UCLA

Innovating educational growth through artificial intelligence, design, and data with Smart Recommendations.

Project Details

Industry: Public Sector (Education)
Role: User Experience Design
Company: University of California at Los Angeles
Date: 2017-2018

Press

UCLA Newsroom

Case Study

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a cornerstone of personalization in various industries. Social media platforms, entertainment services, and streaming media giants like Pandora and Spotify have successfully leveraged AI to enhance user experiences. However, the education sector has lagged behind in adopting this technology—until now.

Challenge

Educational institutions face the complex task of guiding students through their academic journey while preparing them for future careers. Traditional methods often fall short in providing personalized, timely recommendations that align with each student’s unique path and potential opportunities.

Process

Research and Strategy : – Created user personas based on surveys with graduate school students currently attending UCLA, and stakeholder interviews and workshops with Graduate School administration.
Information Architecture : – Created a sitemap which represented the current gradate school website a long with future pages to be designed and developed. Also created data points diagram to validate personas and relevant data.
Holistic Design Audit : – Documented already existing user interface components into a coded design system as well a new components.
Prototype : – Created high fidelity prototypes to review with internal team and handed off to development.

Conclusion

UCLA’s Smart Recommendations system shows how AI can improve education. It brings the personalized approach used in entertainment to academics, creating a more customized and engaging learning experience. As an open-source project, other schools could adopt and adapt this system, potentially changing how students worldwide access educational resources and opportunities. This initiative could set a new standard for using AI in education.

Deliverables

Site Map

Recommendation Engine

Holistic Design Audit

As part of the process a holistic audit was conducted in which all current user interface components were documented and then new design components were then produced.

Card System

Card systems are widely used in design for their flexibility and versatility. They can adapt to various types of information and are a key component of design systems. This adaptable, mobile-friendly approach simplifies complex data presentation, making information like funding data easier to read and understand.