CORI - Community of Relatable Ideas

Prototype link:

Link

Project Overview (Max 150 words)

Our project, CORI (Community of Relatable Ideas), is a plugin and web-based tool designed to create an alternate platform for connecting students with professors. It aims to bridge generational communication styles and reduce the hesitation many feel about reaching out beyond the classroom.

CORI features personalized user profiles with tags for hobbies, interests, and games. Cori also allows users to join discussions among Cori users. CORI’s plugin version allows users to link their account directly to professional platforms like LinkedIn. By locating the CORI button on a professional profile and logging in with school credentials, users gain a new pathway to building meaningful, lasting relationships with educators.

Describe your research process and findings. If you conducted any surveys or interviews, please include the survey form and/or interview questions here. (Max 500 words)

We began our research process by identifying three guiding questions, starting with the core problem: what issue are we attempting to address? We were encouraged to examine our daily lives for instances in which a generational divide results in missed opportunities or meaningful losses. Our initial observation came from lived experiences and focused on the divide between students and educators, which we found was a common experience among the students we surveyed.

To better understand this issue, we surveyed students who revealed a strong interest in engaging in more stimulating conversations with professors beyond the classroom setting. Despite this interest, many students expressed hesitation or uncertainty about how to initiate such interactions. One student noted that developing a connection with a professor allowed them to “gain insights” into unfamiliar fields, yet they still struggled to communicate outside of formal channels such as office hours or email. Of the 25 survey responses collected, more than half indicated they were likely or very likely to desire conversations with their professors that extended beyond course-related topics, yet most of them don’t reach out to their professors.

Our second research question focused on how this problem is currently addressed. We examined existing opportunities for student-faculty interaction, including academic events, coffee chats, research opportunities, and informal discussions. However, these settings often introduce additional pressure, such as the expectation to network professionally or to make particularly efficient use of a professor’s limited time.

This brought us to our third question, why don’t these methods work? Findings from our survey supported this observation, identifying time constraints and generational differences as the two most significant barriers preventing students from engaging with educators. Further secondary research suggested that office hours, while intended to facilitate connection, frequently reinforce formality and contribute to the anxiety surrounding student-faculty interactions rather than alleviating it.

A short but informative educator survey also revealed that educators are more than eager to discuss topics beyond classwork with their students. Their constraints also include time, but mainly a lack of communication from the students’ end, suggesting that bridging that age gap while remaining professionally acquainted makes students struggle to speak freely and ask questions.

Based on these findings, we concluded that the problem is not a lack of interest in connection but rather the absence of an accessible and low-pressure space for interaction. This led us to focus our solution on developing a platform centered on informal communication, one that encourages idea exchange, reduces hesitation, and fosters a sense of community between students and educators.

Describe your most important design decisions. What research findings and/or user testing results led you to make these decisions? (Max 500 words)

Our first and most significant design decision was to simplify the interface as much as possible to ensure accessibility across all age groups. We chose to reimagine a familiar, nostalgic Facebook-style layout combined with Reddit-inspired discussion threads. This decision was central to our process, as one of our original goals was to make digital platforms feel more approachable and intuitive for older generations. The use of darker color tones was also intentional and integral to CORI’s identity, as the platform is designed to be used beyond the classroom, particularly during evening hours as a leisure activity.

After establishing the interface style and visual theme, we turned our attention to selecting the appropriate medium. Initially, CORI was envisioned as a mobile application positioned somewhere between a professional networking tool and a social platform. While this concept carried through our early low-fidelity wireframing, the mobile app offered little additional functionality compared to existing networking applications. So, we explored a web-based platform, where larger screens allow for more comfortable viewing and interaction within discussion spaces.

To further extend the platform’s utility, we decided to integrate CORI as a browser plugin. This approach allows CORI to exist seamlessly alongside established social and professional networking platforms, enabling users to link accounts for accessibility and synchronization. By clicking a CORI badge on a LinkedIn profile, users can quickly view shared interests, hobbies, and past discussions, making initial connections between students and educators more personal and approachable.

Leveraging AI. (Max 500 words)

We chose to leverage AI within this project to enhance the visual aspect of our design. We used AI to quickly generate a representative screen that mimicked LinkedIn’s interface for the purpose of demonstrating the plugin concept. We also generated images of our users to create realistic profiles and conversations within the prototyping of the app to give the demonstration a feel of real communication and connectivity.

Built With

• figma