“If you don’t spend time completing activities that help with stress, why?"
Survey says...
How can we help students build resilience?
Nimbus: User Research
Website, Desktop, Tablet
“What types of activities would make you feel less alone and supported as a virtual student?”
Survey says...
Originally, I let my excitement get the best of me, and I started to plan an entire product. I came up with supportive resources, courses, and a community/club system to engage students.
However, this proved to be too much of an involved task for our time frame of 8 weeks, and I started to lose sight of my original goal.
I realigned with my mentor/PM and focused on a critical piece - mood tracking and monitoring in order to focus on the core of building resilience.
Shifting Focus
Nimbus: User Flow & Background
Website, Desktop, Tablet
Nimbus aims to help students build resilience and emotional intelligence through a suite of features: mood tracking, calming exercises, and journaling.
Many neurodiverse students, particularly those in virtual, asynchronous learning environments, frequently experience feelings of isolation and loneliness.
User Interviews
Competitive Analysis
Mockups
Prototypes
Iterations
UX Designer
Duration
April - June 2024
Noelle W.
UX Designer
Team
Quinton PT.
Sr. Product Manager, Mentor
Background
By providing these tools, Nimbus supports students in managing their mental health and growing their emotional intelligence, even in a virtual setting.
Nimbus: Background | Userflow
Clubs
“How-to” courses
focus on mental health
Meet-ups
Mindfulness
Peer support
Teacher support
Time to decompress
Nimbus: Impact
Nimbus: Process
Website, Desktop, Tablet
Nimbus: Process
Test A
Test B
Testing for Time
During initial testing, I had students test two potential sliders to monitor task abandonment. The time for task completion for Test A was 50 seconds vs 3 seconds for Test B.
The majority of students either abandoned the task or needed assistance during Test A, during Test B, students were able to finish recording their mood.
Nimbus: User Feedback | Testing
Nimbus: Edits & Impact
Website, Desktop, Tablet
Overall, students found the mood tracker to be helpful, especially with disrupting negative responses to external factors. Teachers and parents noted an improvement in overall demeanor.
All participants agreed that if more tools were made available during the school day to improve their mental health and boost emotional intelligence, that they would take advantage of them.
Before
Added to keep students organized and accountable
Freedom to customize and add own goals / events
Easy access buttons
Recommended activities based on behaviors and recorded mood trend
Students can view mood data and see trends
After
After testing, I discussed the tracker with students and experts, and a common theme was found - just tracking emotions over time wasn’t enough to build resilience. After a few days, students reported feeling 'neutral' about the tracker.
As shown, I updated the flow with more specific questions and a recommended activity based on the student’s recorded mood. Also, organizational and personalized customizations were added to ensure student success. Students were thrilled with the additions and overwhelmingly suggested to "keep it".
Iterations = Impact
Final Thoughts
Nimbus: Impact
Nimbus: Testing | User Feedback
Website, Desktop, Tablet
