School Project
School of Visual Arts X Jersey City Free Public Library
Anchor: Enhancing ESL Program for Adult Immigrants
Project Type
Service Design - Sponsored Project
Mobile Application
Team
Product Designers:
Nahye (Hannah) Kim, Suvina Wahane, Eun Soo Cho, Yu Fu
Duration
Nov 2023 ~ Dec 2023
Tools
UX Research: Figjam, Excel, Dovetail
UI Design & Prototyping: Figma
Video: Adobe Premiere
Roles & Responsibilities
- Led the overall design strategy and maintained effective communication with key stakeholders.
- Set the role and responsibility of each team member.
- Conducted comprehensive user research, including secondary research, Survey, Observation, 10 in-depth user interviews, and usability testing.
- Created high-fidelity UI design and prototypes to visualize and iterate on the proposed solutions.
As part of one of my core classes, 'Service Design', at the School of Visual Arts, students were divided into teams of 4 and tasked with working alongside an industry sponsor to define problems and formulate user-centric design solutions.
My group chose to collaborate with the Jersey City Free Public Library (JCFPL), a public library in Jersey City, New Jersey. The JCFPL offers not only books but also valuable services such as ESL classes, language programs, legal assistance, and cultural experience programs to help immigrants integrate seamlessly into the local community.
The JCFPL's Learning Center aimed to enhance their support for adults, particularly immigrants, in improving their English skills. Their goal was to enable immigrants to effectively participate in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and ultimately integrate seamlessly into the local community. To this end, the library offers free ESL courses in 4 progressive levels, open to all interested individuals.
Challenge Prompt
How can we enhance ESL programs to boost adult immigrant engagement?
Solution
Immediate Improvement
1. Streamlined Registration Process
We simplified the ESL program registration process by reducing it to a single step before the level test, eliminating unnecessary document submissions, and integrating it directly into the JCFPL website without redirecting to external platforms. This streamlined approach resulted in a significant 28% increase in new ESL student enrollment.
Visit the Website ↗
Website - Registration Page
Progressive Improvement
2. Integrated Digital Learning Ecosystem
We designed an Integrated Digital Learning Platform by centralizing all class-related information, incorporating AI-powered content, and providing easy access to valuable library resources. This platform enables students to consistently engage with learning English anytime, anywhere, enhancing their ESL experience beyond the classroom.
Mobile App - Anchor
Problem Discovery
The U.S. immigrant population significantly enhances the nation's cultural diversity, yet language barriers remain a substantial challenge nationwide.
Resource: U.S. Census Bureau, 2019 / National Center for Education Statistics, 2020
What adult immigrants faced?
- Limited English proficiency significantly impacts their daily lives, hindering job opportunities and making routine social interactions challenging.
- Improving English skills requires substantial time and financial investment, including costs for language classes, learning materials, and educational resources.
- While continuous exposure to English is crucial for improvement, many struggle to dedicate time to language learning due to demanding work schedules, family responsibilities, and other personal commitments.
Desk Research
Conducted comprehensive desk research on JCFPL, target users, and other libraries to gain insights into current practices and trends in ESL education.
Survey
Distributed a survey to 38 immigrants in the U.S. to understand their ESL learning experiences, preferences, and challenges in adapting to a new language environment.
UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
Challenges faced by students and the libraries in ESL Classes
To gain a comprehensive understanding of the ESL program experience, we conducted interviews with both stakeholders and students attending ESL classes at JCFPL and a competitor, the New York Public Library (NYPL). This research uncovered critical challenges and valuable opportunities for improvement on both sides.
Visited to an ESL class at NYPL
To better understand student learning experiences, we observed ESL classes at NYPL, examining their learning environment, tools, and methods.
Visited to an ESL class at JCFPL
We observed online ESL classes at JCFPL, examining students' learning environment, tools, and methods in a virtual setting.
In-depth Interview
We conducted 10 qualitative user interviews to discover students needs and obstacles by diving deeper into individual experiences and preferences.
Confusion from Scattered Resources and Information
Lack of a centralized platform hinders efficient tracking of information such as attendance, homework, and class materials.
"I nearly failed last semester due to poor attendance. They require at least 80% attendance to pass, but I don't know where I can check it."
- Student, Aiden
Need for Flexible and Accessible Learning Environments
Students want to practice English frequently but struggle to find time for study and assignments due to other commitments.
"I have no time to finish my assignments...I want to continue studying English during my commute, but it's hard to concentrate on the subway..."
- Student, Kozue
Higher Engagement with Interactive and Entertaining Content
Interactive multimedia classes increase engagement more than traditional lectures, enhancing the learning experience.
“I think studying at NYPL is different. There are lots of opportunities to study with fun content such as watching movies and activities…”
- Student, Leah
Desire for Social Integration Beyond Language Learning
Students seek stronger social connections and community engagement opportunities.
"I like studying at JCFPL because I get to meet a lot of people from different countries and they also want to learn English just like me..."
- Student, Jennie
Stakeholder-side Insight 💬
Interview with stakeholders
We conducted interviews with key stakeholders including a Learning Center Director, an ESL Instructor, and a Librarian to gain deeper insights into institutional perspectives, challenges, and goals for ESL programs.
Abundance Resources, Yet Lack of Awareness
While free, high-quality resources are available to assist with integration into American society beyond ESL classes, awareness of these resources is low, and utilization is even lower.
"Our library has excellent resources for American integration, but students rarely know about or use them. We must improve awareness and accessibility..."
- Instructor, Jane
Need for Streamlined Registration Process
The current registration process, with its multiple steps, unfamiliar tools and documents requirements, and extensive documentation needs, creates significant barriers for potential students.
"Since COVID, our ESL registration rates have dropped significantly, and we're eager to recover those numbers...Currently we only accept new registrations via Skype, with a five-step process before interviews."
- Director, Eric
Ideate
Co-ideation Workshop with Stakeholders
Through collaborative brainstorming with stakeholders, we identified and prioritized feasible opportunities for enhancement. As a result, we pinpointed two key areas for improvement: immediate changes for quick impact and progressive developments for long-term growth.
How Might We
How might we make English language learning accessible and engaging for adult immigrants, to help them settle into a new environment?
Solution - Digital Learning Platform
Comprehensive Class Management
An integrated platform for an ESL class to easily track attendance, progress, assignments, and access all materials.
Immersive Real-world Practice
Quick access to practice English anytime, both convenient and immersive through gamified content with real-world scenarios.
Personal AI Tutor, Genie
Get anytime speaking practice with Genie, AI tutor, who provides customized feedback in a supportive environment.
Local Community
Easily connect with others through an online community, fostering social integration beyond just language learning.
Wireframes
Usability Testing
We conducted usability testing and A/B testing with wireframes and gained valuable insights. Then, we iterated based on these insights.
01
Home - Digital Class Room
The Home tab serves as a central hub bridging physical and virtual classroom experiences, where students can easily manage attendance, course materials, and interactive assignments.
Through gamified elements and an integrated dashboard, ESL students maintain consistent class progress and engagement while enjoying flexible learning anytime, anywhere.
02
E-learning with with the real-world situations
The E-learning tab provides a personalized learning experience through gamified real-world scenarios, reinforcing classroom concepts and offering additional practice opportunities. Students can review class materials or advance their skills independently by selecting specific topics that match their interests and proficiency level.
03
E-learning with AI Agent
You can practice English with Genie, an AI agent that enables natural speaking practice through voice interactions. Students can engage with both curated scenarios and create their own conversational contexts, allowing for personalized practice sessions that build confidence in real-world communication.
04
Local-based Community
The Community tab extends classroom connections into meaningful digital interactions, where students engage with both classmates and broader interest groups. They can join topic-specific discussions, share learning experiences, and participate in language exchange activities with peers.
How Might We
How might we streamline the registration process for adult learners, making it quick and easily accessible, to ultimately increase student enrollment in ESL programs?
Solution - for Streamlined Registration Process
The previous registration process required 6 steps, including submitting a lot of documents and interviews and even they used an external platform, Skype, it made people feel barriers and burdens for potential ESL students.
Streamlined registration process integrated directly into the JCFPL website eliminates external platforms and reduces documentation, making enrollment significantly easier and more accessible for all potential students.
Key Takeaways
Build a Meaningful Product
The biggest reason why this project is meaningful is that all team members, as international students, deeply resonate with this problem and have a strong will to solve it. We directly contacted sponsors and pitched the reason why we want to solve this problem. We had a good opportunity to collaborate with the Jersey City Free Public Library. By actively identifying the problem we want to solve and taking the lead in carrying out various processes to solve the problem, we realized that having this mindset is one of the important elements in creating a sustainable product.
The Invaluable Role of Usability Testing
This project reinforced just how crucial usability testing is. When deeply immersed in building something, it's easy to develop blind spots and overlook key issues. Usability testing provides an outsider's perspective, helping to identify areas we missed entirely. But it does more than expose gaps - it also sparks fresh ideas and creative solutions we never would have considered.
user satisifaction
Through our Final Design, we surveyed 5 current ESL students about their User Satisfaction. Overall, they rated it 4.5 out of 5. Here are the reasons they provided:
- The streamlined registration process is a welcome improvement. It's so much less cumbersome now that I'm excited to recommend it to my friends!
- The ability to use AI as a personal tutor is interesting. It would be even better if we could customize the AI assistant's personality and communication style.
- Being able to track offline classes is really helpful. Even if I have to miss a class unexpectedly, I can easily access assignments and class materials right away.
Feedback from JCFPL
I was truly blown away by their final product. They spent weeks getting to know the students that we serve, and their project absolutely reflected this.
Eric Trader, Learning Center Director
