Understand Chess Website visit site
The Problem Statement
Design a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) website for learning chess from the chess experts.
Research Phase
Stakeholder and Domain Expert Interviews
- Input from various chess experts including GMs was taken during the ideation process and their constant feedback.
- Contextual Enquiry - Interviewing various amateur players with varrying abilities who were asked to play on various platforms.
How MOOC courses Work?
- Understanding different models and their efficacy.
- Youtube channels dedicated to chess
- Interactivity like quizes, assignments, etc in online courses
Video Production
- Chess GMs are not professional youtubers, so understading their needs
- Video editing and uploading softwares wrt ease of use and instruction design
Understanding the Game
- Different formats of the game - bullet, blitz, rapid and classic. Amatuers are focused on shorter formats -Blitz and rapid.
- Chess Engines
- Understanding the use of chess engines to study and its various jargon. Stockfish was the major focus of the study.
- PGNs or Moves List
- Studying PGN on different platforms and how it is integrated to analyse played games on platforms like chess.com, lichess,etc.
Chess Coaching
- Understanding needs from the masters.
- Exploring various online tools used for studying the game.
- Commentary in Chess Tournaments
- Chess puzzles online
Major Gaps Identified
Navigating Complex PGN
Amateurs face difficulties understanding moves list when various alternative lines are added to the moves.
Lack Of Interactivity
Students like to explore possible lines which might seem obvious to instructor so is not discussed during a lesson.
Content matching User Ability
Large amount of chess related content is available but enthusiasts struggle to find resource which matches their requirement.
Persona
Instructor Persona
To maintain content quality, the instructors are to be given access though invitation (or request by instructor to be vetted) We studied the incentive for instructors to be willing to publish content on the platofrm
Adison Donin
Age36
Job
Chess Tutor
Chess Title
Inernational
Master (IM)
Language
English, Spanish
Story
Kaiya is a chess IM who actively participates in the chess tournaments around her state.
She is a chess tutor in Los Angeles who provides 2-hour weekly classes of young players in collaboration with the local chess clubs.
She also mentors some upcoming talents in chess through video conferencing in weekly sessions.
She struggles with the scheduling due to increased demand of her time during the weekend hours and want to increase her profile among the professional chess community.
Goals
- Increase online chess rating
- Publication of her own material
- Increase Profitability
- Access to students outside her state
- Increased profile among professional chess community
Frustations
- Losing students due to scheduling conflicts
- Variation in quality of lessons
Tools Proficiency
- Chess.com
- Lichess
- Skype
- Powerpoint
- Stockfish
- Excel
- Operate Youtube Channel
- Premier Pro
- Coursera.com
Screens for the instructors and the admin are under NDA, so are not discussed further.
Learner Persona
Leo Donin
Age17
Job
Student
Chess Title
Amateur
Language
English
Story
Brandon is a high school student who likes to play chess. He plays blitz and rapid formats online daily on Chess.com mobile app. He has also participated in his school chess tournaments though couldn’t progress to further rounds.
He is unable to improve his game much further but is not willing to invest considerable time and money as sees chess as a hobby rather than a potential future career.
He bought a chess puzzle book by a renowned GM but lost interest after a while. He follows popular chess streamers on Youtube.
Goals
- Increase online chess rating
- Ability to evaluate game
- Win local chess tournaments
- Invest in a hobby
Frustations
- Wasting time playing online chess without improvement in game
- Unable to understand good games
- Losing interest due to lack of interctivity in screen sharing online classes
Tools Proficiency
- Chess.com
- Lichess
- Skype
- Excel
- Stockfish
- Premier Pro
- Coursera.com
Wireflow
Primary Color
#4CA0FE
Typeface
Montserrat Regular
Montserrat Semibold
Montserrat Bold
Final Design
Some of the important screens are included below.
Landing Page For Registered Users
Course Preview Tile
Instructor Profile Page
Course Page
Evaluation Mode
Lesson Question Mode
Boards Setting Modal
Mobile Screens
