Project Diversita: When Machine Learning Meets User Experience

In this two-quarter grad school project, I explored how to unleash the power of Machine Learning to fulfill requirements that were tricky for the previous generation of technologies, with the consideration of Human-Centered Design and Engineering.

Background

Project Diversita was a Microsoft sponsored “Launch Project” at the University of Washington GIX in 2018 under the AI for Earth initiative. It aimed to empower biodiversity research by utilizing Machine Learning (ML) on Edge technology. The ML model had been trained by Microsoft Research based on the iNaturalist dataset.

I received training in Machine Learning and sensors, however for this project my role was mainly on product design. The challenge was to explore the potential market space and find a niche that fits our technology backbone best.

Time Span

Jun. 27, 2018–Dec. 07, 2018

About the Team

A ten-people team consists of UW GIX students (Phelps Xia, Hal Zhang, Ben Keller, and I) and Microsoft researchers (Dan Morris, Lucas Joppa)/engineers (Wee-Hyong Tok, Siyu Yang…