HC-Hi! Our First-Years in Action: Crafting Solutions with User-Centered Design — Part One
In the first semester of the MS-HCI program at Georgia Tech, students take two core classes: CS/PSYC 6755 — Human-Computer Interaction Foundations and PSYC 6023 — Psychological Research Methods for HCI. In each class, they embark on a semester-long project where they work in teams of 4 or 5 to design research-driven solutions through the User-Centered Design process.
In this article, we’re asking some of our first-year students about their prior experience with user-centered design and what they expect from their projects. In late November, as they start to wrap up their projects, we will check back in with them to see what they learned and what they built.
Author’s note: In this article, our students may refer to the PSYC 6023 project as Research (R) and the CS/PSYC 6755 project as Design (D).
Say HC-hi! to…
Umme Ammara (Interactive Computing — IC — track):
Hi, my name is Umme Ammara (I go by Ammara). Between my undergraduate degree in computer science and now, I have been working as a research assistant for a Gates-funded grant project centered around maternal health in Pakistan. I also have some experience working in a product team in a tech startup where I got to do hands-on UX research and design. In my free time, I love to read — I am an avid book reader and read everything from historical fiction to graphic novels. I generally enjoy staying indoors, watching anime and sometimes I collect cute plushies.
Yan Ting Zhang (Literature, Media and Communication — LMC — track):
I have a humanities background from UCSB, but I’ve always had a passion for creativity, whether through drawing, doodling, or design. Before joining Georgia Tech, I worked as a UX designer at a startup logistics company for a year. The design process there was quite different from what I’ve learned at Georgia Tech — it was more informal, often moving straight to design based on internal team communications, with less emphasis on formal research.
Allen Cai (LMC track):
My name is Allen Cai, and I am a first-year Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction student. My undergrad degree was a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science, also at Georgia Tech. Before this program I had worked as a software engineering intern and as a consulting associate and gained lots of valuable perspective, but now I am excited for the opportunity to immerse myself in the field of HCI and UX. Some hobbies I really enjoy are writing, composing and producing music, watching movies, and reading.
Tanmaie Kailash (IC track):
I was a double major in Sociology and Computer Science and a minor in linguistics in my undergrad. I also love to sing. I applied to this program because it seemed like the perfect mixture of all of my curiosities.
Natalie Jarrett (LMC track):
Hi, I’m Natalie! I’m originally from the Bay Area, California and completed my undergraduate degree at Northwestern University, where I double majored in English/Creative writing and Cognitive Science. Before starting the MS HCI program at Georgia Tech, I had industry experience working as a UX Writer/Content Designer. In my free time I enjoy reading, writing, fitness, yoga, playing the drums, and a good sci fi series.
Initial thoughts on the User-Centered Design Process
How much of a background in HCI did you have before embarking on this project? Have you used the User-Centered Design process in any sense before?
Ammara: The focus of my undergraduate degree was Computer Science but I took a few HCI courses that led me to pursue my capstone project in HCI research. Although I do not have any formal education in the field, I did follow the UCD process when I was conducting academic research in a lab — I had the chance to lead that project right from writing its grant proposal to field research, UX design, and application development. At the startup where I worked, I conducted several usability testing sessions and there was a lot of prototyping and wireframing involved — although I did not follow a formal protocol for it since the product/design team was very new and there was no lead to get that training from.
Yan: While I don’t have a formal background in HCI aside from my current role as a user experience designer, I strongly believe that the User-Centered Design process is instrumental in any client-facing career. Prior to this, I worked as a legal assistant for six months, where I frequently had to synthesize information and perspectives to form clear, compelling arguments. I learned to focus on the end user — in that case, clients and legal stakeholders.
Allen: I was introduced to the field of HCI back in my undergrad, as my specific concentration for my CS degree (People and Media) included courses that involved UX research and design processes — especially the course Intro to UI Design, where we went through the user-centered design process for a project, ending the semester with an interactive prototype in Figma. This course was an excellent introduction into the processes and responsibilities involved in HCI work.
Tanmaie: While I had done computer science and had thought about user-centered design processes by way of research projects/jobs in tech ethics/crit tech, I have no formal background in HCI.
Natalie: Given my academic background, I had experience with both the creative process and human-centered research. I also had exposure to the User-Centered Design process by working as a UX Writer on teams with researchers, designers, engineers, etc.
What do you anticipate the process of user-centered design to be?
Ammara: My understanding is that the user-centered design process will revolve around keeping the target audience at the heart of every decision. This approach will guide all stages of the project, which will ensure that the problem we are trying to solve actually addresses the pain points of the people we are designing for.
Yan: I anticipate the process of User-Centered Design to be structured and iterative. Strong design solutions should come from insights from real users, synthesize their needs, and create solutions that evolve through constant feedback. My previous experience taught me that design often involves balancing user requirements with business goals, but I imagined that in a more formalized process, there would be more rigorous research and validation steps before moving to the design phase.
Allen: The user-centered design process consists of conducting extensive research to understand the behaviors and pain points of users and designing solutions to support good behaviors, remedy bad ones, and eliminate or at least alleviate pain points. The importance of the process, in my mind, is to always keep the user in mind.
Tanmaie: A design process that centers the intended users and creates solutions that are necessary and helpful to them in some tangible way. This means that such processes must engage with the intended users all throughout.
Natalie: I’d describe the process of user-centered to be working alongside users to design for their needs.
Thoughts on current state and progress made so far…
What role are you taking on within your team for the projects (Designer/Researcher/Both/Project Manager)? Why?
Ammara: For the R project, I’m taking on the role of a UX researcher for this project. Based on my past experiences, I’m naturally drawn to research since I really enjoyed the hands-on fieldwork and interviews, and I’ve gotten pretty comfortable designing protocols for those. Even though research is a familiar area for me, I don’t plan on limiting myself to just that. I’ll be actively involved in the design part of the project too since that’s an area where I want to refine my skills.
Yan: In our group, we switch roles depending on the needs of the project. Sometimes one person takes the lead on organizing emails, while another handles communication on Slack. Regardless of who takes on these tasks, we always make sure to align our plans and review drafts together both before and after each project phase.
Allen: I am taking on the role of both designer and researcher, as these are the two roles that I am interested in pursuing in the future. In general, our team is trying to give everyone the opportunity to complete tasks on both the research and design side to get exposure and experience with both.
Tanmaie: I am trying to do a bit of everything, because I want to learn what I like best. However, I am focusing on research as that is what I tend to enjoy the best.
Natalie: Currently, my team prefers to not have assigned roles, but I’m sure it will change as our projects become more defined.
What problem are you trying to solve with your project? Why do you think it is valuable?
Ammara: R: For our Research Methods course, we are partnering with Accenture. This is the refined problem statement that we had at the end of our R1 (phase 1 of the project):
“Accenture is a consulting company with over a half million employees serving thousands of clients from various industries. When a consultant partners with a client it is important to quickly get the most up-to-date information about your client and their industry. Through this project, Accenture would like you to design a solution that can help access basic client information and allow the consultant to connect with colleagues and share experiences and information about clients.”
Yan: R: We are working with a staffing company to identify blind spots in their process of acquiring new business clients. Their Account Managers face challenges in three key areas: a) identifying and targeting potential new clients, b) maintaining strong relationships with existing clients, and c) reconnecting with clients after periods of non-communication. These gaps prevent the Account Managers from fully capitalizing on new business opportunities and strengthening ongoing relationships, ultimately impacting client growth.
Allen: R: Our problem statement for R1 was:
“How can we use generative AI to facilitate the onboarding process for new grad and intern software development engineers?”
Our industry sponsor for this project is Amazon Web Services (AWS), and they wanted us to explore the potential of generative AI and how it can help SWEs and SDEs with the onboarding process. They provided the problem space for us to investigate, from which we created our problem statement.
Tanmaie: D: Our problem space is currently quite general, but we are “trying to improve the ability of working/studying adult patrons (patrons who tend to visit the library less in-person due to time constraints) to participate / be involved with their local public libraries (specifically focusing on Fulton County).”
R: We are working with the white-label EXP platform Simpplr to redesign their home dashboard to better suit end users needs. Our problem statement is:
“How might we make the Simpplr home dashboard more useful to End users?”
Our research so far has shown that this largely may be through a push towards personalization of the page.
Natalie: D: For Design Foundations, my team is working to:
“build a product/tool to help support deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people as they navigate public spaces in Atlanta.”
As you set out your project plan and embark on the research phase of the project, what are your expected methods and why did you choose them?
Ammara: R: We were limited in our methods mainly because our target audience is pretty niche, and there are strict confidentiality and data protection rules since client information can’t be shared outside of Accenture. Because of this, methods like contextual inquiries and observations weren’t feasible for us. So, our primary approach was conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews restricted to Accenture consultants. We also created a survey to gather more quantitative data on the common tools consultants use and the challenges they face with internal client research. The survey is designed for all consultants, but focuses on firms similar to Accenture. Through our interviews, we learned about Accenture’s internal tools and even got a brief walkthrough, which led us to do a comparative analysis to see how other tools stack up and to identify areas of improvement in the existing tools. Lastly, we’re conducting a social media analysis (mainly on Reddit, LinkedIn, and X) to validate our R1 lit review findings and user research, and to gather any additional relevant insights.
Yan: We’ve decided to focus on methods such as focus group sessions and 1:1 interviews because we want to dive deeper into the experiences of Account Managers and understand their journey. Rather than relying on quantifiable metrics, we believe these qualitative methods will allow us to explore their outreach process, cold emailing strategies, and client interactions more effectively — especially since they don’t use formal data tracking methods. This approach will give us richer insights into the challenges they face throughout their workflow.
Allen: R: We have a good mix of indirect and direct research methods. For our indirect methods, we performed an informal literature review and a competitive analysis; this allowed us to learn more about the problem space and also the existing systems in the space. For our direct methods, we chose to conduct semi-structured interviews and a survey. The semi-structured interviews create a more natural flow of conversation and allow us to dig deeper on certain topics or responses that may be particularly interesting and relevant. There were other methods, like contextual inquiry and observation, that we wanted to also pursue but that were not feasible given the confidentiality that often comes with the onboarding process.
Tanmaie: D:
- Stakeholder interviews with library staff: to understand what (is any) particular pain points that we could improve for our user interviews would also help the public libraries.
- User interviews: To understand what pain points exist, and to help narrow down the scope of our project on something that seems necessary for users.
R:
- Survey: to understand general sentiment and usage trends of the current home dashboard and its features. Also used as a recruitment tool for our contextual inquiries.
- Cognitive walkthrough: Used both to begin annotating possible pain points that need to/we would like to cover during CIs, and to identify these learnability bottlenecks so we can better design for them in the next stages.
- Contextual inquiry: To understand how end-users do their work, whether that involves the home dashboard or not. This will help us understand how we may better design for this dashboard to complement their workflow.
- Comparative analysis: To understand best practices for different features within the dashboard, and what exists in other spaces that could be ported into this one.
Natalie: We started with academic research before moving on to user interviews to get more personal insights on the experiences of DHH individuals. We’ve also done industry research on existing tools/technology to get an idea of what is currently being innovated and what gaps our eventual prototype might fill. We hope to deploy other methods such as co-design, user testing, and more.
Thoughts on the next phase of the semester…
What stage of the project are you looking forward to the most? Why?
Ammara: R: I’m most looking forward to the R3 phase of the project — Design Ideation and Presentation — mainly because, based on our user research, I see multiple directions the project could take. While our initial prompt focused on a specific issue, during interviews we uncovered additional problems, like Accenture having internal tools for gathering client information but no centralized place to access/maintain them, or employees not even being aware of their existence. I’m curious to see how these insights will shape our design ideas and excited to hear what our sponsor thinks and whether they find it useful.
Yan: R: I’m definitely most excited about the design phase. It’s the stage where everything comes together, and if our design solution doesn’t align with the user pain points we’ve identified, then the entire process loses its purpose. I’m curious to see how we can synthesize insights from our interviews, research plans, and pre-design efforts to create solutions that truly address the issues we’ve uncovered. Additionally, I’m looking forward to exploring how AI tools can be leveraged to streamline work efficiency for traditional companies.
Allen: R: I am most excited for the design phase, especially as we start to take the research data we have accumulated and find ways to apply it to our designs. However, I have also enjoyed this research phase, as I was able to learn more about generative AI and get a more informed perspective on all that this technology entails.
Tanmaie: I like the research stages, but I am excited to start ideating for both projects because I have already started having ideas as we complete research on what could be helpful. I have also not done design work before, so I am excited to learn and think in a new way.
Natalie: I’m most looking forward to co-designing alongside members of the DHH community. Nothing says “user-centered design” like getting real-time feedback while developing our prototype!
What do you expect to build by the end of the semester?
Ammara: This is an interesting question. My answer might be a bit controversial — I expect that we won’t end up building what was outlined in the original prompt. As I mentioned earlier in the research question, our user research suggests multiple directions we could take. I don’t expect we’ll be building a new tool for finding client information at Accenture, mainly because there are already so many useful tools in place that even manager-level employees aren’t fully aware of. Instead, I expect we’ll be building a dashboard or centralized platform that consolidates all those tools for easy access, and includes a section for adding hidden client information — knowledge that’s currently only being exchanged through word-of-mouth.
Yan: While we haven’t finalized any design solutions yet, I’m leaning towards building a CRM platform integrated with AI tools. The goal would be to streamline the client acquisition and retention process for Account Managers by offering features such as automated email formatting, tracking client interactions, and monitoring client relocations. These tools could significantly enhance efficiency and help Account Managers maintain and grow their client relationships more effectively.
Allen: R: I expect that by the end of the semester we will have a cohesive and focused interactive prototype in Figma. While the prototype specifications and requirements may not be as intensive as that of the design course, we nonetheless want to the flows and designs that we do have very well-executed.
Tanmaie: I expect to have two portfolio pieces:
- D: a high-fidelity design portfolio piece
- R: a mostly low-fidelity research portfolio piece with a few high-fidelity screens
Natalie: We’re not entirely sure what our tool will look like at this phase, but we hope to build something useful and delightful!
What does your team dynamic look like right now? How do you expect/hope it will evolve?
Ammara: Right now, it feels pretty collaborative — I think we’re still getting comfortable with the flow of things. Going forward, I hope we get more chances to sit down and work together as a group, especially on design-related deliverables, since I’d really like to learn from my teammates in that area.
Yan: Hmmm, our team consists of three procrastinators and one planner. We feel adopted by the planner, haha, so shoutout to Drs. Bruce and Henneman for uniting us into the same group! We currently have a flexible approach to deadlines and commitments, which allows us to accommodate each member’s individual circumstances. We also have a good relationship with each other and hang out after class times :)
Allen: Overall, our team dynamic is great: I have been fortunate to have talented, hard-working and understanding team members, which makes the stress and responsibility that can come from the project that much more manageable. We continue to learn from each other and improve on our own skills with each deliverable, and I hope that as we finish R2 and dive into the design phase that we can continue to grow as designers and as collaborators. I also hope that we can figure out a way where we can play to each team member’s strengths while also allowing those without much exposure to a certain task or skill to be able to get that exposure.
Tanmaie: It is currently good, there are definitely ebbs and flows in who has a lot of other work so we try to accommodate and communicate as much as possible. Having the upcoming deadlines so close together has meant that we are all a little stressed, but we have tried our best to maintain open communication and interact with kindness.
Natalie: My team is comprised of people with a variety of academic, career, and personal backgrounds, yet we’ve succeeded in leveraging one another’s strengths and figuring out a productive and positive workflow.
What skills do you hope to have acquired or refined by the end of the semester?
Ammara: By the end of the semester, I hope to have learned how to conduct UX research using formal industry-standard procedures. Along with refining my research skills, I also want to feel more confident in my design abilities — specifically using Figma. Overall, I hope to gain more creative flexibility since, coming from a STEM background, I feel like I don’t have enough of that yet.
Yan: By the end of the semester, I hope to refine my research skills, particularly in choosing the appropriate ideation or research methods for different stages of a project. Additionally, I aim to improve my communication and presentation skills when working with real business clients. Another key area of growth will be learning how to negotiate effectively with clients to secure more interview time, access to participants, and the necessary resources to move our project forward.
Allen: I hope to improve my design skills, particularly with the use of Figma. In addition, I wish to become more proficient in other prototyping tools like ProtoPie. I also hope to have a better, stronger understanding of the research and design process as a whole, as I am interested in both research and design roles.
Tanmaie: Design skills, and also honestly know how my previous research skills can be marketed in this industry.
Natalie: I hope to hone in on my UI design skills (duh), while also getting more exposure to the entire UX process.
Final thoughts…
Ammara: For me, the transition was a bit challenging — I moved to a new country for the first time, and there was a lot to figure out beyond academics. But after 3 months, I’m feeling a lot more comfortable and have started finding time to unwind. I read whenever I can, but lately, I’ve been catching up on cooking. I’m still figuring out how to make new friends and hope to explore Atlanta more soon (I really want to visit the Coca-Cola museum!).
Yan: The project has been moving quickly this semester, and I believe it’s important not to take on too many responsibilities in order to dive deeper into our work! This means managing my course load to no more than 12 units, staying hydrated, and incorporating outdoor activities into my routine.
Allen: The semester can ramp up and get very busy very quickly, so it is important to find time to relax, de-stress, and care for your mental health. What I have found as a graduate student is that I have had to put more emphasis on time and task management than I did in undergrad. It is important to do so to make time for hobbies or hanging out with friends. Another thing that has helped for me — though it may depend on what classes you take — is finding ways to incorporate your interests into your course projects. For me, as someone passionate about music-making, I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to incorporate music into the various projects I’m working on for my LMC course.
Check back in in a few weeks for an update on our students! Happy UX-ing!