DESIGNWNOY
Designing COR-HepB’s Global Research Platform
Team
1 Researcher, 1 Designer
Timeline
Jan 2025 - May 2025
Methodology
Participatory Research, Game Design, Playtesting
(TLDR)
Overview
COR-HepB was confined to a single webpage, limiting visibility, stakeholder engagement, and access to critical research. Partnering with the Task Force for Global Health, our team designed a dedicated platform to showcase operational research, connect global stakeholders, and strengthen donor pathways.
My Role
I led UX research and design, conducting a content audit, surveys with over 90 stakeholders across 28 countries, tree tests, co-design workshops, and iterative prototyping. I defined the site’s information architecture, created wireframes, and developed a brand-aligned design system.
Impact
Delivered a high-fidelity prototype and brand guide praised for reusability and scalability.
Established a digital framework supporting global research access and donor collaboration.
Improved navigation success rates and user confidence through iterative IA redesign.
(Our Solution)
Transforming COR-HEPB’s webpage into a research–policy–donor platform
(How We Got There)
Why strategies don’t stick and what students really need
To answer this, we took a multi-pronged approach, triangulating classroom pedagogy, cognitive science, and game-based learning to map out where comprehension support breaks down.
How We Investigated
Product Teardown - Discovery Education
Revealed limited ELA support compared to rich offerings in Math and immersive tools like Sandbox AR.
Landscape Analysis
Benchmarked ELA tools like Blooket and Reading Plus—few supported deeper strategy practice or reflection.
Literature & Standards Review
Mapped metacognitive frameworks and the Gradual Release Model to Common Core reading goals.
3 Classroom Observations
At Kumon and Howard School, students relied heavily on prompts, even during guided reading.
45 Educator Surveys
Identified top student challenges: low motivation (83%), weak attention spans (74%), and poor strategy transfer (71%).
10 In-Depth Interviews
Teachers and specialists revealed a gap between modeled instruction and independent comprehension.
(Key Insights)
Remove the support, lose the reader
Teachers often use a scaffolded approach in classrooms —> first modeling a skill, then guiding students through it, and finally stepping back. This gradual release of responsibility helps middle schoolers practice strategies like summarization and prediction across different phases of instruction.
I do → We do → You do (together) → You do (alone)
Middle schoolers learn and practice comprehension strategies at every stage, but many stall at the final stage - independent application. Once the teacher steps away, comprehension fades.
Over-Scaffolded, Under-Practiced
Most tools test comprehension but rarely teach how to read strategically. Students lean on teacher prompts and rigid platforms, leaving little space to practice and internalize strategies as habits.
Reflection Stays Invisible
Without built-in prompts, students seldom pause to ask Do I understand this? They lose track of which strategies they’re using, so comprehension fades once support is removed.
Reading Feels Fragile & Unrewarding
Invisible struggles feed weak reading identities. Many quickly label themselves “bad at reading,” while low stamina and lack of feedback make reading feel passive, leading students to avoid harder texts.
(What Emerged)
01
Students thrived when structure was baked into creative freedom
02
Scaffolded feedback improved strategy use dramatically
03
Tasks anchored reflection and strategy recognition.
04
Students were more engaged as players, not test-takers
(Turning insights to mechanics)
Designing a game that teaches how to read
The workshops made one thing clear: simply digitizing classroom tools wasn’t enough. We had to reimagine practice as play, making comprehension feel rewarding, not remedial.
In Guardians of Luminara, every interaction was designed to be fun and intuitive, while quietly doing the heavy lifting of cognitive scaffolding. Classroom strategies were transformed into game mechanics that students could learn, practice, and eventually make their own.
Some early prototypes
(Feedback from the field)
Early tests showed clear classroom value
We ran 1:1 walkthroughs with two ELA teachers and one tutor. Their verdict? This game meets a real need.
What they loved:
Scaffolding and adaptive prompts that mimic in-class supports
Multiple modes of engagement (highlighting, comics, reflections)
Opportunities for formative assessment, especially through a potential dashboard
“You’re quietly doing the hard stuff — and making it fun.”
“This is genius. You could transform kids’ lives.”
What they suggested:
Replacing multipart questions with stronger, single-prompt reflections
Tracking skill depth, not just task completion
Making annotation accuracy and effort visible to students and teachers
These insights directly shaped our smart scoring system and future plans for a teacher dashboard.
(Visual Design)
Every screen was crafted to feel like stepping into a storybook
Hours Spent
100+
Custom Assets
24
We paired warm, earthy tones with a scrapbook-adventure aesthetic to evoke the feel of a cozy, enchanted library. The interface blends hand-drawn and AI-generated visuals with dyslexia-friendly typography to support readability and focus.
Argus, the playful non-human guide, was inspired by Rafiki, Pogo, and the Mad Hatter. Finally, the background subtly weave in books, scrolls, and layered paper textures to ground students in a world built around reading.
Game Mechanics That Map to How Students Learn
Adaptive Gameplay
As students progress, the game dynamically adapts to their skill level and reading stamina. Early missions include direct prompts and stronger hints, while later levels grow more complex and open-ended.
Text density, prompt frequency, and hint strength is adjusted based on:
Accuracy trends
Time on task
Prompt usage
Indicators of reading stamina
Embedded Scaffolding
Prompts mimic a teacher’s voice, nudging students to reflect, re-read, or explain their thinking.
For instance, if a highlight is too vague, the game might ask, “What makes this detail important?”
AI powers these in-context nudges, smartly suggesting when to pause, predict, or reflect based on behavior patterns. Supports fade over time, helping students build metacognitive awareness and self-guided strategy use.
Smart Scoring
XP isn’t tied to speed or accuracy alone. Instead, it rewards strategy use, thoughtful reflection, and independence. Over time, students level up “powers” like prediction or summarization, making their growth visible and rewarding.
(Playtesting)
We put the game in front of the students it was built for, and they showed us it worked
We conducted a final playtest of the prototype with eight middle schoolers at The Howard School. Their excitement was instant — the story, powers, and visuals pulled them in.
What We Tested
Could students navigate the reading panel without getting stuck?
Did they understand the goal of the missions and tools?
Could they recall what they read after using strategy tools?
How did they feel during and after playing?
What We Observed
Story drives motivation
All students were hooked by the unfolding narrative and wanted to unlock new powers.
Gameplay felt intuitive
Highlighting and tool use matched their expectations, though some icons caused confusion.
Students valued expression
Character customization and comic building boosted engagement.
Strategies weren’t always obvious
Some skipped instructions or didn’t realize they were practicing reading strategies.
What We Improved
Replaced text-heavy guides with visual, interactive onboarding
Made reading strategies more explicit using “power cards” and skill toolboxes
Refined XP to reward strategy use and independence, not just speed
Simplified icons and added tooltips for clarity
(Reflection)
Engagement is the gateway to Comprehension
Designing for middle schoolers meant constantly balancing structure with freedom. Students craved creativity and story, while teachers needed strategy and skill-building. The breakthrough came when we stopped choosing between them, and designed for the overlap. What started as a classroom tool became something more: a world where comprehension feels like adventure, not homework.
Future Steps
Next, we’re expanding the story arcs and mission types to increase replay value and engagement. On the teacher side, we’ll build a dashboard to assign readings, monitor strategy use, and track student growth. More testing is planned with diverse readers to fine-tune scaffolds and rewards. Our final step is preparing a handoff package for Discovery Education to support continued development.