for/of colab

learning design | prototyping | graphic design | ux

About this project

My Social Media in Learning Environments class (EDCT-GE 2040) was tasked with identifying a learning need that could be supported through social media and create a design to support that need.

For my project, I wanted to address the gross disparity in the representation of women in computing occupations. Although women comprise 57% of the workforce in the United States, they only account for 25% of those occupations (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). This issue is made more urgent by the anticipation of 3.6 million open positions in this field by 2029 (National Center for Women & Information Technology [NCWIT], 2021).

The target audience for my project is women participating in a coding or similarly computer-based boot camp program. As part of this project, I designed a tool intended to aid in community-building and knowledge co-construction so that participants may gain a deeper level of understanding of course material and form bonds that can continue in both professional and social contexts.

Read the full project paper

Design prototypes

My design for this project is a platform called for/of colab. It’s a space for boot camp participants to gather and build a community with fellow attendees while also supporting each other as they learn new tech skills. It’s a platform where women attending boot camp can interact through chat, collaboratively build a wiki of what they’re learning, post and answer questions in a forum, and even give out kudos to thank each other for support.