Space Bar

Space Bar is an innovative learning app on a mission to democratize space exploration and education. We break down barriers to space education by offering a platform that features a curated news feed, a comprehensive library of articles and research papers, and a collection of short courses developed by industry experts.

View Prototype

Overview

My role : Product Designer

Key deliverables :

Initial PRD
Wireframes
High Fidelity Designs
Prototype

Why?

Space exploration ignites curiosity across diverse demographics. But the key issues we want to address are:

Fragmented Knowledge: Current learning resources are scattered in blogs, research papers, and textbooks, making information retrieval a challenge.

Barriers for Beginners: This fragmented landscape creates a significant barrier to entry for aspiring space enthusiasts, particularly those new to the field.

Hindered Growth: Limited accessibility impedes the field's growth by restricting the pool of potential contributors and hindering the nurturing of future talent.

Untapped Potential: Many individuals with dreams of space exploration lack the resources to access the knowledge required to pursue those aspirations.

User
Research and
Engagement

Building on User Understanding: Space Bar prioritizes user-centered design.
- Through daily interactions, we share space news and engage in two-way communication.
- This direct feedback loop helps us understand user aspirations, learning styles, and pain points.
- We've established a community of science students from top institutions through platforms like WhatsApp.

Expanding Our Reach: We plan to broaden user research through targeted social media campaigns.
- This will connect us with a wider audience beyond those with a formal science background.
- Our goal is to engage anyone with a keen interest in space exploration.

Design
Approach

Space Bar's design prioritizes user-friendliness and accessibility. A clean interface and intuitive navigation will ensure a smooth learning experience.

An iterative development process. The app will be built and refined in stages. After each stage, we'll conduct user studies with our target audience, including members of our existing science student communities.

1 Onboarding

These screens smoothly transition a first-time user onto the app, by giving a brief gist of the variety of offerings, and finally inviting the user to sign up into the Cosmic Community.

Personalization

2

This process personalizes the learning experience by understanding each user's background and interests in space exploration.

This eventually leads to the Home Screen.

For those who are not a first-time user, the home screen consists of progress summaries of ongoing courses and saved articles.

Courses

3

The Space Bar Courses section lets you dive into space exploration through curated courses.

Browse by Category: Find courses by subject area, making discovery easy.
Compelling Course Cards: Eye-catching visuals with details of ongoing progress.
Clean Interface: A user-friendly layout keeps information clear and organized.

News Feed

4

The Space Bar News Feed delivers bite-sized updates on space exploration in a continuous, vertically swipeable format.

This ensures users can stay informed on the latest developments without getting overwhelmed.

Concise News Articles: Each news item features a single, easy-to-read paragraph summarizing a space-related discovery, mission update, or upcoming event.

Library

5

The Space Bar Library serves as a comprehensive resource hub for space exploration knowledge.

Curated Content: A curated list of articles and research papers ensures users encounter high-quality information from credible sources like universities and institutions.

Succinct Information: Titles, authors, publication dates, and estimated reading times are displayed prominently, allowing users to quickly identify relevant and interesting content.

Next Steps

Gamification

As we move forward, we plan to incorporate more gamification features, explore the potential for social learning elements.

Through gamification we want to inject a dose of fun and motivation into the learning process by incorporating elements like points, badges, and leaderboards. We aim to:

Enhance engagement: Turn learning into an enjoyable and interactive experience, fostering a sense of accomplishment and encouraging users to return for more.

Improve knowledge retention: The playful competition aspect of gamification can solidify knowledge and make learning more memorable.

Promote healthy competition: Leaderboards and friendly competition can create a sense of community and motivate users to push their boundaries.