Byte-sized Essentials
A more useful and meaningful welcome gift for Prime’s full stack students that includes an ergonomic mouse, a wrist pad, and a multiport adapter.
My final design concept for Byte-sized Essentials
Solo Project
Role
User Researcher
Visual Designer
Tools
Deliverables
Solo Project
Role
User Researcher
Visual Designer
Timeline
5 Days
Tools
Deliverables
Problem
Problem
Problem
Prime Academy's current welcome gift offerings for full stack students don’t provide enough value, and full stack students are uncomfortable sitting at their desks.
Moderated interviews with two current Prime full stack students uncovered a lack of recall for the current welcome gifts (a Prime branded t-shirt, a Prime branded pen, and a lanyard with the building's key fob attached). Fly on the wall observation of full stack students further revealed student's discomfort when sitting at their desks.
Prime Academy's current welcome gift offerings for full stack students don’t provide enough value, and full stack students are uncomfortable sitting at their desks.
Moderated interviews with two current Prime full stack students uncovered a lack of recall for the current welcome gifts (a Prime branded t-shirt, a Prime branded pen, and a lanyard with the building's key fob attached). Fly on the wall observation of full stack students further revealed student's discomfort when sitting at their desks.
Solution
Solution
Solution
Byte-sized Essentials is a mini developer toolkit meant to provide comfort for students and make their every day tasks easier.
The finalized version of the toolkit includes an adapter and ergonomic mouse that were proven highly useful and thoughtful by full stack students and alumni, along with a wrist pad.
Byte-sized Essentials is a mini developer toolkit meant to provide comfort for students and make their every day tasks easier.
The finalized version of the toolkit includes an adapter and ergonomic mouse that were proven highly useful and thoughtful by full stack students and alumni, along with a wrist pad.
Process
Process
Process
Initial Research: I conducted a fly on the wall observation of full stack students in their working environment, in addition to moderating an interview with 2 current full stack students on their first day experience.
Key Findings: The fly on the wall observation revealed poor posture in nearly all of the students. Wrists were bent at awkward angles from using the track pad rather than a mouse, students sat in a hunched position over their desk, and their necks craned down towards their laptops rather than using the monitors right in front of them.
The moderated interviews proved the current welcome gifts to be insignificant, with both interviewees failing to mention the welcome gifts when prompted about their first day experience. When further pushed about the welcome gifts, one interviewee mentioned he lost his t-shirt, found the pen irrelevant, and doesn't like wearing a lanyard around his neck. The other interviewee never even addressed the welcome gifts in his response when pushed about it.
Design Concepts: Based on that feedback, I designed 3 concepts for a better, more useful and meaningful welcome gift.
Baking Bonds - a bonding activity where each student would receive an ingredient for chocolate chip cookies. Coming together and combining each ingredient, students would have to figure out what it is they were making, then make it together, and finally enjoy their cookies together
Byte-sized Essentials - a functional mini toolkit including an ergonomic mouse, a wrist pad, a foot hammock, and a multiport adapter
The Keys to Success - an ergonomic, customizable mechanical keyboard to code more comfortably and efficiently
Survey: To test these concepts, I surveyed 5 current full stack students to get a ranking of which concept they would prefer as a welcome gift. The survey revealed that Byte-sized Essentials was the clear winner, ranking first in 4 out of 5 participants, with the last participant ranking it second.
Moderated Interviews: To further test the validity of Byte-sized Essentials, I interviewed 2 current and alumni full stack students to...
Better understand how useful and meaningful Prime students would find this gift on their first day of class, and how it can be improved upon
Gain insights and feedback around user values driving Byte-sized Essentials (thoughtfulness, practicality, comfort)
Identify expectations and assumed affordances with Byte-sized Essentials
I showed participants 9 objects: a water bottle, a regular mouse, a tiny mouse with a cord, an ergonomic mouse, a multiport adapter, a makeshift footrest, headphones, a t- shirt, and a pen. Next, they chose the 4 most useful and meaningful items to them. By doing so, I was able to see if the objects I chose for Byte-sized Essentials were also deemed useful and meaningful.
In their next task I revealed the 4 items of Byte-sized Essentials and had participants rate each item from 1-10 on how useful they found it and how thoughtful they found it.
Key Findings: After having participants choose the 4 objects they found most useful and meaningful, I found that the multiport adapter and the mice were chosen by both participants out of the 9 objects. The adapter and mice also consistently rated high in thoughtfulness, with an average rating of 10/10 in thoughtfulness. The adapter also received an average of 8/10 in usefulness. A mouse or ergonomic mouse was rated an average 8.5/10 for usefulness and thoughtfulness. However, the foot rest and wrist rest received average or poor ratings in both categories. The foot rest received an average of 3/10 in usefulness and an average of 6/10 for thoughtfulness. Similarly, the wrist rest received an average of 3.5/10 in usefulness and an average of 7/10 for thoughtfulness.
Updated Concept: Based on those key findings, the foot rest was eliminated from the Byte-sized Essentials kit, but the wrist rest remained.
Initial Research: I conducted a fly on the wall observation of full stack students in their working environment, in addition to moderating an interview with 2 current full stack students on their first day experience.
Key Findings: The fly on the wall observation revealed poor posture in nearly all of the students. Wrists were bent at awkward angles from using the track pad rather than a mouse, students sat in a hunched position over their desk, and their necks craned down towards their laptops rather than using the monitors right in front of them.
The moderated interviews proved the current welcome gifts to be insignificant, with both interviewees failing to mention the welcome gifts when prompted about their first day experience. When further pushed about the welcome gifts, one interviewee mentioned he lost his t-shirt, found the pen irrelevant, and doesn't like wearing a lanyard around his neck. The other interviewee never even addressed the welcome gifts in his response when pushed about it.
Design Concepts: Based on that feedback, I designed 3 concepts for a better, more useful and meaningful welcome gift.
Baking Bonds - a bonding activity where each student would receive an ingredient for chocolate chip cookies. Coming together and combining each ingredient, students would have to figure out what it is they were making, then make it together, and finally enjoy their cookies together
Byte-sized Essentials - a functional mini toolkit including an ergonomic mouse, a wrist pad, a foot hammock, and a multiport adapter
The Keys to Success - an ergonomic, customizable mechanical keyboard to code more comfortably and efficiently
Survey: To test these concepts, I surveyed 5 current full stack students to get a ranking of which concept they would prefer as a welcome gift. The survey revealed that Byte-sized Essentials was the clear winner, ranking first in 4 out of 5 participants, with the last participant ranking it second.
Moderated Interviews: To further test the validity of Byte-sized Essentials, I interviewed 2 current and alumni full stack students to...
Better understand how useful and meaningful Prime students would find this gift on their first day of class, and how it can be improved upon
Gain insights and feedback around user values driving Byte-sized Essentials (thoughtfulness, practicality, comfort)
Identify expectations and assumed affordances with Byte-sized Essentials
I showed participants 9 objects: a water bottle, a regular mouse, a tiny mouse with a cord, an ergonomic mouse, a multiport adapter, a makeshift footrest, headphones, a t- shirt, and a pen. Next, they chose the 4 most useful and meaningful items to them. By doing so, I was able to see if the objects I chose for Byte-sized Essentials were also deemed useful and meaningful.
In their next task I revealed the 4 items of Byte-sized Essentials and had participants rate each item from 1-10 on how useful they found it and how thoughtful they found it.
Key Findings: After having participants choose the 4 objects they found most useful and meaningful, I found that the multiport adapter and the mice were chosen by both participants out of the 9 objects. The adapter and mice also consistently rated high in thoughtfulness, with an average rating of 10/10 in thoughtfulness. The adapter also received an average of 8/10 in usefulness. A mouse or ergonomic mouse was rated an average 8.5/10 for usefulness and thoughtfulness. However, the foot rest and wrist rest received average or poor ratings in both categories. The foot rest received an average of 3/10 in usefulness and an average of 6/10 for thoughtfulness. Similarly, the wrist rest received an average of 3.5/10 in usefulness and an average of 7/10 for thoughtfulness.
Updated Concept: Based on those key findings, the foot rest was eliminated from the Byte-sized Essentials kit, but the wrist rest remained.
Initial Research: I conducted a fly on the wall observation of full stack students in their working environment, in addition to moderating an interview with 2 current full stack students on their first day experience.
Key Findings: The fly on the wall observation revealed poor posture in nearly all of the students. Wrists were bent at awkward angles from using the track pad rather than a mouse, students sat in a hunched position over their desk, and their necks craned down towards their laptops rather than using the monitors right in front of them.
The moderated interviews proved the current welcome gifts to be insignificant, with both interviewees failing to mention the welcome gifts when prompted about their first day experience. When further pushed about the welcome gifts, one interviewee mentioned he lost his t-shirt, found the pen irrelevant, and doesn't like wearing a lanyard around his neck. The other interviewee never even addressed the welcome gifts in his response when pushed about it.
Design Concepts: Based on that feedback, I designed 3 concepts for a better, more useful and meaningful welcome gift.
Baking Bonds - a bonding activity where each student would receive an ingredient for chocolate chip cookies. Coming together and combining each ingredient, students would have to figure out what it is they were making, then make it together, and finally enjoy their cookies together
Byte-sized Essentials - a functional mini toolkit including an ergonomic mouse, a wrist pad, a foot hammock, and a multiport adapter
The Keys to Success - an ergonomic, customizable mechanical keyboard to code more comfortably and efficiently
Survey: To test these concepts, I surveyed 5 current full stack students to get a ranking of which concept they would prefer as a welcome gift. The survey revealed that Byte-sized Essentials was the clear winner, ranking first in 4 out of 5 participants, with the last participant ranking it second.
Moderated Interviews: To further test the validity of Byte-sized Essentials, I interviewed 2 current and alumni full stack students to...
Better understand how useful and meaningful Prime students would find this gift on their first day of class, and how it can be improved upon
Gain insights and feedback around user values driving Byte-sized Essentials (thoughtfulness, practicality, comfort)
Identify expectations and assumed affordances with Byte-sized Essentials
I showed participants 9 objects: a water bottle, a regular mouse, a tiny mouse with a cord, an ergonomic mouse, a multiport adapter, a makeshift footrest, headphones, a t- shirt, and a pen. Next, they chose the 4 most useful and meaningful items to them. By doing so, I was able to see if the objects I chose for Byte-sized Essentials were also deemed useful and meaningful.
In their next task I revealed the 4 items of Byte-sized Essentials and had participants rate each item from 1-10 on how useful they found it and how thoughtful they found it.
Key Findings: After having participants choose the 4 objects they found most useful and meaningful, I found that the multiport adapter and the mice were chosen by both participants out of the 9 objects. The adapter and mice also consistently rated high in thoughtfulness, with an average rating of 10/10 in thoughtfulness. The adapter also received an average of 8/10 in usefulness. A mouse or ergonomic mouse was rated an average 8.5/10 for usefulness and thoughtfulness. However, the foot rest and wrist rest received average or poor ratings in both categories. The foot rest received an average of 3/10 in usefulness and an average of 6/10 for thoughtfulness. Similarly, the wrist rest received an average of 3.5/10 in usefulness and an average of 7/10 for thoughtfulness.
Updated Concept: Based on those key findings, the foot rest was eliminated from the Byte-sized Essentials kit, but the wrist rest remained.
A screen from my pitch presentation
“ “An adapter is a big thing. I’m constantly plugging into external monitors and I need a lot of windows open.” ”
“ “An adapter is a big thing. I’m constantly plugging into external monitors and I need a lot of windows open.” ”
“ “An adapter is a big thing. I’m constantly plugging into external monitors and I need a lot of windows open.” ”
Research Participant
Reflection
Reflection
Reflection
What I Learned
You Don't Always Get What You Want
One of my other initial design concepts for improving Prime's welcome gift, Baking Bonds, was my favorite. Students would combine each of their ingredients in order to figure out what it is they're baking (cookies). Then, they would bake it together, and enjoy it together. It would serve as a fun bonding activity and ice breaker. I thought it was a really fun and creative way to break the ice, especially after the initial research also found a strong desire to get to know each other, yet the fly on the wall observations showed little interaction among students. However, the survey results told a different story. Students would much rather receive a practical gift than an experience. While my baking idea seems like the most fun and enjoyable to me, I have to put the end user's desires above mine.
One of my other initial design concepts for improving Prime's welcome gift, Baking Bonds, was my favorite. Students would combine each of their ingredients in order to figure out what it is they're baking (cookies). Then, they would bake it together, and enjoy it together. It would serve as a fun bonding activity and ice breaker. I thought it was a really fun and creative way to break the ice, especially after the initial research also found a strong desire to get to know each other, yet the fly on the wall observations showed little interaction among students. However, the survey results told a different story. Students would much rather receive a practical gift than an experience. While my baking idea seems like the most fun and enjoyable to me, I have to put the end user's desires above mine.
Next Steps
Improving Design of Each Object
To further enhance Byte-sized Essentials, I would design and test more specific concepts of each item. For example, I would test different ergonomic mice against each other to find what developers prefer in order to finalize a specific mouse to include in the toolkit.
To further enhance Byte-sized Essentials, I would design and test more specific concepts of each item. For example, I would test different ergonomic mice against each other to find what developers prefer in order to finalize a specific mouse to include in the toolkit.
Increase Participant Pool
I was limited to 3 moderated interviews to test my design concept, and 1 was a no show. In the future, I would increase the participant pool to at least 4 to gain a more accurate set of data.
I was limited to 3 moderated interviews to test my design concept, and 1 was a no show. In the future, I would increase the participant pool to at least 4 to gain a more accurate set of data.
