CASE STUDY

Breaking Barriers: Designing a Learning Platform to Engage Girls in Coding

Imagine a learning platform co-created by the very people it's designed to serve. At FoBiD, we turned that vision into reality, partnering with the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs and DFKI to build a digital space where girls and young women could explore coding and AI. As the UX designer, I orchestrated the collaboration between researchers, AI specialists, and our target audience, ensuring that every design decision was rooted in their experiences and aspirations.

The learning portal can be seen here:

youcodegirls.de

About

Industry: Education Technology / AI / Gender Equality in STEM

Client: German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ)

Project Partners: Forschungsinstitut Bildung Digital (FoBiD) at the University of Saarland, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Didactic Innovations Gmbh

Project Scope: Design and development of a digital learning platform to introduce coding and AI to girls and young women

Target Users: Girls and young women

The Challenges

Our primary challenge was to create a learning platform that would:

Overcome barriers that discourage girls and young women from pursuing coding and learning about AI
Present complex technical concepts in an engaging, accessible manner
Provide a personalized learning experience that adapts to individual interests and skill levels
Foster a supportive community to encourage continued engagement in tech fields

My role

As the lead UX researcher and designer, my responsibilities included:

Planning and facilitating user research and design activities
Guiding the team in conducting initial user research interviews
Facilitating co-creation sessions with the target group
Leading sense-making sessions to analyze and interpret collected data
Creating the platform prototype and planning testing phases
Mentoring a junior UX designer
Collaborating with the development team to create a styleguide and theming guide

Project outline

Brief & planning

Interviews

Data analysis

Journey mapping co-creation workshops

Sense-making sessions

Prototype creation

Prototype validation

Creating styleguide and theming for the development team

Impact

From the outset, our goal was to place the voices of young women at the heart of the design process. By embracing co-creation methods and tailoring design techniques to suit their needs, we empowered them to shape the learning platform in meaningful ways.

Simultaneously, we immersed didactic and AI researchers—many with limited UX experience—in human-centered design principles. This hands-on engagement broadened their understanding of user needs, fostering a shared commitment to creating an engaging and effective learning experience. This cross-disciplinary approach was pivotal in moving beyond conventional teaching methods to a more learner-centric model.

Key Outcomes

Empowering Young Women Through Co-Creation

We actively involved girls and young women in every stage of the design process, from initial research to prototype testing. By leveraging their insights and feedback, we created a platform that truly resonates with their interests and learning styles.

Building UX Capacity Across Disciplines

We facilitated collaborative design workshops, equipping didactic and AI researchers with UX tools and methods. This enabled them to contribute meaningfully to the design process and foster a user-centered mindset within their respective field.

Scalable Design System for Future Innovation

We delivered a comprehensive styleguide and theming kit, providing a solid foundation for future platform development. This scalable design system ensures consistency and efficiency as the platform evolves to meet changing user needs and technological advancements.

Sustainable Mentorship and Knowledge Transfer

By mentoring a junior UX designer, we ensured continuity in the design process. This knowledge transfer fostered a culture of innovation and user-centeredness, laying the groundwork for future projects and initiatives.

By embedding human-centered design principles into the project, we created a learning platform that not only engages young women in coding and AI but also empowers them to shape their digital futures. Our approach demonstrates the transformative power of collaboration, inclusivity, and user-centeredness in creating innovative and impactful educational experiences.

Methods

Secondary Research

We began by diving into existing research on female underrepresentation in IT. This foundation helped us identify key barriers and potential strategies for engagement.

💡 Key Insight: Understanding the broader context of gender disparity in tech informed our approach to creating an inclusive and empowering learning environment.

User Interviews

Conducted video call interviews with girls and young women to understand their motivations for learning new skills, particularly in technology.

💡 Key Insight: Personal stories revealed that many participants were interested in tech but lacked confidence or felt intimidated by traditional learning approaches.

Data Analysis

We transcribed interviews and conducted team sense-making sessions using thematic analysis. This led to the creation of 8 personas representing our target group.

💡 Key Insight: Collaborative analysis helped uncover nuanced patterns in user needs and preferences, guiding our design decisions.

Co-creation Workshops

Facilitated 4 online workshops with 6 participants each, using personas and user need cards for journey mapping.

💡 Key Insight: Participants' ideas for the "perfect learning environment" provided invaluable inspiration for scaffolding and supporting platform users.

Prototype Creation

Developed an interactive prototype using Axure RP, including views for desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.

💡 Key Insight: Incorporating a content recommender system and personal learning companion based on user profiles enhanced the platform's personalization and engagement.

Testing

Conducted iterative rounds of usability tests and feedback sessions, focusing on refining functionality and interface design.

💡 Key Insight: Multi-round testing allowed for continuous improvement, ensuring a user-friendly and robust final product.

Styleguide and Theming

Created a comprehensive styleguide based on Material Design, enhanced with custom components to meet specific needs.

💡 Key Insight: Standardizing design elements streamlined development and improved overall user experience across multiple projects.

By grounding our design decisions in user research and co-creation, we developed a learning platform that truly resonates with our target audience. The iterative, collaborative approach ensured that every feature and design element supports the goal of inspiring and engaging young women in the exciting world of coding and AI.