SABINA CABRERA

About

Playground

How do we make studying organic chemistry more accessible, portable, and fun?

How do we make studying organic chemistry more accessible, portable, and fun?

Formula Friends is a study app with built-in 3D interactive models, drag-and-drop tools, and fun characters.

Formula Friends is a study app with built-in 3D interactive models, drag-and-drop tools, and fun characters.

Contributions: Product scope, instructional design, illustrations and animations (Lottie)

The Problem

The Problem

Students are often unmotivated to study organic chemistry both because of its difficulty as well as the amount of spatial reasoning required to understand the subject.

Current educational and study software do not incorporate chemical structures well because of the 3D nature of organic chemistry. Students can use physical model kits to rotate and observe bond behavior in structures, however these kits are bulky and not suitable for on-the-go study.

Using my extensive background in teaching chemistry, I designed an app that incorporates several frameworks to help make studying molecular structures easier, while also keeping the core familiar UX patterns of other commonly used EdTech apps like Quizlet and Duolingo.

The ideal flow for approaching organic chemistry

The ideal flow for approaching organic chemistry

To accommodate the busy, on-the-go lifestyle of modern undergraduate students, I realized that the ideal product would need to employ established and effective learning methods such as repetitive recall while also introducing new features and a fun and delightful user interface.

I sat down with my students and asked for their pain points with apps like Quizlet, Anki, and Khan Academy. While none reports issues with their user interfaces, many wished for question bank options that allowed them to better visualize atoms and molecules - at most, these products allow the insertion of 2D images.

The solution? A mobile app that increases accessibility for chemistry while keeping the core, familiar features of study.

The solution? A mobile app that increases accessibility for chemistry while keeping the core, familiar features of study.

The solution? A mobile app that increases accessibility for chemistry while keeping the core, familiar features of study.

Keeping Traditional Learning Methods…

Keeping Traditional Learning Methods…

Because students already face the challenge of learning something new (chemistry), there was not a strong user push to redesign the UX of a traditional study app.

I aimed to keep the design sleek, simple, and in the background, allowing the questions to take center stage.

While Introducing New Interactive and 3D Study Methods!

While Introducing New Interactive and 3D Study Methods!

Students I spoke with often stated that the hardest part of studying organic chemistry was understanding the behavior of elements and their bond angles in 3D space.

Formula Friends allows students to rotate, zoom in, and observe molecules in a three-dimensional fashion.

Unlocking the 3D spaces enables the incorporation of further spatial reasoning in long-term recall.


Students I spoke with often stated that the hardest part of studying organic chemistry was understanding the behavior of elements and their bond angles in 3D space.

Formula Friends allows students to rotate, zoom in, and observe molecules in a three-dimensional fashion.

Unlocking the 3D spaces enables the incorporation of further spatial reasoning in long-term recall.


User Testing, Feedback, and iterations

User Testing, Feedback, and iterations

My goal was not to completely reinvent a study app but rather to enhance a familiar experience with progress tracking.

While I considered gamification, I opted out and chose not to incentivize points, because a dopamine-rewarding study cycle is not optimal for long-term retention. This conclusion was made from previous trials of implementing point-based extra credit based on the number of topics studied before an exam. I found that most high-point earners sped through the material and performed poorly on those topics on the exam.

I wanted to find a way to make this app more engaging, however, so I made the decision to transform elements in to cute, friendly characters. Because the app's novelty comes from the unique way you can interact with atoms and molecules, I incorporated their designs into questions to give my app a refreshing, fun brand.

Design System and Scale

Design System and Scale

There are 118 elements on the periodic table - while not every element is used in organic chemistry, I wanted to make sure the character design for Formula Friends could be scaled to model every element possible.

Organic chemistry primarily consists of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen atoms. I used the first letter of these elements as the "mouths" of the characters, which leads to engaging transition animations as seen above. Because these are the elements that students will study most, I wanted them to be seen as the fun "main characters".

For all other elements, the elemental names are represented on their bodies. Because all elements are two letters or less, this system works for the entire periodic table.

There are 118 elements on the periodic table - while not every element is used in organic chemistry, I wanted to make sure the character design for Formula Friends could be scaled to model every element possible.

Organic chemistry primarily consists of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen atoms. I used the first letter of these elements as the "mouths" of the characters, which leads to engaging transition animations as seen above. Because these are the elements that students will study most, I wanted them to be seen as the fun "main characters".

For all other elements, the elemental names are represented on their bodies. Because all elements are two letters or less, this system works for the entire periodic table.

There are 118 elements on the periodic table - while not every element is used in organic chemistry, I wanted to make sure the character design for Formula Friends could be scaled to model every element possible.

Organic chemistry primarily consists of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen atoms. I used the first letter of these elements as the "mouths" of the characters, which leads to engaging transition animations as seen above. Because these are the elements that students will study most, I wanted them to be seen as the fun "main characters".

For all other elements, the elemental names are represented on their bodies. Because all elements are two letters or less, this system works for the entire periodic table.

What's Next?

What's Next?

I have interviewed a small number of current students with their experience and thoughts on this concept with positive results! For the next iteration, I'm currently working on creating a working prototype MVP of this app to test with real users.

My experiences in independent freelance and small startups allow me an easy and straightforward experience with design brainstorms and user interviews.

I have interviewed a small number of current students with their experience and thoughts on this concept with positive results! For the next iteration, I'm currently working on creating a working prototype MVP of this app to test with real users.

My experiences in independent freelance and small startups allow me an easy and straightforward experience with design brainstorms and user interviews.

I have interviewed a small number of current students with their experience and thoughts on this concept with positive results! For the next iteration, I'm currently working on creating a working prototype MVP of this app to test with real users.

My experiences in independent freelance and small startups allow me an easy and straightforward experience with design brainstorms and user interviews.

SABINA CABRERA

SABINA CABRERA

LinkedIn

Twitter

Email