Re-Designing the educational experience
UX Researcher, University of Utah
Skills: usability testing, moderated interviews, cross functional collaboration
Problem
Lack of organization and easy access to information on academic pathways and majors.
Question
How can we create a one-stop digital tool for students to plan their college experience?
What I accomplished
Lead focus groups to discover student paint points
Conducted usability testing of initial desktop prototype
Distilled insights from usability testing sessions
I conducted UX research during the discovery and initial phase(s) of the project to determine what aspects of the college experience students care about.
Duration
September 2019 - March 2020
Team
Melissa Regalado (me), University of Utah IT team, Brandon Marshall (Lead Designer), Jim Agutter (Program Manager)
Methods
Focus Groups
Usability Testing
1:1 Interviews
Method 1
Focus Group Study
Research Insights
Academic information is only available to students via an advisor, making it difficult to schedule advising appointments
Students want to engage, participate, and make connections but find it hard to identify and access these opportunities
It is unclear to students how their courses and majors connect to their career and future goals online
Challenge
Combine academic planning features into one single, accessible platform.
Constraints
Why Data Collection Influenced Timeline & Scope of Project
Constraint 1
Data Collection
It was going to take longer than we thought to gather data from students credit hour/classes taken to create a profile/dashboard as part of the platform. This also meant that we would not be able to make the dashboard interactive so students could see their academic progress on LIVE mode.
Constraint 2
Budget
Since this project was funded by the university, our tight budget influenced how many students we could interview (compensating students) and the features our team wanted to prioritize building. However, the tech department also charged for their services and therefore a large amount would also have to go towards collecting data from student dashboards. Our budget held no room for data collection.
Design Team
Design Team Releases First Desktop Prototype
This was the first prototype the design team came up with. I later tested this prototype with some students and conducted 1:1 interviews and usability testing
Method 2 & 3
Usability Testing + Interviews
Participants
Criteria
Undergraduate Students- both 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th year students.
Some of these students were selected from the first focus group.
Interview Questions for Testing
Once the desktop version of the major maps was launched, I lead in-person usability tests with 4 students on a 1:1 basis to gain insight into what students needs were with the platform. I shared the Adobe XD prototype link with the students so they could test it on their own device. I gave them the freedom to explore the functionalities for the first few minutes. Then I gave them a couple of tasks to complete:
Tasks
Find your major map
Find how many credits you need to complete that major
Explore other majors/minors you’re interested in
Discover 1-2 co-curricular opportunities you want to get involved in pertaining to the major map you selected
Questions post-usability test
How does the site feel? Describe it in 3 words
How often do you use university-related resources for academic/course planning?
Is this website easy to navigate?
Does the information for major maps make sense? Is it useful?
Would you use this platform to learn about other majors?
What would you have done if you did not have this site to help with course or major planning?
Quotes from Interviews
“This is so straightforward and not overwhelming at all. College isn’t just about taking classes and getting good grades, but being involved on campus and community can help you be part of the positive change. I think this can help incoming students!”
— Student A
“Where was THIS when I was a freshman? This information is so valuable because it can help you decide what to major in, how to be involved, and how to succeed academically.”
— Student B
“It’s nice to not have to go on different websites to look up information about other majors! I think if I’m already a declared major though, I want to just see MY maps or maps related to my major, not the general catalog with all the maps.”
— Student C
Learnings 🌟
Collaboration and communication are key to successful projects
Participating in meetings is key to making someones contributions feel acknowledged. Most importantly, documentation is crucial for keeping the team updating on timeline and project changes.
Understanding basic design terminology helps
Understanding the flow and architecture of a mobile and desktop application helped me understanding how to most effectively conduct usability testing .
Trial and error is part of the learning process
Time and budget cuts were some unprecedented changes I did not see coming for this project. However, this was when I learned that time and budget can affect the timeline of a project