Google Classroom Passion Project
Re-Design
Google Classroom is one of the most popular online learning tools used in the classroom, used by over 150 million students worldwide.
While it has proven to be an effective tool for older students, the transition to remote learning during the pandemic shed light on challenges for younger elementary school students who were new to the platform.
Role: Product Manager, UX/UI Designer & Researcher
Duration: 1 Month
Team: Myself & Elli Bock, a fellow UX Designer & Researcher
Tools: Figma, FigJam, Notion, Zoom, Google Suite
What is the Problem?
Elementary school students are facing challenges navigating the vital components of Google Classroom, such as submitting an assignment and communicating with their teacher. Despite its capabilities, the platform's reliance on text-based interactions and lack of dynamic visual and audio aids are hindering student engagement and causing frustration for both teachers and students.
Research
User Survey
We created a quantitative survey to additionally add to the research findings with a larger pool of data. We posted in different teacher slack groups, sent the survey to a K-8 school, as well asking teachers in our network.
Research Goals:
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Quantify usage of Google Classroom
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Use ordinal scales to capture teachers' thoughts on assignment submission, resource banks, and communication within the platform
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Understand the most used features within the platform
92%
use Google Classroom 3+ times a week
72%
Report that their students struggle to submit an assignment
100%
Believe their students would use a feature where they could ask their teacher a question directly via audio/video
87%
Report that Google Classroom's user interface is NOT kid-friendly
Interviews
User Interviews with Teachers
We started by interviewing teachers to better understand their experience with Google Classroom. We asked 14 open-ended questions and focused on assignment submission and creation, visuals, and communication within the platform. We recorded each interview to properly analyze later while staying present during the conversation.
Target Teachers for Interviews
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3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers
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Used Google Classroom in the past year
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Use Google Classroom 3+ times a week
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Used either Seesaw or Nearpod (the competitors)
Research Goals
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Understand general thoughts, feelings, and pain points of Google Classroom
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Learn about the experience of creating & submitting an assignment
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Discuss the communication from student to teacher
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Explore thoughts on the visual aspects of the platform
Interview Questions
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Tell me about a time when you used Google Classroom and it went well
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What do your students struggle with the most when using Google Classroom?
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How do you communicate with a student who may be having trouble with their assignment?
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Is there anything that you would want to change to make Google Classroom easier for your students?
What would it be and why?
Interview with Erin (4th Grade Teacher)
Interview with Anne (K-8 Music Teacher)
Takeaways
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Assignment submission is the most used feature in Google Classroom
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Only the kids who are very strong in tech are able to figure out how to submit an assignment without the teacher going over it several times
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The platform is too text heavy and there are not enough visuals
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The comments feature is often turned off because kids can get out of hand with it
Observation Interviews with Students
Target Students for Interview
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3rd, 4th, and 5th graders​
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Used Google Classroom in the past year
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Has a Google Account
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Used either Seesaw or Nearpod (competitors)
Research Goals
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To evaluate how students interacts with different platforms beyond Google Classroom
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Identifying pain points/challenges students face while using these platforms
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What features are preferred by students
Interviewing Children
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Clear communication between parents and privacy transparency
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Being as specific as you can when asking them to do a task
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Making the interview fun & interactive
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Always give the option for "hints" or help throughout
Observation Interview Process
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Finishing the same assignment on Google Classroom, Nearpod, and Seesaw
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Telling us their processes & their reasons behind their decisions
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Comparing Nearpod & Seesaw to Google Classroom. What did they like? What did they not like?
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Having a conversation on what improvements could be made to Google Classroom
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Any last and honest thoughts
Quotes from Interviews
“It's February and I still have to repeat how to submit an assignment.”
- Inny, 3rd Grade Teacher
Quotes from Student Interviews
“Seesaw was easier than Google Classroom because you could see the things you wanted to add. For example, there was a picture of a camera for taking a picture, and a picture of a microphone for audio.”
- Anaïs, 5th Grader
Takeaways
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2 out of 3 students took 1+ minute to find the button in Google Classroom to start the assignment
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All 3 students got overwhelmed with the drop-down menu of the assignment submission options in Google Classroom and closed it immediately
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2 out of 3 students liked the icons and images throughout Seesaw, like the camera and microphone
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All 3 students enjoyed Nearpod and Seesaw more than Google Classroom because it kept them on the platform, it was easier to start an assignment, and the drawing tools were engaging
Research Findings
What is Going to Change?
Improved and simplified way to complete an assignment for the student.
Easy way to communicate with the teacher
Kid Friendly user interface with accessibility in mind.
Communication between teacher & student only
Ability to ask questions about a specific assignment on the platform
Fun elements for improved student engagement
Least amount of steps possible for the students to finish a task
Design
Low-Fidelity Wireframes & Imagining the Architecture
Main Dashboard Stream
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Keeping the original Google Classroom format
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Addition of "Due Soon" section
Classwork Page
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Calendar & Reminders section in a check-list form
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Separate folder cards for different subjects
Assignments
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Clear instructions with visuals & option to hear the teacher's voice
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One button to start an assignment
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Drawing board with multiple options (drawing, voice, text, etc)
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"Ask your teacher" option
Message with Teacher Page
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Only one screen for communication with the teacher & student
Material 3 Design & User Interface
"Material Design is an adaptable system of guidelines, components, and tools that support the best practices of user interface design. Backed by open-source code, Material Design streamlines collaboration between designers and developers and helps teams quickly build beautiful products."
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For all our designs, we made sure to the components from the Material Design Library
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From Material Design's system we used their:
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Typography​
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Colors
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Breakpoints
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Padding
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Bring out the Bitmojis!
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One of the observations that were made during interviews was how Google Classroom was not "Kid-friendly". To tackle this we thought it would be in engaging for kids to make their own Bitmojis and have them be used throughout the platform
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The use of Bitmojis also helps with privacy issues that may arise from children's faces being on the internet
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Bitmojis can be used for motivational rewards such as earning background colors, different outfits, etc
High Fidelity Designs <Final Designs>
For High Fidelity wireframes, I've labeled the key areas that we improved and marked it with this icon
Original dashboard for Google Classroom
Student Card: Information with Bitmoji avatar, the option to make changes, and motivational awards given by the teacher
Due Soon: Shows which assignments are coming up with a check-list format for easy visuals
Reaction Bar: To tackle the issue of teachers being overwhelmed by student comments on the feed, we made a reaction bar where students can communicate through one reaction
Top Navigation Bar: Simple & clear top navigation bar with icons to help students who prefer visuals
Classwork Calendar: More visuals on when an assignment due date is coming up. They are color-coded by different due dates and can have both visuals on the calendar as well as the option to go straight to the assignment
Class Folders: Rather than just words, added "Folder Cards" where each subject (Google Classroom called them "Topics") are organized by visual cards that can be chosen by the teacher
Original assignment page for Google Classroom
Assignment Box: Added a "boxed" feature so the student has one place where their attention goes to and one button to start the assignment with no drop-down option. There is also the option to listen to the teacher's instructions rather than reading them
Ask your Teacher: Option to ask your teacher directly on the assignment
Drawing Board: The instructions become collapsed as the student is able to open a drawing board to make their artwork or project. There are options for adding pictures, text, stickers, and audio
Messaging with Teacher: Separate screen to talk to the teacher and share the work that they have been having questions with. Simple & concise and not overstimulating.
User Testing
Testing it out with Students
I was able to speak to the same students that I did interviews with to see if they could do the same tasks once again on the new prototype on Google Classroom
Outcomes
Students were able to find the "Start Assignment" button in less than 20 seconds which is 40 seconds less than before
Students knew exactly where to go to submit an assignment and liked that the assignment stayed on the page
All 3 students were able to finish all the tasks without asking for help from the facilitator and said they felt accomplished
Final Prototype
Next Steps
Throughout this project, I gained invaluable experience in designing with a user-centric approach. Conducting interviews with teachers and students allowed me to understand their unique needs and preferences in an online learning platform. As a result, I was able to create a solution that addressed their pain points and made teaching and learning more accessible and efficient.
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For the next steps: I would love to add more features for students whose first language may not be English. As a teacher, I worked with a lot of students that had difficulty speaking English and knew that it was important to build a platform that was accessible to everyone.
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To do this, I would love to add more partners such as TalkingPoints which is an online platform that uses human & AI translators to bridge the communication gap between parents and schools when there may be a language barrier.