Improving Students’ Virtual Collaboration Experience

Improving Students’ Virtual Collaboration Experience

Improving Students’ Virtual Collaboration Experience

Improving Students’ Virtual Collaboration Experience

My Role

While completing this UX Research project at the University of Toronto, I conducted interviews, observations, questionnaires, and competitor product reviews. I helped to formulate research questions, design and conduct research studies and synthesize quantitative/qualitative data to create actionable insights.

Duration

September - December 2021

Tools

Miro, Excel, Google Forms

Team

Four fellow Design Researchers

The Problem

Students have difficulty fostering interpersonal connections through virtual collaboration platforms, which has an adverse impact on their productivity and engagement

The Methods

Secondary research, interviews, diary studies, and product comparisons to understand how to improve student virtual collaboration

The Outcome

The developement of seven design guidelines for a user-friendly platform to support student's virtual collaborationdevelopment

Improving Students’ Virtual Collaboration Experience

Improving Students’ Virtual Collaboration Experience

Improving Students’ Virtual Collaboration Experience

Improving Students’ Virtual Collaboration Experience

My Role

While completing this UX Research project at the University of Toronto, I conducted interviews, observations, questionnaires, and competitor product reviews. I helped to formulate research questions, design and conduct research studies and synthesize quantitative/qualitative data to create actionable insights.

Duration

September - December 2021

Tools

Miro, Excel, Google Forms

Team

Four fellow Design Researchers

My Role

While completing this UX Research project at the University of Toronto, I conducted interviews, observations, questionnaires, and competitor product reviews. I helped to formulate research questions, design and conduct research studies and synthesize quantitative/qualitative data to create actionable insights.

Duration

September - December 2021

Tools

Miro, Excel, Google Forms

Team

Four fellow Design Researchers

Overview

The Problem

Students have difficulty fostering interpersonal connections through virtual collaboration platforms, which hurts their productivity and engagement

The Methods

Secondary research, interviews, diary studies, and product comparisons to understand how to improve student virtual collaboration

Overview

The Problem

Students have difficulty fostering interpersonal connections through virtual collaboration platforms, which hurts their productivity and engagement

The Methods

Secondary research, interviews, diary studies, and product comparisons to understand how to improve student virtual collaboration

The Outcome

The development of seven design guidelines for a user-friendly platform to support student's ability to collaborate with others virtually

The development of seven design guidelines for a user-friendly platform to support student's ability to collaborate with others virtually

Process Overview

Background

Research

Problem

Definition

User

Interviews

Diary

Studies

Product

Analysis

Design

Guidelines

Background

Research

Problem

Definition

User

Interviews

Diary

Studies

Product

Analysis

Design

Guidelines

Research

Background
Research

Background Research

Background Research

After reviewing over a dozen sources, including blog articles, government reports, and scholarly articles, the lack of social connection and engagement among students during virtual collaboration were identified as major themes in our research. Dominant pain points include:

Fatigue

Lack of social
connection

Decrease in
productivity

Problem Statement

Problem Statement

"Students have difficulty fostering interpersonal connections through platforms for virtual collaboration."


Based on our background research, we narrowed down our problem space to focus on the lack of social connection during virtual collaboration because we theorized that this may be connected to the pain points we identified.

Project Goal

Having established our problem statement, we were able to articulate what our project objective was to: examine the correlation between interpersonal connection and productivity during virtual collaboration.

Productivity

Interpersonal
Connection

Virtual
Collaboration

Research Questions

To achieve our project goal, we created two overarching research questions:

How do virtual collaboration platforms affect patterns of students’ interpersonal communication?

X Variable (unknown)

Y Variable (known)

How does the lack of interpersonal connection in online collaborative platforms affect students’ productivity?

X Variable (unknown)

Y Variable (known)

Hypothesis

Informed by our secondary research, we created two hypotheses that correspond to our research questions above:

If there are more face-to-face interactions and facilitation from instructors during online collaboration, then students will have higher levels of engagement because it will enable them to feel more connected to their colleagues.

If online collaboration platforms create an impersonal environment, then productivity will decline during these sessions because there will be less engagement.

Interviews

Interviews

We chose to interview participants because it is a moderated technique used to gather qualitative data. We believed it would help us to gain a better understanding of participants’ behaviour, experiences and attitudes around virtual collaboration by asking about their productivity, engagement, and interpersonal connections.

20 Ontario University Students 

20 minute semi-structured Interviews

Via conferencing platforms/ audio calls

Interview Findings

After creating an affinity diagram, we grouped ideas and identified five core themes:

Collaboration Tools

Students prefer tools that support asynchronous and synchronous collaboration 

Collaboration Tools

Students prefer tools that support asynchronous and synchronous collaboration 

Productivity

More distractions arise when collaborating virtually compared to in person​

Interpersonal Connection

It’s harder to form genuine connections virtually

Group Size

Students are more likely to turn their cameras on in smaller groups

Engagement Levels

It’s harder to form genuine connections virtually

Group Size

Students are more likely to turn their cameras on in smaller groups

Engagement Levels

It’s harder to form genuine connections virtually

Diary Studies

Diary Study

We decided to conduct a diary study because it would enable us to collect highly contextual behavioural data on students' virtual collaboration experiences. Qualitative and quantitative data was gathered by asking about the platforms accessed, group size, students' productivity and engagement rates, struggles, successes, and general experiences.

6 Ontario University Students 

6 Ontario University Students 

6 Ontario University Students 

12 questions filled out once daily

Responses submitted using Google Forms

Diary Study
Findings

Diary Study Findings

Diary Study Findings

We created another affinity map with the results from the study and began to cluster like ideas. We established five main themes which are similar to those identified in our interviews, however the patterns differ:

Technical Difficulties

The use of software prone to freezing or slowing down one’s computer (i.e Slack, MS Teams)

Productivity

Each team member should work independently before gathering with their team to optimize productivity

Scheduling Difficulties

Time differences and general time coordination made virtual gatherings difficult

Collaboration Tools

There was a preference for accessible collaboration tools and software enabling file organization

Group Size

Participants preferred smaller groups due to higher productivity and more interaction with others

Scheduling Difficulties

Time differences and general time coordination made virtual gatherings difficult

Competitiors

Product Analysis

Each team member conducted a product analysis to inform our design guidelines. I analyzed Zoom by referencing customer reviews, blog posts, videos and other sources to discover some notable findings that had not been identified in our primary research.

Security features are very important to users

Security features are very important to users

Accessibility features such as transcripts are helpful

Accessibility features such as transcripts are helpful

Accessibility features such as transcripts are helpful

The noise-cancelling feature is highly regarded by users

The noise-cancelling feature is highly regarded by users

Outcomes

Design Guidelines

After reviewing the results from our methodological, data, and researcher triangulation, we conclude this project by creating design guidelines to inform the design of a virtual collaboration platform.

The system should....

After reviewing the results from our methodological, data, and researcher triangulation, we conclude this project by creating design guidelines to inform the design of a virtual collaboration platform.

The system should....

After reviewing the results from our methodological, data, and researcher triangulation, we conclude this project by creating design guidelines to inform the design of a virtual collaboration platform.

The system should....

1

Support synchronous collaboration

Support synchronous collaboration

Collaboration tools should allow multiple users to collaborate simultaneously while providing real-time feedback

Collaboration tools should allow multiple users to collaborate simultaneously while providing real-time feedback

Support synchronous collaboration

Collaboration tools should allow multiple users to collaborate simultaneously while providing real-time feedback

Collaboration tools should allow multiple users to collaborate simultaneously while providing real-time feedback

2

Be high-functioning with minimal bandwidth

Be high-functioning with minimal bandwidth


Collaboration tools should not have basic features hidden behind paywalls; they should be designed to function on devices with varying capabilities

Collaboration tools should not have basic features hidden behind paywalls; they should be designed to function on devices with varying capabilities

Be high-functioning with minimal bandwidth


Collaboration tools should not have basic features hidden behind paywalls; they should be designed to function on devices with varying capabilities

3

Include options that minimize distractions

Include options that minimize distractions

Since users are more distracted and less engaged online, having features such as audio filtering as seen in Zoom would be beneficial

Since users are more distracted and less engaged online, having features such as audio filtering as seen in Zoom would be beneficial

4

Allow transparency on security features

Allow transparency on security features

Users need reassurance that collaborating on any platform will not expose them to danger that can compromise their devices or their security

Users need reassurance that collaborating on any platform will not expose them to danger that can compromise their devices or their security

5

Accommodate changing dynamics during collaboration

Accommodate changing dynamics during collaboration

Participants should be able to form breakout rooms and have the option to turn their cameras and audio on or off.

Participants should be able to form breakout rooms and have the option to turn their cameras and audio on or off.

Accommodate changing dynamics during collaboration

Participants should be able to form breakout rooms and have the option to turn their cameras and audio on or off.

6

Have advanced accessibility features

Have advanced accessibility features

To accommodate as many users as possible, there should be features such as captioning and audio transcriptions, screen reader support and keyboard controls.

To accommodate as many users as possible, there should be features such as captioning and audio transcriptions, screen reader support and keyboard controls.

Have advanced accessibility features

To accommodate as many users as possible, there should be features such as captioning and audio transcriptions, screen reader support and keyboard controls.

7

Allow users to sort, organize, and access their chats and files 24/7

Allow users to sort, organize, and access their chats and files 24/7


It is useful for users to have files and messages that exist outside of the meeting, with a clear method of categorizing them.

It is useful for users to have files and messages that exist outside of the meeting, with a clear method of categorizing them.

Allow users to sort, organize, and access their chats and files 24/7


It is useful for users to have files and messages that exist outside of the meeting, with a clear method of categorizing them.

Study Limitations

Researcher Bias

It is possible that the researchers on this project may have dealt with subconscious bias because they work and collaborate virtually with others every day.

Time Constraints

It would have been beneficial to conduct another round of interviews for greater population validity, but the project timelines didn't make this possible.

Conflict of Interest?

Due to the pandemic, the majority of our interviews with participants were conducted using virtual collaboration tools, which was the very topic of our research

Lessons Learned

Read product reviews of competitors

I was surprised by how much reoccurring feedback was found when reading these product reviews, many of which had not been mentioned before in my participant research.

The data should tell a story

Creating a narrative when presenting the themes and patterns extracted from my research helps others to make sense of the findings.

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