The Reason Why an Education Platform Created Emojis: SUMoji, The New Face of CLASSUM
In March 2022, CLASSUM announced its new emojis, called SUMojis.
Why did an education platform such as CLASSUM put a lot of effort into creating emojis? Instilling CLASSUM’s philosophy and values was an important motivation for creating the SUMojis. We asked Stig, the head of CLASSUM’s design team, and Crystal, product designer at CLASSUM, about the story and process behind creating 17 types of SUMojis.
Hello, please introduce yourself.
Stig: Hello, I am Stig, the head of design at CLASSUM. While I was working as part leader of the design group at Samsung Electronic, I met CLASSUM’s co-CEOs, Lynn and Jin. I joined CLASSUM’s team in October 2020 because I had a lot of interest in and passion for education, stemming from the lectures I have given at various venues throughout my career. I decided to embrace the new challenge and take advantage of the unique opportunity to bring about change to corporate culture and work processes, which may be difficult to do at other companies.
CLASSUM’s design team is comprised of a product part and a design part. As the head leading both parts, I support my team members in their efforts to grow CLASSUM’s business as well as their own careers.
Crystal: Hello, I am Crystal, a product designer. I am in charge of product design and service improvements, together with Product Management and developers.
Before I joined CLASSUM, I used to work at a contract outsourcing company that provided design and development services to our clients based on their short term needs. I joined CLASSUM so that I could do work focusing on the user — that is, observing, analyzing, and designing the user experience.
At CLASSUM, I am applying the “Double Diamond” method to the actual work process. What an experience to be able to actually apply a methodology I learned in UX classes! That was the most attractive thing about joining CLASSUM.
Stig: The Double Diamond Model is a representation of the repetitive process of divergence and convergence of thoughts in the shape of a diamond. Through the process of discovery(divergence)-definition(convergence)-development(divergence)-delivery(convergence), various ideas are grown, summarized, and narrowed. In the CLASSUM design team, members can lead their work with ownership in all areas without distinctions between planners and designers.
CLASSUM’s new face, SUMoji, was born. What was the reason behind it?
Stig: There were two reasons. In CLASSUM, there is an emoticon that represents functions, such as “I am curious too.” The first reason was to improve our emoticons to be more suitable for such functions. The second reason was to make the emoticons capable of incorporating CLASSUM’s brand story and vision and use them in our branding.
Crystal: That is correct. For example, the previous “I am curious too” emoticon used to have more of a thoughtful expression, but CLASSUM wanted to express empathy as in “I have the same question.” The previous design was made based on the emoticon of another service, in which it was difficult to incorporate CLASSUM’s identity, so we proceeded to remake it.
I primarily do product UX/UI design, but I became responsible for the SUMoji project by taking advantage of my experience as an intern for the Kakao brand IP team.
Comparison of CLASSUM’s emoticons before and after the revamped SUMojis
How to use the “I’m curious too” SUMoji
Crystal! Tell us about how you created the SUMojis.
Sure, let me explain how we revamped our emoticons. We created our SUMojis based on the Double Diamond Model I explained earlier.
First, Discovery. We looked for as many references as possible.
In order to get inspiration, it is important to get exposure to various experiences and material. We covered a broad range, looking at articles about how other companies redesigned their emoticons, other illustrators’ work we liked, Pixar’s animations, and work products of other companies that do branding with their IP.
Second, Definition. We set principles and goals for the design.
We set principles and goals for the design, considering the shortcomings of the previous emoticons and the messages to be delivered to the users with our new SUMojis. During this process, we were able to narrow the direction of our IP development. What was important was not to simply create good looking emoticons, but to design emoticons that visually represented CLASSUM’s identity, including communication, questions, and empathy.
Third, Development. We made as many sketches as possible.
Based on the goals and principles we set earlier, we started sketching and selected prototypes A and B out of our many sketches. Prototype A has the general shape of a round and yellow face and had the advantage that users could easily use it. Prototype B was made to visualize “questions,” which is CLASSUM’s key identity in the form of a speech bubble. Our principal value is to “communicate through questions and discussions, and learn together.” It was a prototype that had the benefits of incorporating CLASSUM’s values and being capable of being modified in a variety of ways.
Fourth, Delivery. We completed creating the SUMojis together.
We conducted a survey of all of our team members at CLASSUM and collected their opinions. The group that selected Prototype A had the opinion that it allowed users to focus more on emotional expression due to its overall unified form. So Prototype A would function better as an emoticon on a small mobile screen than Prototype B. The group that selected Prototype B pointed out that the speech bubble shape has the advantage of showing CLASSUM’s identity and is more distinct from our previous emoticons. So, we further developed Prototype A to incorporate the values expressed by the group that selected Prototype B and completed our SUMojis. We added our completed SUMojis to various areas, including posts and comments. Search for our SUMojis in various areas of CLASSUM!
The 17 types of SUMojis (left) and some ways to use SUMojis in CLASSUM (right)
How was this project?
Crystal: As the designer, I had heavy responsibilities for this project. Designing an emoticon requires being representative of both functions and the objectivity that is shared by everyone, so I had to consider a number of factors. But as much as I was doing work, I also felt that I was having fun, looking at cute things all the time. It was fun to feel like I was doing work and healing at the same time.
Stig: It is quite challenging to conduct a design project at a startup that does not have an established brand identity because of vast differences in processes. This exemplary project can also establish precedent for future brand design processes, so it is a burdensome task. I am thankful to Crystal for overcoming such burden and completing her roles and responsibilities.
Please introduce CLASSUM’s design team.
Crystal: CLASSUM’s design team members have a constructive relationship, in which each team member performs their role responsibly and complements other members’ shortcomings by sharing. We actively participate in discussions about our concerns. It is useful to learn about what team members in other parts are doing and worried about.
Stig: CLASSUM’s design team provides an environment where members can grow to become a design leader with their work experience and personal capabilities not just focused on a single area. We are completely responsible for a “one-bite size” project from start to finish so we can own our projects. This serves as a foundation to become a successful product.
We understand that CLASSUM is searching for a designer to work with CLASSUM’s design team. What kind of talent are you looking for?
Stig: We don’t have clear distinctions between planners and designers, so we are looking for anyone who has basic knowledge in each area and an optimistic personality to enjoy the long journey of planning and design.
Crystal: I would like to work with a colleague who is enthusiastic and will think about their own growth in addition to CLASSUM’s growth. We spend the largest part of our weeks enhancing CLASSUM’s products. Wouldn’t it be nice to think of all that time spent on work as also time spent to develop ourselves? I would like to meet designers who are energetic with such thoughts and will provide motivation for growth to each other.
👉 Click here to go to CLASSUM’s job posting: 1st half of 2022, Hiring Brand (BX) Designer
How to use SUMojis!
The quality of education is improved with more questions and communication between learners. Use SUMojis to react to questions and comments, and communication will double. See the guide below on how to use SUMojis.
Learn more about CLASSUM 👉 www.classum.com
Any questions? 👉 Ask us!
