Connecting researchers to relevant information
During Spring 2010, I worked on a semester-long group research and design project. My teammates and I chose to focus on university researchers. Through contextual inquiry, interviews, and collage sessions with graduate students and faculty members, we discovered that researchers are overwhelmed with the massive amounts of information facing them today.
Our solution: Cumulus, a dynamic platform that helps researchers filter and manage relevant information, provides proactive ways to connect and communicate with peers, and facilitates collaboration.
Grad Studio 2 final project: Cumulus from Jenny Shirey on Vimeo.
Click here to download our final presentation, which summarizes our participatory research, our design solution, and our proposed service model (PDF 6.5 MB).
Click here to view our team blog, which documents our process in detail.
Research with a participant
Our research found three core needs for researchers: to filter information, to connect with peers, and to collaborate with other researchers
Screenshot from the final design interface