CampusConnect Dev Blog

Section 1: Empathy

Section 1.0 Decide Open-Ended Questions to Ask

For our empathy interviews, we focused on crafting open-ended questions to uncover stories and gain insight into users' needs, rather than simple yes/no answers. We aimed for questions that would encourage detailed responses about their experiences with finding study groups.

List of Questions for Empathy Interviews:

• Can you describe a typical experience when you've tried to find a study group for a challenging course?
• What challenges or frustrations have you encountered when looking for study partners or groups?
• How do you currently prepare for exams or difficult assignments, and what role do others play in that process?
• Tell me about a time you successfully collaborated with other students. What made that experience effective?
• What kind of support or resources do you wish were available to help you connect with other students for academic purposes?
• How important is it for you to study with others, and what benefits do you see in group study?
• If you could design the ideal way to find study groups, what would it look like?

Section 1.1 Notes from Empathy Interview

We conducted an empathy interview with a student team, explaining our high-level issue (students struggling to find relevant study groups) and target user (university students aged 18-22 who prefer collaborative learning). They were asked to pretend to be the target user. We focused on asking open-ended questions to uncover their stories and avoid yes/no responses.

Notes from Interview:

The student we interviewed, "Sarah" (playing the role of a collaborative learner), shared that her biggest frustration is the time it takes to find a compatible study group. She mentioned using social media groups and class forums, but often the groups are either too large, unfocused, or formed by people with different study habits.

She recounted an instance where she joined a group that quickly devolved into social chat, and very little actual studying happened. She also noted that it's hard to gauge someone's commitment level or preferred study style (e.g., quiet, discussion-based, problem-solving focused) before investing time in a group.

Sarah emphasized the importance of finding peers who are "on the same page" academically and who are genuinely committed to the course material. She stated that while she values collaborative learning, the current methods for finding groups often lead to wasted time and frustration, sometimes causing her to give up and study alone, which she finds less effective for certain subjects.

She suggested that a key need is a way to quickly assess compatibility and commitment before joining a group. She liked the idea of a platform that could filter by specific course sections, preferred study times, and even study styles.