Bean Bag
Using familiar group patterns to enhance community for participants in remote events
Project Brief
Create a platform for event organizers who are looking to host classes and events remotely
My Role
Research, User Testing, Strategy, User Experience, User Interface
Teammate
RJ Ferguson, UX Designer
Discovery
Research
We conducted exploratory research, market analysis, and user research interviews to better understand the field, narrow our scope, and pinpoint our target users and how we can address their specific needs. Below are some key insights that we learned.
Competitive analysis
Looking at direct and indirect competitors, we noticed the current trends in the marketplace. There were many platforms that helped event organizers through social network platforms, support in building an online course, and access to remote hosting platforms.
Research artifact example: We used graphs as a way for us to visualize the trends we noticed during research. Here we we compared Hosts using with private/public channels of communication with interactions with Participants.
The market is saturated with education platforms, but there is untapped potential in an open and collaborative remote platform.
Research Artifacts
Persona and Storyboard
We interviewed 12 educators and event hosts who had experience with remote hosting in order to identify a more focused target audience.
All users expressed the need to connect with their participants and the frustrations with current platforms to help them achieve that.
We created a persona to capture our users’ goals, motivations, and pain points we wanted to address in our design.
In addition, we created a story board to provide further context for our users’ frustrations.
Our users want a platform that is collaborative and encourages participants to engage in order to create community. Successful participant engagement is defined differently depending on the type of event.
Current remote hosting platforms do not offer users the flexibility to engage participants dependent on the event.
Defining & Solving
Problem Statement:
Create a flexible remote space where hosts can meet participants to build community
How can a remote platform accommodate a variety of events with different definitions of successful participant engagement?
Testing Divergent Concepts
In order to figure out how best to address our users’ problems we rapidly prototyped and tested divergent concepts. Shown here is a divergent idea I designed to address the problem by giving our users full customization and flexibility.
However, when I tested this idea I learned…
Users want flexibility and customization, but don’t want to be overwhelmed with choices
Solution
BEAN BAG
Limiting the options to 4 formats allows the hosts just the right amount of flexibility to change remote formats depending on the event.
When users open Bean Bag for the first time, they go through an introduction. In our usability tests, we discovered that it is helpful for users to have an introduction to novel names. Hints help the first time user.
Format arrangements are important in setting up the expectations for the remote event
In usability testing, users switched between 2-3 different formats in one event scenario we set for them. To increase participant engagement and help hosts build a feeling of community, we replicated familiar physical space formats in a remote setting.
“I would recommend Ball if we had a rowdy bunch and we really needed to get something done”
- Jeremy, 31, Boston, MA
We also designed a moderation tool called “Ball” to empower hosts to encourage participant engagement throughout the event.
For further iteration
Future Recommendations
Novel moderation tools such as “ball” need further testing to refine the user flow.
There should also be further research on the participant side of the platform. How do participants respond and feel when the host uses various host tools in an event?