The Intel Education PC
Design research & UX expertise to move an industry towards the goal of enabling digital literacy with the next billion users
Research Objectives & Role
How can we best design a computer that is used by children, is low-cost and able to be easily adopted in developing nation education systems at scale to bridge the digital divide and accelerate learning outcomes?
Products: Six generations of hardware reference designs and software interfaces for cloud, SaaS and desktop usage.
Research Scope: Ethnographic observations, contextual interviews, concept testing, usability studies.
Design Scope: Product opportunity proposals, design requirements, wireframes, prototypes.
Context & Challenge
Prior to the invention of ultra-low cost laptops and tablets, computers in modern education systems were dependent on heavy investments, robust connectivity and infrastructure, skilled IT management and highly trained educators. This widened the digital divide and caused technology to be out of reach for many school systems worldwide.
That all changed with commoditized laptop manufacturing that brought the cost down to < $120 per unit. However, in addition to being low cost, the devices needed to withstand daily use by children and be purpose-built for global education markets. My research began with deep-dive contextual observation with pilot programs and 1:1 deployments (where each student has their own device to use throughout the school day) to compare context of use in wealthy school systems versus the rest of the world.
Here is a concise summary of my research framework that I applied to identify design requirements and generate insights for future generations of our education platforms and software.
I conducted dozens of contextual interviews with teachers, IT managers, principals, ministries of education leaders, students, parents, curriculum planners and education technology specialists across 4 continents. My research richly illustrated how devices were being applied in the context of achieving learning objectives and where that became difficult or failed due to barriers to adoption. With each research trip, I brought reams of photos and videos to share with the product team and emphasize pain points encountered and product design opportunities.
At a very high level, I identified the following pain points and design objectives that became part of our North Star for product design and innovation:
Pain Points
- Unreliable power and connectivity
- Limited or absent IT resources
- Cramped spaces with mobility needs
- Ambivalent educators & misuse
High-Level Design Objectives
- Locally relevant
- Sustainable
- Highly portable & durable
- Aligned with curriculum & learning outcomes
- Tailored for country-specific needs
Designing for the above pain points and objectives was a start, but in order for technology adoption to thrive and scale in schools, additional needs had to be fulfilled across all user touchpoints. Those needs (many aspirational) were:
Exploring Design & Differentiator Opportunities
Armed with rich generative research insights, I brought our team of industrial designers, UX designers and hardware engineers into our design studio. I shared research insights, held ideation sessions and engaged in participatory design activities to prototype hundreds of concepts for software and hardware we could potentially enable. I then held strategic UX discussions with product executives to work through trade-offs with cost and technical resource constraints and funnel design into viable opportunities for prototyping.
Once designs were flushed out, I created concept cards to take back in the field to research feature priorities and preferences with ministries of education and local OEMS. The resulting card sort data and feedback helped us further funnel the right design trade-offs with hardware features and software enablement that was also important to our customers.
