As much as nurses give us,
I feel like we should try to do better.
The Process:
4 weeks from Research to Wireframe
I used these tools:
In order to understand how people learn, I interviewed 2 college professors.
This gave me 2 major insights:
1. To learn, students must engage different parts of the brain.
Seeing the word.
Hearing the word.
Saying the word.
2. To learn new vocabulary, one must make the word meaningful.
Put in your own words.
"Real life" uses.
Writing the shorthand.
In order to understand nursing students and their lives, I performed online research & interviewed 5 students.
Based on this research, I created Amanda, a proto-persona,
to represent the needs of nursing students.
“As a busy single mom, I want to learn medical vocabulary as fast as I can, so I can pass my NCLEX [nursing exam] and get a decent-paying job to support my kids and me.”
What she needs to do:
- Study when she can: in addition to being a single mom, she is working and going to school.
- Pass her NCLEX nursing exam ASAP: she is tired of being broke.
- Learn on her phone: so she can study during her breaks at work.
What she needs to feel:
- Confident that she won’t forget what she learned.
- Assured that she is learning information she will use in her job.
I made some paper sketches and tested them with 5 students.
I learned one important insight.
Nursing students learn one complete body system at a time.
Therefore, it is important to categorize lessons that way.
The final wireframes show how Amanda can study vocabulary on her break.
The "Learn" section of the app engages different parts of Amanda's brain.
Also, she can add notes to make the word meaningful to her.
The "Quiz" part of the app has true/ false questions and multiple choice.
In order to prevent memorization and promote learning, I wanted to ensure students would have to use what they learned in different ways.
You may be wondering why I added a "flashcards" part of the app.
While flashcards are not good for learning, they are very good for testing.
