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The Inside Scoop: Lessons from TAP’s Student Motivation Research

Updated: 5 days ago

Factors that impact how students learn 21st century skills today are not what you think.


TAP Buddy, our AI-powered chatbot, was introduced during the pandemic when online tools became crucial. Initially designed to help students develop 21st-century skills in STEM and Arts, TAP Buddy has continuously evolved to better meet students' needs. Each iteration aims to enhance their experience and maximise the benefits of the tool.


To align with TAP’s user-centric values, our design team conducted user research from January to March 2024. This research focused on understanding students' motivations, drivers, and barriers to improve engagement, reduce churn, and enhance the overall user experience. Here is how the user research was conducted.


Research Design

Scope: To gain rich qualitative insights, we aimed to understand:

  • What users find exciting about TAP

  • Issues with current activity submission flows

  • Factors motivating return visits

  • Barriers to continued engagement


Technique: Detailed 45-minute 1-on-1 interviews with open-ended questions were used to uncover in-depth insights into user experiences and challenges.


Protocol: A structured protocol was established for consistency in data collection, consisting of four main components:

  1. Day In The Life Of (DILO): Examined students' daily routines to identify time availability, device access, and other factors affecting TAP Buddy usage.

  2. Content Consumption: Analysed the type of content students engage with to tailor TAP Buddy’s language and integrate familiar elements into the experience.

  3. TAP Buddy Interactions: Assessed reactions to various aspects of TAP Buddy’s features, including activities, curriculum, and rewards, to understand their impact on user behaviour.

  4. TAP Buddy Perception: Explored how students perceive TAP Buddy—whether as a teacher, bot, friend, etc.—to ensure this perception aligns with design intentions.


Sampling

The research sample was evenly split between engaged and churned users. There was also a balanced distribution among the users, ensuring a diverse sample, in terms of TAP affinity (how invested the school was), age, educational background, and gender. 


Findings

Once our team was done gathering the data, they began categorising it to uncover common themes and variations in user experience. This analysis allowed us to identify recurring patterns and obtain crucial insights for our future design direction. 


Here are some of our key findings:


Single device dependability poses risk of decreased engagement

Students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds often juggle household duties with education, making timely submissions challenging. Relying on a single device, such as a parent’s phone, can disrupt access and reduce engagement. 



Local influencers have a huge impact on kids and drive culture

Content consumption is significantly shaped by local, social, and gender-based factors, particularly in India, where online accessibility has surged. Users, especially children, prefer short-form and engaging content. Local influencers inspire children by being relatable and fostering trust. This connection allows local influencers to positively impact community culture and effectively shape the interests and aspirations of young audiences.



Gamification and rewards are a key extrinsic motivation


With the shift to online learning, reward-based learning and gamification have gained traction. Though still evolving, gamification positively impacts student engagement by turning tasks into challenges with rewards. For example, when students earned trophies for milestones, their enthusiasm and participation with TAP Buddy improved significantly.



Companion like experience in a conversational tone massively impacts relatability and engagement patterns

To succeed, an online learning platform must tailor its communication style to be engaging and relatable. Creating a friendly, companion-like experience with TAP Buddy helps students connect better with their material. A well-defined identity and consistent tone make interactions more enjoyable, which our data shows improves completion rates and increases time spent using the platform.



Social validation through appreciation helps in increasing self worth and drives user’s motivation to engage

Discussing rewards in social circles can spark friendly competition, reinforce achievements, and boost motivation. Many students reported feeling more motivated to tackle challenging tasks after receiving validation. Therefore, a strong rewards system in TAP Buddy will not only enhance engagement but also provide a sense of accomplishment that students are eager to share and celebrate.



Freedom and success are the deepest intrinsic motivators for the users to participate in any learning experience 


TAP aims to empower students by developing essential 21st-century skills, particularly for low-income students in India who lack such opportunities. This mission is a major motivator, as students see TAP as a way to improve their future and escape their current challenges.




This research helped in providing valuable insights into students’ behaviour and preferences, guiding us in making informed recommendations to enhance the user experience on TAP. We followed this up with UX experiments to further validate the findings. 


As a next step we will also be looking at analysing behaviour from a student persona point of view to get more targeted design interventions to influence behaviour.


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Written by

Fatema Ranpura

Senior UX Consultant, TAP



At The Apprentice Project (TAP), we believe kids need 21st century skills to navigate the 21st century world. A tech-enabled not-for-profit, TAP prepares children from disadvantaged backgrounds, enabling them to be thought leaders in their communities and beyond.

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