Reading platform
COREAD: Helping Graduate Students Crack Academic Readings
Why this project?
The ability to efficiently navigate and comprehend academic readings is crucial for graduate students, who are often faced with dense, complex texts across multiple disciplines. However, many students struggle to manage the volume of readings required, identify key insights, and synthesize information effectively. This project aims to develop an online reading platform specifically designed to assist graduate students in managing their academic readings.
Reflection:
Importance of analyzing current solutions in design
I started this project with the ambitious goal of creating an innovative tool that could provide students with significant relief when navigating large volumes of academic readings. Initially, I envisioned a platform capable of translating obscure words or offering direct links to explanations of specialized terms. However, while analyzing the survey and interview results, my attention shifted to how potential users discussed Perusall—a reading platform widely used in our program, yet one I had initially overlooked. Through my analysis of Perusall, I came to appreciate how effectively it addresses the real challenges faced by students and how intelligently it leverages collaborative learning to solve those challenges.
This experience highlighted the importance of critically examining existing designs before attempting to innovate. Evaluating how users interact with current solutions—identifying what works well and what causes frustration—provides valuable insights into users’ needs and expectations. Such analysis inspires innovative approaches grounded in proven principles, ultimately leading to more effective and user-centered design solutions.
I started this project with the ambitious goal of creating an innovative tool that could provide students with significant relief when navigating large volumes of academic readings. Initially, I envisioned a platform capable of translating obscure words or offering direct links to explanations of specialized terms. However, while analyzing the survey and interview results, my attention shifted to how potential users discussed Perusall—a reading platform widely used in our program, yet one I had initially overlooked. Through my analysis of Perusall, I came to appreciate how effectively it addresses the real challenges faced by students and how intelligently it leverages collaborative learning to solve those challenges.
This experience highlighted the importance of critically examining existing designs before attempting to innovate. Evaluating how users interact with current solutions—identifying what works well and what causes frustration—provides valuable insights into users’ needs and expectations. Such analysis not only helps save time and inspires innovative approaches grounded in proven principles, ultimately leading to more effective and user-centered design solutions.
Importance of analyzing current solutions in design
I started this project with the ambitious goal of creating an innovative tool that could provide students with significant relief when navigating large volumes of academic readings. Initially, I envisioned a platform capable of translating obscure words or offering direct links to explanations of specialized terms. However, while analyzing the survey and interview results, my attention shifted to how potential users discussed Perusall—a reading platform widely used in our program, yet one I had initially overlooked. Through my analysis of Perusall, I came to appreciate how effectively it addresses the real challenges faced by students and how intelligently it leverages collaborative learning to solve those challenges.
This experience highlighted the importance of critically examining existing designs before attempting to innovate. Evaluating how users interact with current solutions—identifying what works well and what causes frustration—provides valuable insights into users’ needs and expectations. Such analysis inspires innovative approaches grounded in proven principles, ultimately leading to more effective and user-centered design solutions.
I.Key insights from Affinity Mapping
🧐 Two main challenges approaching academic readings:
To better understand academic readings issue, we conducted an online survey followed by in-depth interviews with potential users and by using affinity mapping, we organized the data into 3 categories:
users' primary needs
the tools they currently use
features they find most helpful.
From the survey and interviews, we found students mainly have two key challenges approaching academic readings:
The complexity of understanding terms/concepts
Out of all participants responding to the question of "obstacles associated with academic paper reading", 71.4% identified "comprehending complex concepts" as a challenge while 57.1% found "grasping specialized vocabulary" challenging. This was supported by our interviewee who emphasized that interpretations of certain terms and concepts can alter depending on the field of study.
Insufficient background knowledge in the field
An equal percentage of survey participants - 57.1% indicated having "insufficient prior knowledge" as a key hurdle in their academic reading experience. Many interviewees seconded this due to their diverse educational backgrounds and varying degrees of pre-existing knowledge.
From the survey and interviews, we found students mainly have two key challenges approaching academic readings:
The complexity of understanding terms/concepts
Out of all participants responding to the question of "obstacles associated with academic paper reading", 71.4% identified "comprehending complex concepts" as a challenge while 57.1% found "grasping specialized vocabulary" challenging. This was supported by our interviewee who emphasized that interpretations of certain terms and concepts can alter depending on the field of study.
Insufficient background knowledge in the field
An equal percentage of survey participants - 57.1% indicated having "insufficient prior knowledge" as a key hurdle in their academic reading experience. Many interviewees seconded this due to their diverse educational backgrounds and varying degrees of pre-existing knowledge.
From the survey and interviews, we found students mainly have two key challenges approaching academic readings:
The complexity of understanding terms/concepts
Out of all participants responding to the question of "obstacles associated with academic paper reading", 71.4% identified "comprehending complex concepts" as a challenge while 57.1% found "grasping specialized vocabulary" challenging. This was supported by our interviewee who emphasized that interpretations of certain terms and concepts can alter depending on the field of study.
Insufficient background knowledge in the field
An equal percentage of survey participants - 57.1% indicated having "insufficient prior knowledge" as a key hurdle in their academic reading experience. Many interviewees seconded this due to their diverse educational backgrounds and varying degrees of pre-existing knowledge.
📖 Pros and cons of Perusall: an online interactive reading platform
Since the students in the program are required to use Perusall, an online interactive reading platform, we also researched on the feedback about this tool.
Of all the features that students think are helpful, two of them have drawn our attention. 71.4% students think "reading other students' annotation is very helpful, because "other people’s comments and annotations help me construct meaning, especially on some difficult concepts. They usually provide with examples or provide with their previous experience related to the topics". And 42.9% students feel "having discussions with peers are helpful". One interviewer said that "I really like reading discussions from my peers on Perusall because it can prompt me to think deeper". These two options share a common thread—collaborative learning, which requires students to "work in groups and mutually search for understanding, solutions, or meanings" (Smith, B.L., & J. MacGrefor, 1992). From a social constructivism view, students can learn better through this process because they co-construct knowledge by sharing experiences and ideas.
Doing shareable annotations and having conversations based on these annotations are likable and helpful features on Perusall. However, students also mentioned that Perusall highlights all the annotations from the students, so the reading page can be a bit messy and disturbing, they are forced to read all the annotations/discussions while reading, which largely slower their pace for doing readings.
Use Sticky notes to do Affinity Mapping
📖 Pros and cons of Perusall: an online interactive reading platform
Since the students in the program are required to use Perusall, an online interactive reading platform, we also researched on the feedback about this tool.
Of all the features that students think are helpful, two of them have drawn our attention. 71.4% students think "reading other students' annotation is very helpful, because "other people’s comments and annotations help me construct meaning, especially on some difficult concepts. They usually provide with examples or provide with their previous experience related to the topics". And 42.9% students feel "having discussions with peers are helpful". One interviewer said that "I really like reading discussions from my peers on Perusall because it can prompt me to think deeper". These two options share a common thread—collaborative learning, which requires students to "work in groups and mutually search for understanding, solutions, or meanings" (Smith, B.L., & J. MacGrefor, 1992). From a social constructivism view, students can learn better through this process because they co-construct knowledge by sharing experiences and ideas.
Doing shareable annotations and having conversations based on these annotations are likable and helpful features on Perusall. However, students also mentioned that Perusall highlights all the annotations from the students, so the reading page can be a bit messy and disturbing, they are forced to read all the annotations/discussions while reading, which largely slower their pace for doing readings.
📖 How does Perusall (an online collaborative reading platform) address the challenges and what limitations remain?
Since the students in the program are required to use Perusall, an online interactive reading platform, we also researched on the feedback about this tool.
Of all the features that students think are helpful, two of them have drawn our attention. 71.4% students think "reading other students' annotation is very helpful, because "other people’s comments and annotations help me construct meaning, especially on some difficult concepts. They usually provide with examples or provide with their previous experience related to the topics".
And 42.9% students feel "having discussions with peers are helpful". One interviewer said that "I really like reading discussions from my peers on Perusall because it can prompt me to think deeper".
These two options share a common thread—collaborative learning, which requires students to "work in groups and mutually search for understanding, solutions, or meanings" (Smith, B.L., & J. MacGrefor, 1992). From a social constructivism view, students can learn better through this process because they co-construct knowledge by sharing experiences and ideas.
Although students appreciated many aspects of Perusall, they also mentioned that the platform displays all readers’ annotations at once, making the reading page appear cluttered and distracting. This often compels students to read through numerous comments and discussions, significantly slowing down their reading pace.
📖 Pros and cons of Perusall: an online interactive reading platform
Since the students in the program are required to use Perusall, an online interactive reading platform, we also researched on the feedback about this tool.
Of all the features that students think are helpful, two of them have drawn our attention. 71.4% students think "reading other students' annotation is very helpful, because "other people’s comments and annotations help me construct meaning, especially on some difficult concepts. They usually provide with examples or provide with their previous experience related to the topics". And 42.9% students feel "having discussions with peers are helpful". One interviewer said that "I really like reading discussions from my peers on Perusall because it can prompt me to think deeper". These two options share a common thread—collaborative learning, which requires students to "work in groups and mutually search for understanding, solutions, or meanings" (Smith, B.L., & J. MacGrefor, 1992). From a social constructivism view, students can learn better through this process because they co-construct knowledge by sharing experiences and ideas.
Doing shareable annotations and having conversations based on these annotations are likable and helpful features on Perusall. However, students also mentioned that Perusall highlights all the annotations from the students, so the reading page can be a bit messy and disturbing, they are forced to read all the annotations/discussions while reading, which largely slower their pace for doing readings.
📖 How does Perusall (an online collaborative reading platform) address the challenges and what limitations remain?
Since the students in the program are required to use Perusall, an online interactive reading platform, we also researched on the feedback about this tool.
Of all the features that students think are helpful, two of them have drawn our attention. 71.4% students think "reading other students' annotation is very helpful, because "other people’s comments and annotations help me construct meaning, especially on some difficult concepts. They usually provide with examples or provide with their previous experience related to the topics".
And 42.9% students feel "having discussions with peers are helpful". One interviewer said that "I really like reading discussions from my peers on Perusall because it can prompt me to think deeper".
These two options share a common thread—collaborative learning, which requires students to "work in groups and mutually search for understanding, solutions, or meanings" (Smith, B.L., & J. MacGrefor, 1992). From a social constructivism view, students can learn better through this process because they co-construct knowledge by sharing experiences and ideas.
Although students appreciated many aspects of Perusall, they also mentioned that the platform displays all readers’ annotations at once, making the reading page appear cluttered and distracting. This often compels students to read through numerous comments and discussions, significantly slowing down their reading pace.
📖 Pros and cons of Perusall: an online interactive reading platform
Since the students in the program are required to use Perusall, an online interactive reading platform, we also researched on the feedback about this tool.
Of all the features that students think are helpful, two of them have drawn our attention. 71.4% students think "reading other students' annotation is very helpful, because "other people’s comments and annotations help me construct meaning, especially on some difficult concepts. They usually provide with examples or provide with their previous experience related to the topics". And 42.9% students feel "having discussions with peers are helpful". One interviewer said that "I really like reading discussions from my peers on Perusall because it can prompt me to think deeper". These two options share a common thread—collaborative learning, which requires students to "work in groups and mutually search for understanding, solutions, or meanings" (Smith, B.L., & J. MacGrefor, 1992). From a social constructivism view, students can learn better through this process because they co-construct knowledge by sharing experiences and ideas.
Doing shareable annotations and having conversations based on these annotations are likable and helpful features on Perusall. However, students also mentioned that Perusall highlights all the annotations from the students, so the reading page can be a bit messy and disturbing, they are forced to read all the annotations/discussions while reading, which largely slower their pace for doing readings.
Use Sticky notes to do Affinity Mapping
📖 Pros and cons of Perusall: an online interactive reading platform
Since the students in the program are required to use Perusall, an online interactive reading platform, we also researched on the feedback about this tool.
Of all the features that students think are helpful, two of them have drawn our attention. 71.4% students think "reading other students' annotation is very helpful, because "other people’s comments and annotations help me construct meaning, especially on some difficult concepts. They usually provide with examples or provide with their previous experience related to the topics". And 42.9% students feel "having discussions with peers are helpful". One interviewer said that "I really like reading discussions from my peers on Perusall because it can prompt me to think deeper". These two options share a common thread—collaborative learning, which requires students to "work in groups and mutually search for understanding, solutions, or meanings" (Smith, B.L., & J. MacGrefor, 1992). From a social constructivism view, students can learn better through this process because they co-construct knowledge by sharing experiences and ideas.
Doing shareable annotations and having conversations based on these annotations are likable and helpful features on Perusall. However, students also mentioned that Perusall highlights all the annotations from the students, so the reading page can be a bit messy and disturbing, they are forced to read all the annotations/discussions while reading, which largely slower their pace for doing readings.
II. Persona:
III. Design Focus: How to promote "collaborative learning" on Perusall
💬 Setting up "Display Mode" on annotation feature to help users engage with others’ comments more effectively and efficiently.
When students open a reading on Perusall, the first thing they usually notice are all the highlighted passages generated and shared by their peers through annotations and posted questions. In order to help students access a reading more efficiently, "Display Mode" features are added to help them "filter" those highlights.
ON/OFF option: Students can choose to turn Display ON/OFF all the annotations
Display only "Followed Comments" or only "Questions": When students enable the display, they can choose to view only the comments made by peers they follow or only the annotations marked as questions.
Under this feature, students can reduce distractions during the reading process while leveraging annotations to facilitate more efficient and effective engagement with the text.
💬 Setting up "Display Mode" on annotation feature to help users engage with others’ comments more effectively and efficiently.
When students open a reading on Perusall, the first thing they usually notice are all the highlighted passages generated and shared by their peers through annotations and posted questions. In order to help students access a reading more efficiently, a "Display Mode" feature is added to help them "filter" those highlights.
This feature offers three display modes, allowing students to control which annotations are shown or hidden:
All Comments: Displays all annotations and comments shared by peers.
Followed Comments: Displays only the comments made by peers whom the student has chosen to follow.
Questions: Displays only the annotations marked as questions, enabling students to focus specifically on inquiry-based discussions.
💬 Setting up "Display Mode" on annotation feature to help users engage with others’ comments more effectively and efficiently.
When students open a reading on Perusall, the first thing they usually notice are all the highlighted passages generated and shared by their peers through annotations and posted questions. In order to help students access a reading more efficiently, "Display Mode" features are added to help them "filter" those highlights.
ON/OFF option: Students can choose to turn Display ON/OFF all the annotations
Display only "Followed Comments" or only "Questions": When students enable the display, they can choose to view only the comments made by peers they follow or only the annotations marked as questions.
Under this feature, students can reduce distractions during the reading process while leveraging annotations to facilitate more efficient and effective engagement with the text.
Showcase of Display feature
💡 Creating new opportunity—Discussion Room for users to exchange ideas and learn from each others.
The discussion room provides a platform for students to freely connect with reading partners or peers who are interested in discussing and supporting each other in understanding academic readings.
This collaborative learning feature also encourages students to engage more deeply and take their readings more seriously and promotes more interactions between students.
💡 Creating new opportunity—Discussion Room for users to exchange ideas and learn from each others.
The discussion room provides a platform for students to freely connect with reading partners or peers who are interested in discussing and supporting each other in understanding academic readings.
This collaborative learning feature also encourages students to engage more deeply and take their readings more seriously and promotes more interactions between students.
Showcase of Discussion Room
IV. Usability Test:
We have recruited 6 potential target users to participate in our usability testing and sort out their comments by 3 categories: Finding a reading, Using Display Feature to read and join Discussion Room.
📖 Pros and cons of Perusall: an online interactive reading platform
Since the students in the program are required to use Perusall, an online interactive reading platform, we also researched on the feedback about this tool.
Of all the features that students think are helpful, two of them have drawn our attention. 71.4% students think "reading other students' annotation is very helpful, because "other people’s comments and annotations help me construct meaning, especially on some difficult concepts. They usually provide with examples or provide with their previous experience related to the topics". And 42.9% students feel "having discussions with peers are helpful". One interviewer said that "I really like reading discussions from my peers on Perusall because it can prompt me to think deeper". These two options share a common thread—collaborative learning, which requires students to "work in groups and mutually search for understanding, solutions, or meanings" (Smith, B.L., & J. MacGrefor, 1992). From a social constructivism view, students can learn better through this process because they co-construct knowledge by sharing experiences and ideas.
Doing shareable annotations and having conversations based on these annotations are likable and helpful features on Perusall. However, students also mentioned that Perusall highlights all the annotations from the students, so the reading page can be a bit messy and disturbing, they are forced to read all the annotations/discussions while reading, which largely slower their pace for doing readings.
Display Feature:
Users think selective display mode can help them efficiently absorb others' annotations. The process of writing annotations and notes are also easy to follow. Some users talks about they would want more interactions with annotations, for example: upvote. And the display mode could include "Only Professor Upvotes" as a filter.
Discussion Room:
Discussion room is the feature that most students are excited about. Some says discussion room could be a motivation for them to finish weekly readings on time so that they could join discussion groups and exchange ideas with classmates but some says they might not have the incentive to create or join one since annotations are already very helpful. Testers who enjoy the discussion room also suggested providing more support for discussions.
Display Feature:
Users think selective display mode can help them efficiently absorb others' annotations. The process of writing annotations and notes are also easy to follow. Some users talks about they would want more interactions with annotations, for example: upvote. And the display mode could include "Only Professor Upvotes" as a filter.
Discussion Room:
Discussion room is the feature that most students are excited about. Some says discussion room could be a motivation for them to finish weekly readings on time so that they could join discussion groups and exchange ideas with classmates but some says they might not have the incentive to create or join one since annotations are already very helpful. Testers who enjoy the discussion room also suggested providing more support for discussions.
Below shows some key features of CO-READ. If you are interested, check out the website here.
Manage bookings
Manage your bookings easily with built-in booking widget.
Showcase your listings
Show the best parts of your locations with style.
Highlight 3
Manage your bookings easily with built-in booking widget.
Highlight 4
Show the best parts of your locations with style.
Manage bookings
Manage your bookings easily with built-in booking widget.
Showcase your listings
Show the best parts of your locations with style.
Highlight 3
Manage your bookings easily with built-in booking widget.
Highlight 4
Show the best parts of your locations with style.
Manage bookings
Manage your bookings easily with built-in booking widget.
Showcase your listings
Show the best parts of your locations with style.
Highlight 3
Manage your bookings easily with built-in booking widget.
Highlight 4
Show the best parts of your locations with style.
Manage bookings
Manage your bookings easily with built-in booking widget.
Showcase your listings
Show the best parts of your locations with style.
Highlight 3
Manage your bookings easily with built-in booking widget.
Highlight 4
Show the best parts of your locations with style.
COREAD LOG-IN
Users are required to use an email to create an account.
Courses displayed
Courses are listed according to the semester.
reading page
Main reading page where users could annotate and choose display mode.
book discussion group
Users could search and book a discussion group.
COREAD LOG-IN
Users are required to use an email to create an account.
Courses displayed
Courses are listed according to the semester.
reading page
Main reading page where users could annotate and choose display mode.
book discussion group
Users could search and book a discussion group.
COREAD LOG-IN
Users are required to use an email to create an account.
Courses displayed
Courses are listed according to the semester.
reading page
Main reading page where users could annotate and choose display mode.
book discussion group
Users could search and book a discussion group.
COREAD LOG-IN
Users are required to use an email to create an account.
Courses displayed
Courses are listed according to the semester.
reading page
Main reading page where users could annotate and choose display mode.
book discussion group
Users could search and book a discussion group.