ASU Student Collaboration Platform (Summer internship)
Darshan Vipresh Sheth (Computer Science), Jaya Shankar Maddipoti (Data Science Analytics & Engineering), Swapnil Kannojia (Computer Science), Deep Kiran Rodge (Computer Science), Ansh Tiwari (Computer Science), Nishtha Kukreja (Computer Science)
What's the Problem?
ASU students can find coordinating and collaborating on coursework to be a struggle. Although several platforms for communication exist -- like Canvas or Slack -- there's a distinct lack of a of centralized system that streamlines the process. Our team feels that this hinders our ability to share ideas and resources, potentially impeding academic success and innovation among students.
But First...
As students, our team understood the need for easy, accessible academic communication. Every course and program takes their own approach to this issue, but we began to wonder if a single, university-wide platform could streamline the process even more.
During the empathy map activity, our team became honed in on a shared need among students for collaboration and engagement.
A supportive community of peers stood out to us as vital to academic motivation, from being able to ask questions to being inspired by success stories. These benefits can even extend beyond students to include faculty and researchers.
Defining a better solution to the problem
The ideation process began by mapping out the main communication barriers ASU students face. Through brainstorming sessions and feedback from preliminary user testing, we explored various digital solutions. The idea of a comprehensive collaboration platform emerged as the most impactful. This platform includes features like project management tools, chat functions, and a resource-sharing hub, directly addressing the need for a unified space for students to engage and support one another. Our decision was reinforced by positive responses during prototype demonstrations to student focus groups, guiding us to refine and prioritize features that met real user needs.
The Prototype
The prototype here models a central discussion platform that allows students to easily engage and collaborate. Conversations are hosted on threads, and students can ask questions, answer for others, and consult various resources across the university.
