Type: UX Design Project
Role: UX Designer / UX Researcher
Responsibilities: User Research / Wireframing / Prototyping / Branding
Problem
Students were struggling to use their existing virtual learning environment and did not enjoy the process of learning from it.
Goal
Craft a simplified, intuitive, and engaging environment for students to work within.
User Research
Before going into the research I assumed that students didn’t enjoy using the new application because it had a poor design as the previous VLE provided an extremely simple and intuitive user experience.
Secondary research involving the analysis of product reviews of the previous VLE provider found that many users appreciated the simple UI as it made the experience incredibly easy for students to learn from.
My primary research found that many students didn’t feel like the VLE provided a well-organised view of information. Moreover it didn’t provide a clear sense of progress or outline of the work the students had to do
Personas
Empathy Map
Designing the solution
Wireframes
Note: these wireframes are slightly more detailed
Mockups
Accessibility Considerations
- Implemented buttons for a screen reader so students can have the content read to them. This button also has a contrast ratio of 9.58 between the icon colour and background.
- Ensured majority of the most common buttons (without alternative swipe controls) are placed towards the bottom of the screen so that they’re accessible during one-handed operation of mobile device.
- The sidebars can be toggled and untoggled using swipe controls but also buttons so users can easily navigate the app with limited knowledge of swipe functionality.
Concluding Remarks
It’s very easy when designing to assume user’s will immediately understand your designs. When designing for a general audience it’s important to question whether your own knowledge is widely known.
It’s very helpful to lean into design decisions of popular apps so you can tap into what users already know.