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Ocean Week Course Package
A course package that engages students to participate in Ocean Week
Overview
Launched in 2018, the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition (COLC) is a nationally and internationally recognized catalyst and centre for ocean literacy collaboration, research, and innovation. They host 'Ocean Week' which is is an annual national celebration of ocean events, learning, and engagement held during the week of World Ocean Day. The Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition sought to collaborate with George Brown College on planning their Ocean Week 2024 event. George Brown College's digital experience design students were tasked with the responsibility of working on the course package.
The goal is to create an engaging course package for Ocean Week, enhancing student participation and awareness about ocean conservation.
Role
UI Designer, UX Designer
Ideation, User Research, Visual Design, Prototyping
Jan 2023 - April 2023
Client
Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition (COLC)
The Problem
Ocean Week is right around the corner, and the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition (COLC) faces a challenge in engaging students effectively with their planned activities. Traditional educational methods are falling short in capturing the interest and active participation of a young, digitally-oriented audience. This situation underscores a pressing need for fresh, innovative approaches to educate and engage students about ocean conservation.
The Process and the team
In collaboration with three other designers to complete this project from start to finish. We embarked on this project, anchoring our approach to the Double Diamond Theory and Lean UX process.
We aimed to incorporate key processes: Ideation, Primary Research, Secondary Research, UX Research, Wireframing, Prototyping & Iteration based on the feedback the team received during key points in the project timeline.
Ideation and Gathering Insight
For the ideation process, the team used hundred ideas to come up with 100 different ideas. Then we grouped the ideas together and chose eight ideas that would be good ideas for course packages. Afterwards we used crazy eights to sketch and conceptualize for the course package
We conducted primary research and discussions into different themes like scavenger hunts, virtual reality and web challenge games. We performed secondary research in addition to further narrow down the path we wanted to focus on for the course package.
We ended up coming to the decision to create a web-challenge game on COLC's existing website that student of all ages could access, and try out. We decided that in order to encourage student to actively participate in the activity, there should be a reward system and a leader board. This way, students would be more motivated to engage in the web challenge games and learn more about the themes of Ocean Week.
Low-Fidelity Prototyping and UX Research
Once the client approved the web-challenge game proposal put forward by the team, we worked towards creating the low-fidelity wireframes before making the high-fidelity wireframes. For the low-fidelity wireframes, we had to think about the UI and UX process that students would need to go through when navigating COLC's existing website, so we created a mind map of the user's interactions while navigating to the web-challenge games.
The team was also tasked with creating storyboards and personas as part of the UX research process during the same time frame. I created the storyboards and personas based on the existing low and high-fidelity prototypes that has been made.
High-Fidelity Prototypes
In the high-fidelity prototype phase, conducted using Figma, our team's focus was on ensuring a seamless integration with COLC's existing website, while introducing distinct elements for the web-challenge game. This balance was crucial in maintaining brand consistency and enhancing user engagement.
So I conducted a UX review to ensure it was aligned with what the client was asking before it was presented. Afterwards we worked on:
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Consistent Fonts and Themes: Aligning with the existing website, we chose fonts and themes that were familiar to the COLC audience.
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Distinctive color Scheme for the Game: While making sure the web design matched the overall aesthetic of the COLC site, we introduced a unique color palette for the game interface.
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User Interface Adaptations: In our prototypes, we made careful adjustments to the UI to accommodate the new game features.
Results
Following the delivery of the Course Package, COLC was so impressed and satisfied with the course package that they showcased the course package to the designers and web developers at COLC. This involved us planning and walking through a design presentation that included showing our entire design process from ideation and research to high-fidelity designs.
Project Learnings
1 Design every step of the process based on the target audience
Understanding the type of people who are using your product is important when coming up with ideas and later designing. Designing, ideating and researching becomes a lot simpler when you keep in mind who the users are.
2. Map out the user journey
During projects, creating a good user journey can be difficult without having a clear map or guideline to follow. Mapping out the user journey can save a lot of time when it comes to wireframing and prototyping.
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