🔭🌌
Case study
Charting Your Constellation of Support
☞ About
For my master’s project in the Learning, Design and Technology (LDT) program at Stanford's Graduate School of Education, I created Octans — a digital platform that seeks to empower marginalized high school students in their career pathways through identifying, acting upon and expanding their social capital. The project was awarded funding from the Technology for Equity in Learning Opportunities.
❁ Role
As the project manager and the lead product designer, I was responsible for every step of the way from defining and researching the learning problem to prototyping and testing solutions to marketing and analysis.
⚘ Highlight
I am proud of the relationships I built with target learners and how Octans helped them to visualize their sources of support.
Using the Octans web application, target users created visualizations of a diverse set of networks. These social learning ecology maps differed greatly in the number of relationships, relationship closeness and types of support.
✴︎ Abstract
We all belong to social networks. The embedded resource in this system, social capital, is a key determinant in our academic and career trajectories. Fortunately, these networks are dynamic and we can learn to recognize, nurture, and utilize our social networks. Octans seeks to empower high school students, particularly marginalized youth, by raising their awareness of the importance of social capital and guiding them to find, act upon and expand their surrounding resources. As a web platform, Octans features (1) interactive narratives of how relevant role models have used social capital, (2) a visualization tool that helps students identify and reflect on their social networks, and (3) a goal-setting and action-planning journal with prompts and strategies to build social capital. Along with other mentoring resources, Octans aspires to prepare learners to pursue interest-driven learning pathways using their social networks.
We all belong to social networks. The embedded resource in this system, social capital, is a key determinant in our academic and career trajectories. Fortunately, these networks are dynamic and we can learn to recognize, nurture, and utilize our social networks. Octans seeks to empower high school students, particularly marginalized youth, by raising their awareness of the importance of social capital and guiding them to find, act upon and expand their surrounding resources. As a web platform, Octans features (1) interactive narratives of how relevant role models have used social capital, (2) a visualization tool that helps students identify and reflect on their social networks, and (3) a goal-setting and action-planning journal with prompts and strategies to build social capital. Along with other mentoring resources, Octans aspires to prepare learners to pursue interest-driven learning pathways using their social networks.
| Learning outcome | Key feature | Design principles | Technology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recognize that success is not an individual undertaking: social capital is a key determinant | Interactive stories from the community |
|
|
| Identify available social support in their social networks and distinguish between different types of support | Social learning ecology map |
|
|
| Apply strategies for building supportive relationships that can further their interest-driven pathways | Goal setting and tracking |
|
|
✴︎ Finding & understanding learners
In my master’s program, I had the opportunity to develop an entire project from scratch. I was overwhelmed by the possibilities at first. I was curious about many things—teacher development, mentorship, creativity, computational thinking—and I wanted to explore them all in a single project.
I ventured out into local learning environments with an open mind. At an organization promoting digital media literacy in local communities of color, observing and interacting with the students and teachers reminded me of how much I missed mentoring kids, but also its various challenges:
In my need-finding interviews, middle and high school students shared a variety of goals. Some wanted to achieve a college scholarship through playing sports, some wanted to become film makers, some wanted to give back to their communities. When I asked them how they will achieve these goals, they answered that they will find a way by working hard on their own.
They had big dreams, but they were not yet aware of the critical role social capital can play in helping them reach their goals.
✴︎ Defining the learning problem
Research into literature revealed that social capital is not evenly distributed in our society. Individuals belonging to majority groups have easier access to resource-rich networks that not only offer a greater quantity of social capital but also a greater variety of social support. Moreover, low-income and racial or ethnic minority students, like the ones who I had met, have also been observed to hold cultural values that emphasize self-reliance and loyalty to adults in the family, which can act as barriers in cultivating social capital.
When I spoke with marginalized students who had graduated from mentorship programs in high school, they embodied these values.
Another student who had learned to reach out for support still exhibited a strong sense of independence and at the same time, articulated the importance for youth themselves to see the value of social capital:
Mentors can help youth understand and utilize social capital, so I could have focused on adults as learners, finding ways to teach them how to better guide students. It would have been easier to find target users to interview and test prototypes. However, I wanted to focus on mentees as learners first, to leverage their value of self-reliance and potentially reach more learners.
With mentees as learners, I sought to achieve the following three main learning objectives:
✴︎ Brainstorming ideas
The idea of using narratives emerged from many of the research sessions. Older students who had been in the shoes of my target learners shared their past struggles and strategies, which inspired me to think about how to include their stories as a guide. On the other side, speaking with mentors sparked ideas about flipping perspectives and having learners pretend to be mentors themselves. I drafted interactive fiction to teach help-seeking strategies.
In my master’s program, I had the opportunity to develop an entire project from scratch. I was overwhelmed by the possibilities at first. I was curious about many things—teacher development, mentorship, creativity, computational thinking—and I wanted to explore them all in a single project.
I ventured out into local learning environments with an open mind. At an organization promoting digital media literacy in local communities of color, observing and interacting with the students and teachers reminded me of how much I missed mentoring kids, but also its various challenges:
- How can mentors provide more personalized support for mentees?
- How can mentees more easily reach out to mentors?
- How can we create enduring mentorships?
In my need-finding interviews, middle and high school students shared a variety of goals. Some wanted to achieve a college scholarship through playing sports, some wanted to become film makers, some wanted to give back to their communities. When I asked them how they will achieve these goals, they answered that they will find a way by working hard on their own.
“One thing I would want to accomplish next year is becoming more independent and making a path for myself and my family.”
They had big dreams, but they were not yet aware of the critical role social capital can play in helping them reach their goals.
✴︎ Defining the learning problem
Research into literature revealed that social capital is not evenly distributed in our society. Individuals belonging to majority groups have easier access to resource-rich networks that not only offer a greater quantity of social capital but also a greater variety of social support. Moreover, low-income and racial or ethnic minority students, like the ones who I had met, have also been observed to hold cultural values that emphasize self-reliance and loyalty to adults in the family, which can act as barriers in cultivating social capital.
When I spoke with marginalized students who had graduated from mentorship programs in high school, they embodied these values.
“Growing up, I feel like asking for help was a weakness.”
Another student who had learned to reach out for support still exhibited a strong sense of independence and at the same time, articulated the importance for youth themselves to see the value of social capital:
“These people only help because they see that you want to be helped.”
Mentors can help youth understand and utilize social capital, so I could have focused on adults as learners, finding ways to teach them how to better guide students. It would have been easier to find target users to interview and test prototypes. However, I wanted to focus on mentees as learners first, to leverage their value of self-reliance and potentially reach more learners.
With mentees as learners, I sought to achieve the following three main learning objectives:
- Recognize that success is not an individual undertaking and that social capital is a key determinant of success
- Identify social support in their social networks and distinguish between different types of support
- Apply strategies for building supportive relationships that can further their interest-driven pathways
✴︎ Brainstorming ideas
The idea of using narratives emerged from many of the research sessions. Older students who had been in the shoes of my target learners shared their past struggles and strategies, which inspired me to think about how to include their stories as a guide. On the other side, speaking with mentors sparked ideas about flipping perspectives and having learners pretend to be mentors themselves. I drafted interactive fiction to teach help-seeking strategies.
Inspired by social network maps, I also created various prototypes of a visualization tool to help students reflect on their current social capital. I experimented with ways to represent the different types of support. I also explored how to depict these connections in relation to a student’s social learning ecology, specifically for an interest-driven career pathway. I combined these visualization ideas with narratives as learning exercises.
Over the course the project, I consistently gathered ideas and feedback from my program cohort through group brainstorming sessions and individual tests.
✴︎ Testing concepts and refinement
Pilot tests with target learners revealed that the tool was an effective framework to help students open up about their support network and to identify their network’s strengths and weaknesses. In these sessions, I would first interview students about their interests, goals and beliefs about success, followed by then I would ask them to use the prototype while I probed them about their actions. The students after the session talked about how the prototype helped them to recognize the social support in their lives.
The tool also motivated students.
Students also felt a sense of safety because the tool “reminded myself that I have people to talk to, that I’m not alone.”
✴︎ Testing concepts and refinement
Pilot tests with target learners revealed that the tool was an effective framework to help students open up about their support network and to identify their network’s strengths and weaknesses. In these sessions, I would first interview students about their interests, goals and beliefs about success, followed by then I would ask them to use the prototype while I probed them about their actions. The students after the session talked about how the prototype helped them to recognize the social support in their lives.
“Before, I never recognized how much my uncle helps me. Now that I see this, and I think about it, he actually does, he’s really involved in my life.”
The tool also motivated students.
“It makes me want to push harder. Because I told my grandma and my mom and my uncle that I want to go to college and in high school I wanted to get a scholarship for basketball.”
Students also felt a sense of safety because the tool “reminded myself that I have people to talk to, that I’m not alone.”
Previously I had thought that the visualization activity would be an appropriate last step in the learning journey, however, I learned from testing that students began to better grasp the different types of social support through the map. Perhaps it can be introduced earlier as an diagnostic assessment and learning companion.
While students responded positively to the prototype, I also discovered that it was difficult to prompt students to build more supportive relationships. Many students were content with their current network. Hence, I began brainstorming a goal-setting and action-planning journal with prompts and strategies connected with the map that can help students to continue building social capital in real life.
![An example worksheet from a pilot session with a target learner that includes their interest mind map, their social learning ecology map and their action steps toward the goal they set during the session]()
✴︎ Branding and theme
I decided a space theme to offer continuity and an analogy for students in their learning journey. The project is named after one of the 88 modern constellations: Octans. This constellation is named after the octant, a navigational, reflecting instrument. Like this instrument, the project Octans hopes to help students to reflect on their social networks and better navigate the building of supportive relationships. To visualize students’ social learning ecologies, Octans uses the stars to represent the students, the planets around them their supportive relationships, and the moons around the planets the different types of social support.
While students responded positively to the prototype, I also discovered that it was difficult to prompt students to build more supportive relationships. Many students were content with their current network. Hence, I began brainstorming a goal-setting and action-planning journal with prompts and strategies connected with the map that can help students to continue building social capital in real life.
✴︎ Branding and theme
I decided a space theme to offer continuity and an analogy for students in their learning journey. The project is named after one of the 88 modern constellations: Octans. This constellation is named after the octant, a navigational, reflecting instrument. Like this instrument, the project Octans hopes to help students to reflect on their social networks and better navigate the building of supportive relationships. To visualize students’ social learning ecologies, Octans uses the stars to represent the students, the planets around them their supportive relationships, and the moons around the planets the different types of social support.
✴︎ Learning assessment
Before and after testing the latest prototype, participants in the next round of user tests filled out pre- and post- surveys which included questions on demographics, the importance and frequency of social support, and social network size.
Before and after testing the latest prototype, participants in the next round of user tests filled out pre- and post- surveys which included questions on demographics, the importance and frequency of social support, and social network size.
The interviews and survey data with target learners demonstrated that after using the prototype, learners are more aware of and grateful for their social networks, further support pilot test results. Using the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale, I observed a noticeable increase in participants’ estimate of the frequency of receiving social support and a slight increase in their value of social support in the post-survey. It appears that Octans may have helped participants to identify more social support in their lives and also become more aware of its importance.
In addition, learners are better able to articulate the types of support they encounter in their social networks. Finally, they feel a greater sense of agency to work towards their goals knowing that they have the support from these bonds and the possibility of building new ones:
During my final presentation, my reviewers were impressed by the evidence that I had collected. They offered suggestions to further investigate the different types of target learners. They also contributed new ideas regarding the use of the tool. For example, local organizations could promote their services and opportunities through the application. During the public showcase, the audience enjoyed interacting with the web application and offered support for the goals of the project.
✴︎ New directions
After the completion of my master’s program, I reassessed the needs of my target learners and realized that it was important to create a tool that was more accessible at various locations, like home, school, and afterschool programs. While not many of my target learners have access to a computer at home, most do have access to a smart phone, especially Androids, so I began working on mobile designs.
"[Octans] revolves around you... It doesn't necessarily use its own opinion or its own coding of AI to help pick which friends are the best for you, but it wants you to pick and wants you to make the final decision... If we are the people who make the final decision about it, if we have that power, the technology is good.”
During my final presentation, my reviewers were impressed by the evidence that I had collected. They offered suggestions to further investigate the different types of target learners. They also contributed new ideas regarding the use of the tool. For example, local organizations could promote their services and opportunities through the application. During the public showcase, the audience enjoyed interacting with the web application and offered support for the goals of the project.
✴︎ New directions
After the completion of my master’s program, I reassessed the needs of my target learners and realized that it was important to create a tool that was more accessible at various locations, like home, school, and afterschool programs. While not many of my target learners have access to a computer at home, most do have access to a smart phone, especially Androids, so I began working on mobile designs.
New challenges arose switching from web to mobile. It was difficult to display all the essential information on the social learning ecology map on a much smaller screen. So I designed a zoom filter that allows users to switch between different views that vary in level of detail. For example, the support moons around individual planets are not visible unless the user is viewing a smaller section of the map.
I also added other filters to focus on different use cases. The support filter for the social learning ecology map allows users to easily highlight individuals providing a specific type of support. The date filter also allows users to examine how their map has changed over time.
I also added other filters to focus on different use cases. The support filter for the social learning ecology map allows users to easily highlight individuals providing a specific type of support. The date filter also allows users to examine how their map has changed over time.
I confronted remaining challenges from the web application as well. For instance, the onboarding process was tedious — the user has to input a lot of information upfront. So I sought to streamline the process. Instead of adding support to each person in separate tabs as in the web application, the mobile application allows the user to add all the information for a person at once. In addition, they can now easily update this information by clicking on the person in the map.
![When adding or updating people in a social learning ecology map, users can include details about the nature of the relationship, its closeness and the types of support it provides.]()
Overall, the mobile prototype offered a more complete experience than the previous web version. From the home page, learners can view their support balance and “flight path” that reminds them of their goals and action steps. In addition to their map, learners can also easily access stories and resources that guide them in understanding social capital and how to nurture it.
![Dashboard and resource pages]()
✴︎ Next steps
As I recognized early on, Octans can also target the needs of school counselors and youth program mentors. Feedback from my reviewers further validated this direction. Hence, as a next step of the project, I would like to explore their needs and how they might interact with the platform. For example:
✴︎ Reflections
Overall, the mobile prototype offered a more complete experience than the previous web version. From the home page, learners can view their support balance and “flight path” that reminds them of their goals and action steps. In addition to their map, learners can also easily access stories and resources that guide them in understanding social capital and how to nurture it.
✴︎ Next steps
As I recognized early on, Octans can also target the needs of school counselors and youth program mentors. Feedback from my reviewers further validated this direction. Hence, as a next step of the project, I would like to explore their needs and how they might interact with the platform. For example:
- How can counselors and mentors use student input to determine their intervention strategy?
- How will mentors interact with students through the application?
- What details can different individuals on a student’s map access?
✴︎ Reflections
- Get out of the bubble. Finding learners in marginalized communities was inherently difficult. Just as the lack of social capital hindered students from reaching opportunities, it hindered my efforts to reach them. I had to get out of the Stanford bubble. I tried to connect with organizations targeting a similar population of learners and visited places where they gathered. I wish I had started making these connections earlier in the school year to establish stronger trust and spend more time in these learning environments.
- Awareness is the first step. Although my time with each target learner was limited, I was pleasantly surprised by how the social capital framework gave them another way to view their potential. However, it takes time for a new perspective to settle in and affect behavior. If I were to continue with this project, I would establish a cohort of learners to work with for a longer period of time.
- Don’t overthink it; test it. I had ambitious goals. I wanted to take students through an experience that probably warranted a semester, if not longer. Although it is important to plan, I learned that sometimes you just have to stop thinking and test an idea. Feedback is both critical to evaluating your concepts and a source of energy that can spark your creativity.
I voiced, animated and edited this marketing pitch video