I'm excited to continue my journey and to see where it goes this fall!