Snipp

Invited presentation to the HFES New England Chapter, 2013

Problem

The Snipp app is a learning documentation tool meant for people in different kinds of professions as well as varied interests and hobbies, that include learning through media as well as hands-on learning, to document elements of importance to their professional development as well as enhance their knowledge base. At present, the only way to really document learning digitally are through note-taking apps, or through videos and photos that get stored in the device hard-drive or in a cloud storage system. There is also a social component to the app; content is generated, filtered, and rated by the community of experts and learners.

Challenges

Some of the challenges faced by the team included addressing some of the requirements of the design challenge such as designing for a non-homogenous user population as well as including aspects of game mechanics to motivate users and increase engagement with the app.

Other challenges during iterations included incorporating user and class feedback in a short schedule as well as transitioning from a low-fidelity to a high-fidelity prototype in the given amount of time.

Method

The Snipp app is designed to

Capture bite-sized chunks of knowledge as you learn (called Snipps)
Organize Snipps for easy reference (Snipp Lists)
Share your Snipp Lists with others for feedback
Search the community to learn from others
Get rewarded and recognized for your expertise and contributions as you learn (Knowledge Points).

The final design is a result of four rigorous iterations, incorporating feedback after presenting each iteration as well user testing after the third iteration.