Gamifying awkward group discussions.
Group discussions can be frustrating, especially if you’re fighting just to get a few words in or if your group faces a conversation roadblock.
With collaboration and conversation being essential life skills, Ripple encourages balanced conversations via timely interventions. And your phones? Using Artificial Intelligence, Ripple transforms them from a distraction to a collaborative tool to facilitate conversations.
PROBLEM
Group discussions are incredibly important to helping students grow, which is why we practice the notion of collaborating since we start school. Quiet voices that have potential for new insight, however, often go unnoticed, leaving students awkwardly unable to contribute.
OPPORTUNITY
If there's one thing AI is known for, it's its ability to tailor to individual users. A lack of personalized learning has been a long standing critique of existing education systems, and Artificial Intelligence can offer customization to an otherwise standardized educational experience.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
While Grammarly provides instant feedback, this serve as a quick bandage fix instead of a solution aimed to provide insight to why Grammarly recommends them to fix their grammar in the first place.
In addition, Khan Academy and Duolingo currently provide limited depth in advanced topics. If their AI feature is based on user-generated content, such as Quizlet, the responses may not be accurate either.
INSIGHTS
There is a need for an engaging and interactive way to learn new concepts, not just an answer machine.
Bringing back the notion of tangibility: learning through practice, discussing, and doing.
IDEATING
Three of our concepts explored different sub-spaces students are commonly involved in. They include:
Being in the classroom (students and teachers)
Self-studying (student with themself)
Discussing and collaborating (students with students)
While our competitive analysis has explored the first two spaces, we found that there is little support for those engaging in group discussions/collaboration. Therefore, we realized that the discussion space is a hidden yet vital process that contributes to students' learning.
RESEARCH QUESTION
SETTING OUR DIRECTION
Provides useful, tailored responses rather than a straightforward quick-fix
INCORPORATING AI
To avoid problems demonstrated by competitors, such as inaccurate responses or a lack of depth, we used Artificial Intelligence behind the scenes. As a result, our AI is adaptable; it pays attention to whenever discussions have run into roadblocks. If someone is not contributing or the group as a whole is silent, it will proactively suggest an group activity based on the situation.
OUR MULTI-PHONE INTERFACE
Turning students' biggest distraction into a strength: Ripple's multi-phone interface
One issue we originally ran into was how willing students were to engage with Ripple, especially when phones constantly distract us from staying on task. Keeping our design principles in mind, we began to develop Ripple as a product that required everyone's screens to use, keeping them occupied in the center of the group for the session.
DEVELOPING ACTIVITIES
Providing opportunities for new opinions
Once prompted with a group activity, it serves as a temperature check of how the discussion is going so far, what people feel, and as an opportunity to highlight unspoken voices.
With different activites depending on the situation, it serves as a fun way to shake up the discussion while balancing out the environment.
DESIGN SYSTEM
Ripple's approachable design
In order to engage with students as much as possible, we opted for a fun, approachable and welcoming design to complement our activites.
FINAL PRODUCT!
Our fun, multi-phone, interactive way to properly collaborate with other students in discussion groups using AI. And if you'd like, feel free to check out our prototype below, or scroll more to view our in-depth features!
*Use arrow keys to navigate. Thanks!
RIPPLE'S FEATURES
Each student opens Ripple and puts their phone next to each others at the middle of the table to join a study jam. To start the session, say, "Hey Ripple, are you listening?" to have Ripple's AI paying attention to the discussion.
RIPPLE'S FEATURES
Depending on if your discussion needs to be balanced or supported, Ripple will suggest different activites for your group's needs. These activites are aasy-to-learn, gamified, and are team-based!
RIPPLE'S FEATURES
Ripple's multi-phone interface enforces a collaboration environment while providing an opportunity to avoid distractions from our addictive phones. They become a tool for learning rather than a source of distraction.
RIPPLE'S FEATURES
Ripple can adapt to different education levels as it only makes suggestions based on the group's needs. As a result, students of any age can take advantage of Ripple! Each session ensures continual engagement throughout group discussion and decision-making, and also encourages groups to work through their challenges, rather than providing the "right" answer.
RIPPLE'S FEATURES
The tactile, shaking interaction to shuffle opinion cards as well as different phone formations creates an enjoyable and unique experience.
REFLECTION
Ripple was a really fun and unique project to take on! While we originally just wanted to utilize AI in a insightful, balanced way, we ended up naturally finding ways to make Ripple more fun, more engaging, and more tailored towards students in their discussion settings. Given more time, we would definitely love to expand more and user test Ripple. Shoutout to my teammates Amy and Kenneth, and I look forward to designing more products that feels just as unique and fun as Ripple!
