A brand created to aid project-based learning for girls in STEM, as a companion to Morphing Matter Lab, a National Science Foundation (NSF) project.

ROLE

Lead Visual Designer

(UI Design, Brand/Visual Identity, UX Research)

TEAM

Project Managers:

Lining Yao, Alisha Panjwani

TIMELINE

Jan 2022 - May 2022

TEAM

Product Design Intern

Technical UX

Visual UI

Design Systems

TOOLS

Alok Ojha

(CPO)

Aravind Rangaswamy (Design mentor)

Other PMs & engineers

TIMELINE

May 2022 - August 2022

(3 months)

OVERVIEW —

Morphing Matter for Girls

Morphing Matter for Girls is a brand created as a companion to Morphing Matter Lab, an NSF funded project, for the next generation of young girls who want to become designers, engineers, makers, and inventors by bringing them hands-on STEM exploration.

PROBLEM SPACE —

Encouraging Girls in STEM

Young girls aren't always encouraged to explore in conventional school settings. Through my time at Morphing Matter I aimed to answer the question: How might we engage and empower young learners who are interested in exploring STEM?

SOLUTION —

An Engaging Digital Experience

Through a brand new website and mobile experience, I was able to implement a visual style and information architecture that created more excitement around the brand and allowed for ease of sharing capabilities.

Uploading Portfolios

A previous issue that users faced was not being able to adequately update their portfolios on the web version.

I created a mobile experience to make the portfolio process more seamless.

Building Community

Through the app, students can also

view at other students' portfolios as

they learn the material and conduct experiments together.

USER TESTING —

More documentation on research and process coming soon!

VISUAL GUIDELINES —

A New Identity

The previous site and identity was lacking in a compelling visuals, using stereotyping colors, logos, and visuals. When creating the new identity, I focused on making the brand more empowering and inviting for middle and high school girls.

TAKEAWAYS —

Designing for Learning

Designing Morphing Matter for Girls gave me a lot of insight into the process of making learning material engaging and fun. It was incredibly satisfying to create a product that allowed students to take control over their learning experiences. Being able to develop this sense of learner autonomy also drove the engagement of users with the product.

TAKEAWAYS -

Always Prioritize the User

For this project we had a very clear demographic of users, and I learned that it's important to really get into the user's mindset. Through research and user testing I was able to keep them at the forefront of all designs.