

Meet the LMS that puts your communication and organizational needs first.
A space where students feel prioritized and acknowledged.
A community fostering success and adaptability.
Between 2020 and 2024, the U.S. e-learning market could grow by $72.41b.
Problem: Students who have previously engaged with LMSs have experienced problems with navigation which led to unfulfilled expectations.
Solution: Enable students with an e-learning experience that accelerates educational growth through a customizable interface, seamless notifications, and organizational tools through a calendar and to-do list that adapts to your lifestyle. Hive is an app that provides one centralized solution for students’ communication and learning desires.
What is it that we want to do?
What
UX Topic of Interest
Accessible Design
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Confusion surrounding where to find assignments, documents, and discussion boards
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Lack of visual cues on LMS platforms
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Out of date interface
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Absence of informative resources for interface navigation and learning approaches
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A guide to assist interface navigations and student questions
What
What trends are evolving around the problem?
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Online Meetings (ex. Zoom, Google Meet)
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File and Cloud Sharing
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Growing Demand for Digital Education
Why
Why does the UX Problem Matter?
Why do we want to solve?
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The emergence and relevance of digitalized education
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Social presence and connectivity of users
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Consideration for visual and cognitive disabilities
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Financial repercussions for LMS companies
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Psychological motivators to complete schoolwork
Why
How does the problem influence the end user?
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Productivity inhibitor
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Disappointment following educational investment
Who
Who has the problem?
Who are we solving for?
A study to verify the usage of online learning platforms in teaching clinical medical courses was conducted. They found that the rate of student satisfaction is 26%.
Who
Target Audience
SCAD
Students
SCAD
Educators
Who
Why are we targetting them?
The shift towards online schooling
Online Survey
The Stats
52 Participants
Avg. Age
17-22
Purpose
To gauge how students feel about LMS’s.
Key Takeaways
Students find that LMSs lack connectivity, do not optimize time management, and are not catered toward their lifestyles.

Class Year

Types of Classes

Mobile App
vs.
Desktop
Which of these features do you find difficult to use?


Want an Increase in Connectivity

Find LMS’s
Difficult to Use

Want An LMS That Caters To Art Students

Feel that LMS’s help
time management
User Interviews
17 Interviews
3 Professors
14 Students
#1
We don't use the app for Blackboard.
#6
A teaching resource library/forum would be very helpful.
#2
We spend too much time setting up our online classroom.
"I probably spend around 30% off my time on Blackboard."
#7
We don't like looking at Blackboard. It's boring, tedious, and has too many tabs.
#3
#8
The LMS does not accommodate for when professors are not available, but professors are here to teach not act as customer service reps.
We want notifications for grades and announcements.
#9
#4
The interface is severely out of date.
A calendar feature that utilizes color-coding and is easy to find.
#5
#10
There is no visual representation of assignments.
We want direct contact with professors and peers like a chatbox feature.

Affinity Mapping

Secondary Research Insights
#1
Asynchronous learning systems do poorly in providing simultaneous feedback and leave learners feeling isolated and disconnected.
#3
Online teachers use each other as resources for sharing and collaborating on materials is shown to affect students learning and accomplishments in a positive manner.
#2
LMSs do provide flexibility for students to reflect and complete tasks at different rates.
#4
LMS over the years has made it easier to create high-quality consistent courses, this gives people more motivated to continue or come back for more education.
User Testing




Hive is the learning management system made for students by students. Design-driven by research and empathy because we prioritize the anxieties and frustrations of our users. By conducting user interviews, surveys, and numerous rounds of user testing, we developed valuable user insights through data analysis and synthesis. Our insights revealed pain points revolving around navigation, visual and verbal communication, connectivity, organization, and accessibility. Therefore, we built personas and user journey maps to bring our users’ struggles to life. By understanding their emotional resentments, we developed the foundation for our learning management system, Hive. We developed an app that caters to the lifestyle and demands of our users. The mobile interface of Hive adapts to students’ on-the-go lifestyle and provides real-time notifications concerning their assignments, grades, and course announcements. Customization is displayed through a color-coding system dictated by our users. Once a user selects a color for a course, the color is universally applied to the course content of the said course, and to complement this feature, we have implemented a calendar and to-do list for our user’s peace of mind. To alleviate the stress and anxiety surrounding academia, we provided our students with a grade simulator to calculate the grades necessary to achieve the grade they desire. Lastly, we streamlined communication between students and educators by providing a multitude of communication avenues through direct messaging and seamless feedback. Ultimately, Hive is the community our students have built through their shared struggles, a platform for every student to optimize their performance and rekindle a positive experience with learning management systems.