B2C
User Research
Complex System
Transforming Creative Briefs into Actionable Plans for Design Students
Challenge
Problem
Design students frequently struggle with managing the complexities of their projects. They face challenges in organizing tasks, effectively managing their time, and often rely on multiple tools for different aspects of their work. This fragmentation leads to missed deadlines, increased stress, and difficulty in maintaining a consistent workflow, ultimately impacting their self-confidence and academic performance.
Goal
Design a one-stop-shop for design students to help them succeed academically by transforming briefs into clear, actionable steps.
To gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by design students, I conducted 8 interviews and 4 observation sessions with students of varying seniority levels.
Key findings
Limited Time and Attention
Busy schedules and multiple commitments leave students with limited time and energy. They need solutions that are simple and intuitive, reducing cognitive load and fitting seamlessly into their routines.
Difficulty in Planning
Unfamiliarity with design methodologies and estimating task durations makes forward planning challenging, even for those with strong time management skills.
Analysis Paralysis
The open-ended nature of design assignments leads students to overthink their approaches. This over-analysis stalls progress as they spend excessive time considering options instead of moving forward.
I analyzed 2 types of tools that address different needs
of the students:
Project management tools
Students use these platforms to manage tasks and schedules, benefiting from dashboards and various views. However, their extensive features create a steep learning curve, making them time-consuming to set up and often not tailored to the specific needs of design projects.
Ideation tools
These applications excel in documentation and brainstorming, offering simple, user-friendly interfaces that reduce cognitive load. However, without careful organization, their whiteboards can become cluttered and overwhelming, hindering productivity.
Next, I reviewed dozens of academic briefs to develop a strategy for breaking them down. I categorized the briefs into three groups, which would involves a different strategy. In this project I focused on breaking down the structured brief.
Structured
Sophomore students receive an exceptionally detailed week-by-week plan, covering methods, weekly deliverables, and presentation guidelines.
Semi - Structured
In later years, briefs become less detailed, focusing primarily on timeframes and project scope expectations.
Freestyle
Senior students handle abstract briefs for academic, freelance, or personal projects, defining their own goals, processes, and deliverables independently.
By maintaining consistency in layout and system logic, the design could help minimize cognitive load, allowing students with limited time and attention to focus more effectively on completing tasks without unnecessary confusion or distraction.
SMART Goal-Oriented Process
Designing a process that encourages students to set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals could help them manage their projects more effectively and stay on track with clear, actionable milestones.
All-in-One Solution
Creating a comprehensive platform could integrate various tools and capabilities, reducing the need for students to rely on multiple apps, and providing them with a streamlined, one-stop solution for managing their projects.
In Clap's initial wizard design concept, machine learning algorithms were used to auto-fill brief details. However, user feedback revealed concerns about data reliability and a lack of transparency in how the AI processed their briefs.
To address this, I added a collapsible third column displaying the original brief next to the extracted content. Each field has an eye icon that highlights the corresponding text when hovered over, improving transparency and helping users confidently learn to extract action items for future projects.
Before / no validation mechanism
After / 3rd column is added to the layout containing the brief. Clikcing on the marker icon highlights data pulled from the brief
Overview Tab
The Overview tab offers a clear snapshot of active tasks within the relevant context, helping users assess progress, deadlines, and alerts. By showing only the projects they’re currently working on, it reduces cognitive load and makes it easier to prioritize key actions.
Wizard step 1/4
The wizard guides users by breaking down briefs into structured stages and tasks, making complex projects easier to manage with confidence.
In the first step, the wizard auto-extracts key information to ensure all essential details are accurately captured. This structured approach reduces uncertainty, allowing users to focus on the broader project. The eye icon lets users quickly validate system-filled information by highlighting the relevant text in the collapsible brief column for easy review.
Wizard step 2/4
In the second step, the wizard organizes the brief into stages aligned with key design phases (e.g., research, ideation, execution, etc.). These stages convert into canvas pages in the workspace, with steps represented as frames, ensuring tasks remain clear and purposeful. This structure keeps the canvas focused, avoiding the clutter typical of traditional whiteboards.
Wizard step 3/4
In this final step (before summary), the layout expands to full screen, removing the brief to focus on the main content. The system organizes tasks, mapping stages and steps in a clear timeline. Students can adjust durations and deadlines, with calendar integration ensuring flexibility to fit their schedule.
Wizard step 4/4
The summary screen provides users with a final review of their inputs, giving them a chance to confirm everything before proceeding. This step ensures accuracy and builds confidence as they complete the wizard process.
Project’s
Dashboard
The dashboard provides a high-level view of each project created through the wizard, offering users certainty, control, and easy management. Designed with simplicity, it focuses on essential widgets to meet immediate needs without overwhelming users, reducing cognitive load and helping students stay organized and make informed decisions.
The Canvas
The Canvas is a familiar whiteboard tool, like FigJam and Miro, but designed specifically for design students with a key difference: it provides a structured process that guides them step-by-step through the brief. This ensures students can ideate freely while staying organized and focused on each task, streamlining their workflow. In addition to its structured guidance, the Canvas offers features and resources tailored to student needs.
This project has been a valuable learning experience. Working on a complex system taught me to think critically about how each component impacts the overall design, focusing on scalable solutions that maintain clarity as the system evolves.
I also learned the importance of balancing user needs with practical constraints. While research is vital, prioritization is key to ensuring the most impactful features are implemented.