Table of Contents
2 Month (Spring 2024)
Learning Design
Concept Prototyping
UI Design
Learning the knowledge, skills and motivation behind goal accomplishments
Advisor: Stacie Rohrbach
Team: Sherry Wang
OVERVIEW
A Smart AI Agent that communicates information
PlanPal is an AI-powered learning tool designed to help individuals learn how to set and achieve their personal goals. With a focus on personalized guidance and motivation, PlanPal introduces a team of 4 AI coaches - Master Loong, Frankie, Paw and Whisper - each with unique interaction styles and motivational techniques, to cater to the diverse needs and preferences of users. PlanPal Leverages multiple learning theories (e.g. Scaffolding, Feedback, Attention, Memory)and is designed based on a comprehensive learning model.
ROLE
Learning Design/Concept Prototyping
As part of a two-person team, my role spans from research to ideation to design:
-
Learning Experience Design: Crafted engaging learning experiences by defining learning objectives, creating scaffolded content, and designing interactive activities to support effective goal-setting and achievement.
-
Concept Prototyping: Developed interactive prototypes using Figma to demonstrate the core functionalities and user flow of PlanPal, allowing for iterative testing and refinement of the learning design.
-
User Interface Design: Designed intuitive and visually appealing user interfaces that align with the PlanPal brand and enhance the overall user experience, ensuring ease of navigation and clear communication of learning content.
1. Motivate, Learn, and Achieve with Personalized Goal Gurus
PlanPal is an AI-powered learning tool designed to revolutionize the way individuals set and achieve their personal goals. With a focus on personalized guidance and motivation, PlanPal introduces a team of 4 AI coaches (Master Loong the dragon, Frankie the lion, Paw the puppy and Whisper the spirit), each with unique interaction styles and motivational techniques, to cater to the diverse needs and preferences of its users. By leveraging advanced AI technologies, PlanPal offers tailored feedback, progress tracking, and adaptive learning experiences to keep users engaged and committed to their goals (e.g. getting in shape).
Motivation Style
PlanPal helps users identify their unique motivation style through a personalized assessment, enabling the system to tailor guidance and support to be personalized.
Self-assessment
Users complete a self-assessment to evaluate their current fitness level, allowing PlanPal to create a customized starting point for their fitness journey.
SMART Goal Setting
PlanPals guide users through setting Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) goals, ensuring goals are well-defined and realistic.
Goal Breakdown
The "Progress Track Galaxy" feature visually breaks down users' SMART goals into smaller, manageable milestones, providing a clear roadmap for success.
Goal Tracking
Users can easily monitor their daily progress and tasks within the "Progress Track Galaxy," helping them stay on track and accountable.
Progress Log
Users can log their progress and engage in motivational conversations with their AI coaches through a dedicated group chat feature.
Community
The community allows users to view the progress of other friends and participate in peer evaluations, fostering a sense of collaboration and support.
Daily Challenge
PlanPal presents users with daily challenge questions to reinforce their learning, encourage reflection, and promote a growth mindset.
Weekly Email
PlanPal sends users a weekly email summarizing their progress and highlighting key learning outcomes, providing a regular source of motivation and reflection.
Notification/Widgets
PlanPal utilizes notifications and widgets to send timely reminders, updates, and encouragement, ensuring that users remain engaged and committed to their goals.
Exploration
Learners can quickly access supplementary information that is helpful but not mandatory, allowing them to deepen their understanding of their goal at their own pace.
Quick Reference
A quick reference to the SMART framework is always available on the screen, providing a convenient reminder of the key components of SMART goals.
2. The New Year Resolution that We Never Follow through
The Problem: People find it hard to move towards long-term goals
Many individuals struggle to follow through on their New Year's resolutions, particularly those related to fitness and health. This common challenge can be attributed to several learning gaps, including a lack of proper goal-setting skills, difficulty in maintaining motivation, and limited knowledge of effective strategies for achieving long-term objectives. These learning gaps affect a wide range of stakeholders, from young adults to working professionals and retirees, who find themselves falling short of their fitness goals despite their initial enthusiasm and commitment.
Our Audience and Context: People with Fitness Goals
We find that America has a culture of working out. It's common to see people around set fitness goals. So we decided on setting fitness goals as our touch points.
Through structured interview with 4 learner with varying levels of fitness knowledge and experience. The Overwhelmed Student, for example, has a lot of fitness knowledge but struggles with execution due to time constraints and other priorities. On the other hand, the Adaptive Fitness Enthusiast is more flexible in their approach to fitness and doesn't adhere to a strict schedule, while the Determined Busy Health Seeker tends to get discouraged if they don't see quick results. Lastly, the Spontaneous Fitness Beginner is new to fitness and acknowledges that staying consistent will be a challenge. These insights highlight the importance of creating a personalized learning experience that caters to the unique needs and challenges of each user persona, providing them with the tools and support they need to set and achieve their fitness goals effectively.
Our learner persona, Ken, is a representative of our target audience. Ken is a busy professional who sets high standards for himself but often feels disappointed when he fails to meet his fitness goals. This negatively impacts his motivation to continue, and his busy schedule and tendency to procrastinate make it difficult for him to stay accountable and make consistent progress. We chose to focus on the domain of fitness because it is a common area of interest for many individuals, and the challenges faced by Ken are representative of those experienced by a significant portion of our target audience.
The Significance of the Topic: Why Fitness?
Learning how to set and achieve fitness goals is crucial for improving physical health and well-being. Poor physical health and well-being can lead to a range of negative outcomes, including increased risk of chronic diseases, reduced quality of life, and increased healthcare costs. By helping individuals like Ken develop effective goal-setting skills, we can empower them to take control of their health and well-being, leading to better long-term outcomes and a higher quality of life.
Effective goal-setting skills provide individuals with direction, motivation, and a sense of purpose in their fitness journey. The absence of well-defined goals can make it difficult to measure success and adjust strategies when necessary, potentially leading to frustration and disengagement from fitness activities altogether.
Our Goal: Help Learner Set and Achieve Fitness Goals
The primary goal of our project is to develop an AI-powered learning tool, PlanPal, that addresses the learning gaps identified above. We aimed to create a mobile app that provides personalized guidance and support to help users set and achieve their fitness goals. By leveraging AI technology and evidence-based learning strategies, we sought to create an engaging and effective learning experience that empowers individuals to develop the skills and knowledge necessary for long-term success in their fitness journey. Ultimately, our goal was to make a meaningful impact on the lives of our users by helping them overcome the common challenges associated with New Year's resolutions and achieve their health and wellness objectives.
3. The Learning Science that Backs up the Design
PlanPal weaves together the CCAF (Context, Challenge, Activity, Feedback) framework, the 4MAT System, and the Magic Circle concept to create an engaging and effective learning experience.
The CCAF framework forms the backbone of PlanPal's design. By focusing on the popular domain of fitness, PlanPal provides a relevant context for goal-setting. Users are guided in setting SMART goals, which present them with appropriate challenges. PlanPal engages users in interactive activities and offers personalized feedback through its AI coaches, ensuring an individualized learning experience.
Incorporating the 4MAT System, PlanPal caters to different learning styles by offering a variety of content formats and interaction modes, maintaining user engagement and promoting motivation.
Leveraging the Magic Circle concept, PlanPal creates an immersive learning environment. By providing a synthetic world where users can pursue their fitness goals without real-world distractions, PlanPal encourages focus, play, and experimentation. This magic circle empowers users to develop the skills and knowledge needed to achieve their goals in the real world.
PlanPal incorporates other learning theories to enhance its effectiveness and user experience.
The Principle of Motivation is employed by PlanPal to keep users engaged and driven. PlanPal's personalized feedback and encouragement from PlanPals tap into the expectancy and value components of motivation, helping users believe in their ability to succeed and recognize the importance of their goals.
PlanPal's design also leverages the Cycle of Practice and Feedback. PlanPal's daily challenge questions and progress logging features provide opportunities for regular practice, while the AI coaches and weekly progress emails offer timely feedback. This continuous cycle reinforces learning and helps users refine their goal-setting skills.
Scaffolding the Learning Incline is another key aspect of PlanPal's design. PlanPal breaks down the complex process of goal-setting into smaller, manageable steps through features like the "Progress Track Galaxy." This scaffolding approach supports users as they gradually develop their skills and knowledge, providing a clear path to mastery.
PlanPal also incorporates the Learning Flow Model to keep users in an optimal state of engagement. PlanPal's features, such as the exploration section and quick reference to the SMART framework, allow users to balance their skill level with the challenge at hand, preventing boredom or frustration.
The 6 Facets of Understanding are addressed throughout PlanPal's design. PlanPal encourages users to explain and interpret their goals, apply goal-setting strategies, consider different perspectives, empathize with others in the community, and develop self-knowledge through reflection and progress tracking.
PlanPal caters to Learner Diversity by offering various ways for users to engage with the content. The exploration section allows novice learners to access supplementary information, while more experienced users can dive directly into setting and tracking their goals. The app's notifications and widgets also provide a mix of push and pull information, accommodating different learner preferences.
By integrating these learning theories into its design, PlanPal creates a comprehensive and effective learning experience that supports users in setting and achieving their fitness goals.
4. Does AI Really Help? The User testing and Outcomes
To evaluate PlanPal's effectiveness and user satisfaction, we conducted a study with 6 participants using pre/post-tests, surveys with Likert scales, and user interviews. The results demonstrate that PlanPal's AI-powered features, grounded in learning theories and principles, successfully support users in setting and working towards their fitness goals.
The pre/post-tests did not show a marked improvement in participants' understanding of goal-setting concepts, such as the SMART framework. We speculated it was due to the quality of the quiz question and the scarcity of data points.
Survey data revealed that the most helpful features for goal-setting and motivation were "Learn your motivation style," "Self-assessment of current state," and "SMART goal breakdown into 'Progress Track Galaxy'". PlanPal received a high overall rating, with an average score of 4.67 out of 5 for the likelihood of recommending PlanPal to others. Users also rated PlanPal an average of 4.5 out of 5 for making long-term goals more approachable.
User interviews provided qualitative insights, with participants expressing appreciation for the personalized coaching, interactive goal-setting process, and sense of community. They also offered constructive feedback, such as the desire for more diverse content formats and potential social features for accountability and support.
5. Reflection: Learning in the Age of AI
More Effective User Testing
Moving forward, the logical next steps in studying PlanPal's effectiveness would be to implement pre- and post-tests with short answer questions and grading rubrics to measure learning gains. This process will provide a clearer understanding of PlanPal's impact on users' knowledge and skills related to goal-setting and achievement.
Scaling to Goal Setting in Any Domain
The design approach used in PlanPal has broad implications and applications beyond the domain of fitness. The principles and strategies employed could be adapted to support goal-setting and achievement in various areas, such as education, personal development, career growth, and relationships. Looking into the near future, by incorporating data-driven algorithms and more advanced large language models, PlanPal as a learning tool could have the potential to enhance goal accomplishment universally, leading to improved outcomes at a larger scale.
Takeaways
Leveraging AI to Simulate Social Presence
PlanPal harnesses the power of AI to create a sense of social presence, which has been shown to enhance goal performance. By making goals public to AI coaches that simulate real-life accountability partners, users feel more committed and motivated to achieve their objectives. This approach taps into the human need for social support and encouragement.
Best Practices and Pitfalls of AI in Educational Contexts
As AI continues to revolutionize the educational landscape, it is crucial to understand the best practices and potential pitfalls of incorporating this technology into learning experiences. PlanPal serves as a valuable case study. It would be intriguing to see PlanPal being developed and run experiments with.
Working with My Team
Collaborating with a diverse and talented team has been a key factor in the success of the PlanPal project. My teammate Sherry, a graduating industrial design student with expertise in prototyping tools, brought a unique perspective and skill set to the table. As someone with a background in learning science and interaction design, our abilities complemented each other nicely.
MORE PROJECTS
YUPI
YUPI is a smart, centralized platform designed for urgent-care services that makes doctor-patient interactions clearer and more effective than ever before.
Bumble Vibely
The Vibely project transformed Bumble's user experience by introducing a map feature that facilitates connections through real-time, location-based interactions.
PETSPHERE
PetSphere is a pet community social web application that connects pet owners and pet service providers. I worked as a UI designer and front-end/back-end developer for the project.
BIKELINK PRO
A semi-autonomous e-bike with interfaces that employs human-centered design methodologies and principles of typography, color, and composition to set paradigms for interactions.
