A platform to foster community development
How I designed a learning a platform aimed at enhancing the quality of life for seniors. Key aspects of the project included ensuring accessibility and effectively showcasing user progress.
Overview
Accademia is a web app that provides a platform for seniors to engage in lifelong learning and community building. Recognizing the growing senior population and the challenges of isolation, Accademia offers a unique solution where seniors can book classes, teach topics, and receive personalized support from community coaches. This case study explores the design and ideation of user experience and the impact of Accademia on the senior community.
As a freelancer, I worked on the user experience from 0 to 1, usability testing, visual design, and the overall design process until handoff. I focused on creating an intuitive and accessible user experience that meets the needs of seniors and instructors.
Stakeholders
Client - Acting as Product Manager
Frontend Developer
Tools
Figma
Maze
Miro
The challenges
Enhance Lifelong Learning: Provide seniors access to various learning opportunities.
Foster Community Engagement: Create a platform for seniors to connect, share knowledge, and support each other.
Alleviate Isolation: Combat loneliness by offering interactive and social learning experiences.
Empower Seniors: Enable seniors to monetize their expertise and contribute to the community.
Research and planning:
Working closely with the client, I began by diving into the initial business data and understanding the core problem they aimed to address. The founders of Accademia were deeply concerned about the growing challenge of continuous education for seniors, particularly in an aging population.
As the number of seniors increases globally, the demand for accessible, engaging, and community-focused learning platforms has increased. Previous data showed that traditional educational services often neglect seniors, limiting their intellectual growth and social interaction opportunities. This gap makes it harder for them to stay mentally active and increases feelings of loneliness.
The founders envisioned Accademia as a solution to this pressing issue, aiming to create a platform that facilitates lifelong learning and fosters a vibrant community where seniors can connect, share, and thrive.
I started working on the task flow with an overview of which personas we would focus on.
Defining the User Stories
As an instructor, Sonia wants to...
Have easy access to upcoming coaching sessions so that she can improve her online teaching skills and better support her students.
View the reviews and feedback left by her students to understand what she’s doing well and where she can improve.
See an overview of the progress of each of her courses so that she can ensure all her students are on track and address any issues promptly.
Monitor her potential earnings from the courses she teaches so that she can plan her finances accordingly.
Be informed about the demand for the courses she teaches or could teach so that she can adjust her offerings based on student interest.
Easily track and manage enrolments in her courses to ensure she can prepare adequately for each session.
Have a straightforward way to send messages to her students to provide updates, share resources, and answer questions.
Manage and update her profile easily, including her bio, credentials, and availability, to attract more students and showcase her expertise.
As a student, Joe wants to...
Easily search for courses that match his interests, such as history, photography, or cooking, so he can continue learning about topics that fascinate him.
Search for community coaches who can guide him and provide personalised support in areas where he needs extra help.
See his learning achievements displayed on his dashboard so he can feel a sense of accomplishment and track his progress.
View his recent activity on the platform, such as the courses he’s taken and discussions he’s participated in, to stay organized and aware of his learning journey.
Set weekly learning goals and track his progress towards them so that he can stay motivated and ensure he’s making the most of his time.
Easily monitor his progress in the courses he’s enrolled in, so he knows how far he’s come and what steps he needs to take next.
Create a wish list of courses he’s interested in, so he can keep track of what he wants to learn next and enrol when he’s ready.
Manage his account and profile, updating personal information and learning preferences to ensure his experience on the platform is personalised to his needs.
Crafting the initial experience:
At this stage, I focused on creating a low-fidelity overview of the landing page and the student's home page, accessing courses, and finding a coach. Then, I moved on to the instructor experience, mainly focusing on the student overview, created courses, coaching sessions, analytics, and messages.
Considering that the client was looking for initial pre-seed funding is important. This changed my approach to the problem because he wanted to see rough sketches and semi-structured ideas to show to potential investors; this could then be changed according to what we gathered from the usability testing.
Summary
Accademia is not yet under production but has proven to become a valuable resource for seniors, providing educational opportunities and a vital sense of community and support. By addressing the unique needs of the senior population, Accademia will successfully enhance the quality of life for its users, demonstrating the potential of technology to create meaningful social impact.
