A UX Design Concept:
The Brief
Identify an aspect of the online university study experience that can be improved, and propose an effective solution to facilitate this improvement.
1. Learn
To start, I surveyed 3 university students on their experiences with online learning. The survey sought to identify their study habits, perceived positive and negatives of studying online, and what they feel would improve their overall experience with studying online.
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Through the data collected, I created an affinity diagram to identify any patterns in the data.
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Three major themes emerged...
1. Flexibility
All three participants appreciated the flexibility of online studying and being able to attend university and access resources at their convenience.
2. Productivity
Two out of three participants had productivity issues, finding it easy to zone out or skip lectures and tutorials. They mentioned that classmates struggled to interact during tutorial discussions, making them less productive.
3. Isolation
All three participants found online studying to feel isolating. This was due to awkward and difficult interactive activities in tutorials and lack of guidance. One reported that help from teachers would vary in promptness based on the course and lecturer.
2. Hypothesise
My next step was to create a customer journey map, taking into consideration the various experiences reported by the participants. The primary challenge I wanted to address was the passive nature of online studying, which lacks the interactivity and engagement of in-class learning.
Hannah is a university student in her first year of tertiary education. She is a remote student, and so she accesses her course through the content and classes provided online. This also means that the majority of her interactions and experiences with teachers and students are kept within these constraints.
Phase 1: Awareness
Phase 2: Search
Phase 3: Discover
Phase 4: Reflect
Hannah is struggling with her coursework.
Unfortunately for her, her lecturer is frequently occupied with other students during classtime, leaving her with limited opportunity for direct assistance.
During tutorials, she and her peers remain silent in the breakout rooms. She's hesitant to be the one to initiate conversation, especially since she hasn't met them face-to-face.
Hannah understands that she must seek assistance, or she risks being unable to complete the assignment.
She looks through the course's resources to try to gather an understanding.
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She reaches out to her lecturer or a classmate if she still doesn't understand.
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If she doesn't have a classmate or lecturer she feels comfortable reaching out to, she is left to continue searching online, or give up.
The lecturer will answer her question. This may take a few days if it is over email.
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If a classmate is able to provide her with an answer, the answer may be unreliable. It could miss crucial pieces of information, be incorrect, or be misunderstood by Hannah.
Hannah eventually receives feedback from the assignment and reflects on where she went right or wrong.
The Proposed Opportunity
A platform which enhances the engagement of students studying online, by encouraging and facilitation discussion amongst peers. Upon entering the platform, users are prompted to submit a question of create a flashcard regarding the course. These are discussed amongst peers, with the best answer to be approved by a tutor or lecturer.
3-4. Prototype and test
The size and colour of text throughout the interface doesn’t meet the WCAG criteria for accessibility.
Typography and buttons aren’t consistent throughout the design. Text often varies in font, style and size.
A lot of awkward space throughout the interface.
Some visuals and icons could be improved.
The early design for this platform is notably different to the latest design. When reflecting on this assignment, I felt that the original design was in grave need of a renewal.
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Since the target user base is predominantly university students, I was determined to ensure the new design would have a clean, polished and professional look.
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I found 5 participants who were to provide me with further feedback through a walkthrough using a think out loud approach. These were the aspects of the original design that needed improvement...
Areas of improvement:
1. Text needs to meet WCAG standards.
1. Contrast ratio.
2. Font size.
2. Consistency within the design.
1. Typography.
2. Colours.
3. Buttons.
3. Negative space.
1. Reduce negative space on home page.
5. Iterate
