Soukarni Barai
UX Researcher | Service Strategist | Designer
How to empower peer learning in a virtual environment?
KEYWORDS
SERVICE DESIGN | NEED RESEARCH | BLUEPRINT | PROTOTYPING
ABOUT
For this project we worked on translating the need for "peer learning" in a virtual environment into a service. We designed Floc to cater to the need for peer to peer feedback that was absent due to virtual learning. The service creatively caters to Masters students of Design and helps create valuable digital learning through its experience and delivery.
KEY STAGES
- Discovering a critical need
- Translating Need into feasible Service Idea
- Developing Service Core and Boundaries
- Building Service Structure for Virtual Engagements
- Service Communications, Translation and Choreography
- Service Prototype Alpha Testing
Young Designers Award Finalist 2021
Service Design Category
OVERVIEW
CHALLENGE
In 2021, The students of National Institute of Design, India were suffering from the pandemic and hours of online classes and isolation at their homes. Students wanted to experience their life on campus and be able to engage with their peers beyond their online schedules. Digital Fatigue and the new virtual engagement environment was making real connection impossible.
METHODOLOGY
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Our team gathered nearly 100 responses on campus through ballot boxes and online surveys to identify needs of students.
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3 key needs emerged from which we prioritized - the need for peer learning on the basis of student votes.
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8 qualitative interviews were conducted and 4 User personas were developed for the service.
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We then conceptualized and choreographed our service with our key offering - community feedback sessions.
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We prototyped the service components. The prototypes were tested in 2 sessions with 6 students who signed up for our service out of their own interest. We received very positive feedback.
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You can view a service summary video here.
MY ROLE
In our team of 4, I was invested all the work on field and off field. As it was during the pandemic, our team navigated challenges of remote collaboration and on field data collection from students. My primary contribution was in data analysis, team collaboration and also service orchestration maps and prototype delivery. I played the role of the service provider in the prototyping sessions and project process management.
DURATION
This project took nearly 6 months
from March 2021 till August 2021.
BACKGROUND
This classroom project was developed during the Service Design Module at the National Institute of Design, India. It was conducted in a hybrid mode.
1
EXPLORATION
2
NEED DISCOVERY
3
CORE
MOTIVATIONS
PROCESS
4
SERVICE
PROMISES
5
SERVICE
FORM
6
CHOREOGRAPHY
7
PROTOTYPING
1
EXPLORATION
INTUITIVE NEED MAPPING
An exhaustive brainstorm map of all the needs observed on campus and existing services were laid down based on our intuition and preset knowledge of the campus and stakeholders involved in order to help set the context.
EXPLORATIVE RESEARCH TOOLS
GRAFFITI WALL
A more public and diverse tool that prompted students to answer
"Your wishlist for a better life on campus". It was placed strategically near the entrance to the mess in order to collect ample responses from the students.
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INTERVIEWS
Checking student awareness of the most used, essential, impactful, consistent in delivery and services that are not necessary. Studied motivations of students to come to campus. Their expectations versus reality
8 participants
BALLOT BOX
To understand personal issues students are facing. Identify what they would like the campus to provide them with
30 responses
ASSIMILATED OBSERVATIONS
KEY EMERGENT NEEDS
Recreational activities to stay physically and mentally fit
Peer Learning
and Engagement
Assurance of Healthcare facilities
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Learning and interacting with peers across disciplines was validated as a primary need area through a campus wide survey
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The need for Peer Learning emerged as the primary direction for a new service.
2
NEED DISCOVERY
UNDERSTANDING PEER LEARNING
Upon discovering Peer Learning as the need, we spent time to study the various aspects of peer learning and the nature of stakeholders that are present in the peer learning environment.
Modes of Inquiry
- Structured Interviews with Master's Students across India
- Multiple User Journeys were synthesized into 4 paths
- Persona Building out of the 4 paths
- Conducted a Simulation to test demand of peer learning
- We discovered Peer Feedback as the critical missing element
- Further persona specific Peer Feedback oriented Interviews
conducted to iterate and arrive at the final persona's
- A final survey was floated to test the validity of our persona's
and peer feedback focus area.
View the detailed user journey breakdowns here
> ALL USER JOURNEYS
> USER CLUSTERS
> USER PERSONAS
USER PERSONAS
DETAILED CHARACTERISTICS
THE CURIOUS
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The primary mode of learning, grasping, and retaining is Peer Learning. Habit almost to engage in it.
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Rely heavily on it for their learning in professional space
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Do not hesitate to approach people and are open to learning. Humble.
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Seekers of new knowledge that they wish to acquire and can be built upon
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(Do they have trouble wrt communicating their thoughts and hence are mostly in the receiving mode)
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They do not always cross-check what they have learned. High trust in the tutor
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They would mostly know what type of people to look for and make use of any opportunity?
KEY DRIVER
Curiosity to acquire new knowledge and perspectives
KEY DRIVER
INTENT
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Curiosity to acquire new knowledge and perspectives
INTENT
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Validate learnings via engagement feedback and suggestions to improve their work
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Constantly build upon current knowledge
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Learn about a new topic which they might find trouble cracking through
Validate self +
Build on existing
knowledge
NEEDS
MOTIVATIONS
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Engaging with people from different backgrounds, who can bring in new perspectives
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A quicker way of learning that is effective
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Intrinsic: Professional Growth
Self Development +
New knowledge +
Perspectives
NEEDS
MOTIVATIONS
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Need for new information and perspectives
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Need for validation
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Need for immediate availability
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Need for self-development and personal growth
Quick Engagement
+ Learning
PROBLEMS FACED
PROBLEMS FACED
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Cannot always have access at the right time or things could be left half-way
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Might end up wasting time
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Credibility of information
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Safe space to engage with someone comfortably (reliability)
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To know and be aware of people's skills and interests so they can approach them
Lack of access +
Lack of awareness
DETAILED CHARACTERISTICS
THE LEARNER
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PL for them is a way of life. Do not consciously go with the agenda of learning something but know its importance in their overall growth
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They go with an open mindset and expect the other people to also have the same to engage in healthy discussions. People who are too adamant wrt their ideas throw them off
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They are ready to change their beliefs if they find enough rationale
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Look for both-way interaction-- for them, a lot depends on the interaction
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These are mostly INFORMAL sessions for them
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There should be a topic that interests them to engage them (situational)
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It’s the engagement and interaction that matters to them, so space, time etc not an issue
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Engage outside non-academic topics as well (more emphasis on softer skills maybe)
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Softer topics can be discussed as many times and won't trigger someone
KEY DRIVER
Curiosity to acquire new knowledge and perspectives
KEY DRIVER
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Curiosity to acquire new knowledge and perspectives
INTENT
INTENT
Expand Horizons +
Validate Knowledge
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Able to share their views and know others perspectives based on their experiences (Expanding their horizon)
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Validate the info they have
NEEDS
MOTIVATIONS
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Learn something new that they were unaware of :
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Topics of interest
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Being able to assess oneself wrt others
New Perspectives
+ New People Engagement
NEEDS
MOTIVATIONS
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Need for new information and perspectives
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Need for validation
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Need for engagement
Learn New Topics
they were completely
unaware of
PROBLEMS FACED
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Missing out on it in Online mode
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Stagnancy
PROBLEMS FACED
Stagnancy +
Online Interaction is
a hindrance
DETAILED CHARACTERISTICS
THE PROFESSIONAL
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PL for them is important academically (professional growth) as they entirely rely on it for their learnings
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Dependence on PL is high
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They are relatively new to their domains and trying to learn as much as they can from their peers
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Do not have a definite goal of what particularly they want to learn
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They are trying to learn and unlearn
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Might mostly be seen in students who are in the first years of master's course
KEY DRIVER
Develop strong bond with people and network
KEY DRIVER
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Develop deeper bonds with peers
INTENT
INTENT
Explore + New Experiences +
Inspiration
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Explore their domain and know what lies in it -- open to what can come up-- Learn from other's learning and experiences
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Get inspired and a push
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Finding the right set of people to connect with, who can help them understand the space
NEEDS
MOTIVATIONS
Companionship +
Belonging
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Learn something new that they were unaware of :
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Topics of interest
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Being able to assess oneself wrt others
NEEDS
MOTIVATIONS
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Need for companionship (someone who can understand and guide you at this point in life)
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Sense of belonging
PROBLEMS FACED
People's Experience
+ Network
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Right people weren't accessible
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Physical proximity helps them to know people and open up
PROBLEMS FACED
Absent Access +
Online Interaction is
a hindrance
DETAILED CHARACTERISTICS
THE SELF - SUFFICIENT
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PL for them is not a primary mode of learning but something that supplements (adds to) their current knowledge
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These are mostly the hands-on, maker kinds: need to see the application
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They engage in it from a skill development, problem-solving pov
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They try to understand how other people do the same thing that they do but in a different way--so pick up on their approaches and techniques
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They prefer implementing it immediately in real-time to remember it
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Do they try to see if there's something they can give back??
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They usually will approach someone when they need help or have doubts--which could seem like a selfish motive and not everyone will tolerate it again and again
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Might require a more formal setup for PL
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Will listen to others but do what they ultimately want
KEY DRIVER
Essential Bonds and Critical Knowledge
KEY DRIVER
INTENT
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Bonding with people (familiarity). The kind of relationship they have with different types of people also determines what they would approach someone for
Ideation + Brainstorm
+ New Skills
INTENT
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Learning new skills or refining skills
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Getting to know newer resources
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Ideation/ Brainstorm to understand more possibilities
NEEDS
NEEDS
MOTIVATIONS
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Need for updating and staying relevant
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Need for the authenticity of information
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Need for safe space
Comfortably learn
PROBLEMS FACED
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Do not know whom to approach (need an ice-breaker usually)
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Too many people can disengage them
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Availability of people online
PROBLEMS FACED
MOTIVATIONS
Staying up to date
+ Safe space to talk
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To be able to understand a new method or technique
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Sense of comfort they share with other people
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If someone is willing to share
Can't approach peers on their own +
Online is a separator
The Learner emerged as the primary service stakeholder we will design for.
3
CORE MOTIVATIONS
CORE CONTEXT
Once the primary persona was identified, we started contextualizing the service's key offerings or pillars of delivery based on the 'Learner' Persona.
CONTINUOUS AND CONSTANT FEEDBACK
CONNECT WITH
PEERS
SEAMLESS COMMUNICATION
4
SERVICE PROMISES
UNDERSTANDING
PEER FEEDBACK
After defining the service core and the pillars we wish to build, we studied the landscape of peer feedback systems that exist in India.
This helped us to understand the current Market and benchmarks that we need to meet market standards.
We followed this study up with a quick qualitative interview with students who had the "learner" persona and validated our learnings from them in the form of a general survey with all students.
THE CURRENT PLAYERS
IN PEER LEARNING SERVICES ARE:-
MARKET
LANDSCAPE STUDY
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VALUE PROPOSITION
PEER LEARNING THROUGH
EFFECTIVE PEER FEEDBACK
FROM PEER COMMUNITY
FEEDBACK
CORE PROMISES
COMMUNICATION
SUPPORT
COMMUNITY
5
SERVICE FORM
CONCEPT
A 'Peer to Peer Support Group' digital platform that believes in the power of Constructive Peer Feedbacks to make academic design projects more robust and holistic. It would harness diverse perspectives from the rich peer network within NID to bring clarity and confidence to student’s project work in a timely manner.
SERVICE ARCHETYPES
We designed our service to embody
the following three archetypes.
FRIEND
COMMON MAN
GUIDE
SERVICE BRANDING
We named our service "Floc" taking inspiration from how a floc of birds fly together.
SUPPORT
FEEDBACK
COMMUNITY
COMMUNICATION
#E5CAF9
#B384BB
#3F2C6A
#FAC710
#7B8CAA
PURPLE
Wisdom + Dignity + Emotion
YELLOW
BLUE GREY
Optimism + Creativity + Enlighten
Professional + Sophisticated
SERVICE OFFERING
We then defined the offerings clearly by creating a mock website page for new users to visit and understand about the platform.
6
CHOREOGRAPHY
SERVICE USERS JOURNEY
There are 3 key service users in our service.
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PEER
SEEKER
A peer seeker is a student who has a project on which they want feedback.
The seeker reaches out to the Floc Peer Supporter Community
Peer Supporters are students who are individuals interested in learning and sharing knowledge with other peers
PEER SUPPORTER
COMMUNITY
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FLOC SERVICE
PROVIDERS
The Floc Platform and Service Providers enable mutually interested Peer Seekers and Supporters to connect and share feedback constructively on the platform
SERVICE BLUEPRINT
We designed a service blueprint to show the full flow of activities that a user would undergo on this platform.
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7
PROTOTYPING
TOUCHPOINT TESTING
This digital service works in an asynchronous and synchronous fashion. In order to test the functionality of the operations we had designed, we decided to test a the "synchronous" operations and touchpoints of our service.
In order to do so, we ran trials with our audience by building service materials and recreating the service operations remotely for interested candidates.
HYPOTHESES
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Would peers find value in supporting others projects?
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Would peers feel comfortable to put their projects out for feedback?
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Will the service value translate/ resonate with service users through the prototype?
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Does the service meet their expectations?
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Did the participants feel like they were able to share and learn?
6. Did the prototype support the
feedback process seamlessly?
7. Does the service create research
value?
8. Were we able to create "WOW"
moments for the service users?
9. Are they willing to take other roles in
the same service?
10. Would peers pay for this service?
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PROTOTYPE SEQUENCING
We detailed out the sequence of events and activities of the
"synchronous" touchpoint that we wanted to prototype.
PROTOTYPE MATERIALS
We even detailed out and created a set of all the materials we would need in order to create this service experience.
1. EMAILER FOR INTEREST SEEKING
2. GOOGLE FORM FOR SERVICE REGISTRATIONS
3. SERVICE ENVIRONMENT DESCRIPTOR PDF/ WEBSITE
4. EMAIL + FORM FOR SEEKER INFORMATION
5. EMAIL + FORM FOR REVIEWER SIGN UP
6. ZOOM CALL BG FOR SEEKER/ RECEIVER/ MODERATOR
7. SEEKER PRESENTATION FORMAT
​
8. SERVICE GUIDELINES EMAIL
9. ZOOM LINK FOR CALL
10. ZOOM CALL HOUSEKEEPING (Visual + Body Copy)
11. MODERATOR'S Email + WHATSAPP GROUP
12. OFFICIAL FLOC EMAIL ID + DRIVE SPACE
13. SERVICE MODERATOR MATERIALS
14. PREPARE SCREENSHOT FOR GRATITUDE EMAIL
15. THANK YOU EMAILER - WITH PHOTO
+ SERVICE EXPERIENCE FEEDBACK FORMS
16. SERVICE FEEDBACK FORMS
17. SERVICE SESSION SUMMARY
PROTOTYPE SESSIONS
We had 25 students who showed an interest in taking
part in our service. We selected two groups of 3 and 4
members each to conduct our service.
There were 2 sessions that were conducted.
I acted as the Session Moderator for both the
sessions as a Front end member of the service.
SESSION 1 - SCRIBE
After conducting the first run we received a lot of constructive feedback. We incorporated those changes in our second session and noticed a significant improvement.
SESSION 2 - SKYPE
Our second session ran a new format trial along with incorporating the feedback from the first session.
Post the two prototype sessions, we collected user feedback to
re-evaluate if our service met the expectation v/s experience gap and also other hypotheses.
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SERVICE TESTIMONIALS
"In classes usually the last presenter never gets any feedback because everyone is tired at how long the class has been. When I availed this service I liked that feedbacks were given by everyone in a rotational manner. A topic we spoke about generated more topics! Which is something I had not anticipated. So I like the simplicity of the service and how it provoked thoughts in me that I did not think I would be discussing about"
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- Chinmay, Peer Supporter
"I like that the service really ensured that focused feedback on the topic is exchanged."
- Shubham, Peer Supporter
"Over the last couple of days we have been dealing with this problem in our entire batch. I'm impressed. It's a system much better than scheduling a classroom feedback because half the videos are turned off, people are not interested, some people are just waiting for their turn to finish their presentations, so that as soon as they are done, they can leave. This mutually beneficial system makes much more sense "
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- Sparsh, Peer Supporter
PROJECT SUMMARY VIDEO
WAY FORWARD
- Assurance of getting feedback at right time is a nodal breaking point of the service.
- Maintain Quality Feedbacks with Quantity of Peers
- Work towards making it a self-initiated platform
- Dexterously support a diversity of projects at different stages of work
- Students were willing to pay 250-300 INR for each feedback session. This needs to be translated into an effective financial model for Floc.
- Incentivizing using Leader boards. Have a strong strategy for community building.
- The algorithm to select projects and connect seeker to supporter needs to be fool-proof.
- Better presentation template design for the supporters to understand project synopsis well.
- Balancing the standardization and customization levels on the current platform is crucial.
- Make Users a part of the back end and front end service system to co-create experiences.
- Build a strong Knowledge Management and Development team
- The service can be scaled up to include Master's students across design colleges in India like IDC, Nift etc for expansion
"I wish we had this service right now..I learnt so much from feedback seekers and the service moderator (Soukarni) too !"
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- Sparsh , testing session participant
"I would love to use the service as a feedback seeker but also a moderator like you (Soukarni) and be in the service providers role!"
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- Prashansa, testing session participant