# Discovery Corps

Client: Pacific Science Center
Date: March 2018
Programs: Sketch, InVision, Zeplin
Duration: 3 Months

Description:
At the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, they inspire a lifelong interest in science, math, and technology to more than 1 million people each year. For this project, the center teamed up with the University of Washington’s Information School to build a web application focused on recognizing student achievement through participation in the Discovery Corps science learning program. Students can track and share achievements with peers, employers, admission officers, and more.

# Objectives

The project's primary goal is to promote using digital badges to track and align Discovery Corps students' progress with science skills. Badges will also be employed to recognize life development skills, such as time management, responsibility, professionalism, and more. Students will be able to track and share achievements with their peers, employers, admission officers, and others outside the program. Secondarily, the application should be a simple and engaging, powerful tool that provides valuable insight into achievements and activity.

# Project Objectives:

• Track learning progress and skill development through earning digital badges
• Create and edit profiles
• Create and curate an achievement portfolio to print or share
• View the progress of peers to promote peer-supported learning
• Message instructors about badge progress and event participation

For Discovery Corps, I created three primary fictional personas to recognize users' technology usage, experience, needs, and goals. I also identified the principal pain points and solutions of each user to create project objectives.

I created low-fidelity wireframes to determine intended functionality in the interface, and help teams and stakeholders ideate toward an optimal, user-focused product.

# Design Exploration

My intent was to design the Discovery Corps application as a natural extension of the Science Center's web-based products, focusing on visually appealing to high school-aged students. To accomplished this, I used appropriate language, bright colors associated with the PSC brand, and streamlined workflows, culminating in a welcoming and easy to use application. For this project, I was tasked as the lead UX and UI designer within a small team that included a Project Manager, Developer, and Illustrator.

Proin ut aliquet nunc, vitae ultrices erat. Vivamus a quam convallis enim consectetur tincidunt consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam facilisis, quam eu vulputate pretium, nibh nisl dapibus justo.

Cras auctor ut metus nec posuere. Ut ligula tortor, auctor in maximus non, porttitor a libero. Donec id viverra arcu. Integer eget facilisis arcu, a accumsan velit. Duis volutpat dui ac magna tristique, ac maximus odio pretium.

# Final Design

The application is designed responsively to be optimized for all devices. I created mockups for mobile, tablet, and desktop in high definition when needing to communicate how the site would adapt to stakeholders and developers.

When first signing into Discovery Corps, users were welcomed with a visually appealing page showcasing an intuitive interface and beautiful badges. The design is a modern, gamification experience of engaging with students and users.

Portfolios: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

Consistant Design: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam tristique lorem vel ex pharetra.

My Account: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam tristique lorem vel ex pharetra, non dignissim nulla sagittis. Cras id diam ac orci iaculis.

# Design System Guide

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam tristique lorem vel ex pharetra, non dignissim nulla sagittis. Cras id diam ac orci iaculis facilisis semper a ex.

Design System Guide Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam tristique lorem vel ex pharetra.

# Outcomes

The Discovery Corps web application was successfully deployed in early 2018. The Pacific Science Center has had great success supporting students from the time they enter the program until they graduate. Nearly 100% of the students who graduated from the program went on to apply to college. The application has helped facilitate student engagement throughout the programs and improve work and community at the Pacific Science Center.

Incorporating Feedback Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam facilisis, quam eu vulputate pretium, nibh nisl dapibus justo, et tristique nunc nibh interdum augue. Phasellus luctus, augue et consectetur lobortis, quam augue pulvinar lacus, at euismod magna purus et erat. Proin ut aliquet nunc, vitae ultrices erat. Vivamus a quam convallis enim consectetur tincidunt.

# Retrospective

This was a great project that was close to a complete UI design web app. Given more time I would continue to delve into the UI design of the messaging section. With more exploration I believe I could have increased the usability of the section without increasing the complexity.