Hatch
TEAM MEMBERS
Leo Zhuolan Zhang
ROLE
User Experience & Design Strategy
DURATION
12 weeks
METHODOLOGY
Steve Blank’s Customer Development process,
Lean Start-up, quantitative research, prototyping,
usability testings
HATCH'S MVP
LEARN & SHARE WITH ONE ANOTHER
A peer-to-peer skills-exchange app designed to create a more collaborative and conducive learning environment for students by encouraging them to help one another.
Pitch Deck
We presented this deck to a group of 11 investors.
Learning & Sharing Goals
During sign-up, students will be prompted to put their learning and sharing goals.
Suggested Peers
Hatch suggests peers to students by aligning their learning goals and interests. Students are able to connect with this pre-selected group of people after.
Connect
Connect with peers who have similar learning interests
and goals.
Chat
After students have connected with one another, they can converse with their learning peers and get to know one another.
During sign-up, students will be prompted to put their learning and sharing goals.
PROCESS
Customer Interviews with Students
We interviewed 8 students to understand their perceptions around helping their peers and the key things we learned are that:
1. Helping others is also a form of learning.
"Helping others is also a way for me to revise the subject and to learn again." —Tara

A few other students also mentioned that when they're helping and teaching their friends, they get a recap of what they learned, and in turn, know and understand it better.
2. There is hesitation in asking for help.
"I feel burdensome when I have questions because it might sound silly." —Elijah

People do not want to seem like a burden and usually only ask for help when friends who can help them are physically near them.
Concept Validation through Gathering Sign-ups
We were also on-site to publicize about our new initiative and garner sign-ups for interested parties. We did this for about three days and 80 people signed up.
Prototyping the Experience
We prototyped the whole learning exchange experience to learn what would be vital to make it fruitful for students.

Here's what we learned:
1. Coming prepared
In order for learning exchanges to be effective, students should have a basic understanding of what they want to learn and come prepared with questions.
2. Finding available time is hard
Setting up a time and place that fits both students' schedules can cause hindrance to the meeting.
Mapping the Learning Journey
We mapped out a user task flow and wireframes for the Hatch app based on the feedback we gathered from our usability testings. What we didn't include was the 'Endorse Peer' feature at the end of the journey. This is because of very conflicting opinions that we got from students—they either hate it or love it. With the interest of time, we decided to focus on the rest of the features that we knew were more crucial for the MVP.
DESIGN SOLUTIONS
MVP
Learning and Sharing Goals
Students will be prompted to write their learning and sharing goals during sign-up when they are creating their profile. This is to ensure that we can assess and connect students compatibly through their shared learning/sharing goals and interests.
Suggested Peers
Hatch suggests peers to students that might make compatible learning partners by aligning their learning goals and interests. This is so that students can bond and continue supporting each other throughout their learning journey.
Connect
Hatch will then suggest peers with similar learning interests so they can for a learning partnership. Students can connect with one another should they wish to.
Chat
After students have connected with one another, they can converse with their learning peers and get to know one another. At the beginning of each conversation, Hatch will help to break the ice by starting the conversation for them. This way, they will be able to orientate and continue the conversation.
Pitch & Demo Day
We had an ask of $520,000 to kickstart our product and achieve our next milestones and pitched this to a group of 11 investors where 9/11 of them invested, totaling the investment to $1,681,500.
LEARNINGS
Because of the highly intensive structure of the class, and our numerous pivots, we didn't have enough time to do a lot of things. But if we did, there are several things we would do:

Conduct more user interviews and testings with digital prototype in order to refine the direction and idea further.

Adding simpler ways to schedule time and location with each other.

Ideate ways in which students can adjust their comfort levels in the sharing and learning of a skill.

Talk to more schools and cafeterias for possible partnership opportunities in an attempt to solve the logistics issue.

I also learned and grew so much from this experience as a CEO of a start-up that we created from scratch. From leadership skills, to public speaking to operating a business.

Read more about it here.
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