COVIDCare: UX/UI Design, Web
A hub to promote student happiness, health, and productivity during the COVID-19 crisis.
*this page is in progress*
My Role
UX Research, UI Design, front-end
Team
Danji Lui (Product Design, UI/UX)
Kentaro Vadney (Back-End)
Andrew Rajchert (Data Visualization)
Tools
Figma
HTML
CSS
JavaScript
GitHub Pages
Timeline
UC Berkeley COVID Hacks, March 2020
The problem.
The widespread shelter-in-place policies are leaving many feeling anxious and isolated, bored, and unable to concentrate on work/school. Additionally, many students are not staying informed and using this as a time to socialize more, instead of heeding warnings and staying inside.
As students ourselves, we wanted to come up with an online, easily accessible hub for students providing resources to tackle all of these issues in a consolidated space.
User Research
Based on interviews with 12 students of various socioeconomic backgrounds.
Students lose motivation more easily
The first question we asked students was when the last time was how they felt that the pandemic had affected their productivity and motivation. Every single student stated that the situation had made them feel much less motivated, whether it be in regards to schoolwork or extracurriculars. A common theme seemed to be that they felt less motivated because they felt very uncertain about what to expect for the future.
“I started mass applying for jobs after they cancelled my summer internship. I’m still scared.”
“I do less. I used to preview for my classes but not anymore. I guess it’s hard because there’s a lot of uncertainty about things beyond school, like health concerns for loved ones, concerns over employment, and I imagine financial concerns for a lot of people.”
“I wake up and be like, ‘what should I do today?’ and I decide to do nothing.”
Students want more social interaction
We also asked students what the they felt the biggest change in their lives was since classes went online. Most of them stated that they were able to see their friends much less than before and they often felt lonely because there wasn’t much to do at home (if they had moved back home) or in their apartment or dorm because most people had moved out. They also stated that this was negatively impacting their overall happiness and well being.
"It was so nice to get on a zoom call with my friends yesterday. I really needed them.
"At first I thought moving everything online is so cool! I got to hang out with my friends more ... but then all of my friends moved out, one after another, and it was heartbroken to say good-bye to a different person every day. I'm alone now. Nobody else is on my floor.”
"I feel very lonely ... Not being around them [my friends] makes me feel empty inside... Watching an episode on Netflix is easy because it's always there but the opportunity of talking to a friend doesn't always present itself."
Students are unsure of what to do and how to social distance
Quite a few students expressed that they weren’t exactly sure what was going on and everything felt very overwhelming. When asked about how they felt about social distancing, some expressed that they were very serious about it and felt angry at others for not following guidelines, while others expressed that they were very confused about what to do because there was so much information out there and they didn’t know who to listen to.
“Why are people still going to the beach over spring break? No one is practicing social distancing in my neighborhood. I don't want to pass the virus to my family members."
"Should I wear a mask or not? Can I get it again if I got it once before? I don't know who to listen or what to do."
“At the beginning I was constantly staying updated on my phone. It got to the point where there's an explosion of information coming from left and right. It's driving me crazy. Then, I realized I had to step away from my phone.”
