“Even though I don’t have a hard time using this tutoring app, there are so many things I wish it could do. Why can’t I hide student scores from some of my kids? Why can’t I access data until the end? Why can’t I manually add lessons in? I like it, but I just wish it could do more.”
The HillRAP interface.
Improving Academic Outcomes for Children with Learning Differences
overview
The Hill Learning Center is a hub for research-based practices on supporting students with learning differences and attention disorders. The center recently rolled out a tablet app and web portal (the HillRAP) to support their reading achievement program, and sought out design recommendations from the UNC Department of Education.
approach
A team of four other graduate students and I conducted a semester-long heuristic analysis of the HillRAP, interviewed multiple stakeholders (students, teachers, and directors), and observed student and teacher interactions with the app.
We developed a usability analysis, a set of design recommendations, an instructional video detailing the design recommendations with student interviews, and a slide deck with all critiques of the application.
1 of 287 recommendations for the Hill Learning Center (synthesized in the “Design Recommendations” document.)
role
On this project, I proactively managed our team toward the end goal and achieving deadlines, in addition to helping create blended learning solutions that were engaging and meaningful for the Hill.