Accellread Academic Research Assistant

Acceleread Academic Research Assistant

Executive Summary

Problem Statement

Students can only sometimes commit all their time to studying for various reasons. Research papers are among the most challenging tasks for those who are neurodivergent or have jobs due to their time-consuming nature. How might we empower students to optimize their research writing process so that they can still succeed with limited time and concentration?

Solution

Acceleread is an innovative productivity App that aims to make academic research easier by breaking each research project into smaller microlearning sessions. Users can read simplified academic papers and use Acceleread as their on-the-go workplace.

Features

Plan your projects

Breaking down projects into manageable tasks and stack up streaks as users complete daily tasks

Organize insights

With the build-in sticky, notebook, and blackboard, no matter where users work, their insights is always recorded and organized

Stay connected

Team collaboration can be challenging, but Accerleread helps users stay connected and share their progress with ease.

Find resources

Accerleread collaborates with various academic institutions and authors to create a one-stop shop for all the resources users need

Research Process

Show

Market Research

4 Categories, countless options

There are more than just a handful of tools out there that can help students. We assorted them into 4 categories and tested a few of the popular ones ourselves. We were impressed by their functionalities as we said “well done” to them all.

However...

We found that none of these tools is particularly strong in helping students write their papers. Sure, they help in certain aspects, but they are not game changers. What we want to design is a one-stop solution dedicated to helping students succeed in their academics.

Stakeholder Map

Understand Our Influence

A stakeholder map was created to understand the influence of our app and people's interests.

Core:

The stakeholders who are invested and interested in the project’s success. Our project will have a direct, prominent impact on them

Involved:

Stakeholders who will experience indirect influence from our product. They may be involved in our work and that of our users.

Informed:

The stakeholders who are unaffected by our product yet may still be informed of its benefits and provide feedback if necessary.

Interview Analysis

While our team members all have experience writing research papers before, we understood that our personal experiences weren’t representative enough to drive a successful product. Therefore, we conducted interviews with neurodivergent students and students with busy schedules. The data are collected and analyzed through frameworks, including an empathy map, a user journey map, and 2 different user personas, a user journey map to form actionable insights.

Empathy Map

As a designer, it is essential to be empathetic about our users. An empathy map is beneficial in understanding their experience and challenges to form a cohesive understanding of their pains and goals.

Pains:

Distractions Misunderstanding Low self-esteem Inconsistent productivity Approaching deadlines Comparisons with peers

Goals:

Meeting deadlines Access to research materials Work/life balance Boost efficiency Pursuit of passion Utilize limited available time

Overall:

Through the empathy map, we pinpointed many of the challenges our users are currently facing. We personally felt relatable to these issues and were eager to design a solution to them.

User Journey Map

We also asked our interviewees what their typical academic writing projects look like. Based on their answers, we created a user journey map representing their collective experiences. We pinpointed many design opportunities and were ready to implement them into our product.

User Personas

We generate two user personas from our interview data to help us understand our focus group.

Madeleine Calderon

Age: 21
Major of study: Psychology
Neurodivergent: Inattentive ADHD

“It’s hard for me to focus and concentrate on research, and a lot of time it depends on emotions. It’s hard to get everything done when I sometimes can only concentrate less than an hour before needing a long break”

Needs:
An inspiring way to increase her working efficiency
Making progress even when she cannot dedicate a long time to a task

Wants:
A productivity tool that helps with time management, especially for her schoolwork
A method to make working more fun and engaging.

Jessie Hodge

Age: 25
Major of study: Art history
Neurotypical

“I don’t have any work-life balance now, and I barely keep up. I’d love to have a few hours dedicated to my daily study, but it looks like that wouldn’t be possible.”

Needs:
Utilizing the fragmented time in his job and his commute time
A better way to connect with the team and make progress

Wants:
A time-management tool for his study
A fun, engaging study experience that brings joy to his poorly balanced life

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