BEST ACADEMY · My first E-learning app based on real need
Let me introduce myself 🦄
I am a junior Ux|Ui designer and today I am going to tell you all about the process that allowed me to make my first e-learning app.
Although I worked alone during the entire five-day process, from research to prototype, I am very grateful to my interviewees for the input they gave me. Thanks to them, I was able to design an app that meets the needs of real users.
Are you curious to know more? Then let’s go!
Brief
My brief was to launch a new product for autonomous learning on the move. My client’s intention was to generate revenue based on the subscription fees associated with accessing the content. But it was essential not to compete on price alone: the most important thing was to add value to the experience so that users could start adopting their platform.
User Persona
User personas are archetypical users whose goals and characteristics represent the needs of a larger group of users. Usually, a persona descriptions include behavior patterns, goals, skills, attitudes, and background information, as well as the environment in which a persona operates.
For this project, I received all the information about my User Person and her background.
This is Alicia, she is 31 years old and lives in Barcelona.
Alicia’s objectives are
· To move to her company’s marketing team
· To fit things into her busy schedule without upsetting her work-life balance
· To have something tangible to show her manager to demonstrate her new skills
So, the critical points are:
· Spending too much time looking for good resources to learn from
· Not sure about the quality of the information she is receiving and whether it is up to date.
Ux research process 🕵️
At this point, my first step was very clear: I needed to connect with as many people with Alicia’s characteristics as possible. It was time to start with the first phase of design thinking.
Design Thinking is a design methodology that provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. It’s extremely useful in tackling complex problems that are ill-defined or unknown, by understanding the human needs involved, by re-framing the problem in human-centric ways, by creating many ideas in brainstorming sessions, and by adopting a hands-on approach in prototyping and testing. Understanding these five stages of Design Thinking will empower anyone to apply the Design Thinking methods in order to solve complex problems that occur around us — in our companies, in our countries, and even on the scale of our planet.
Step 1 — Empathise 👂🏻
To find my possible interviewed I used tools such as Linkedin, Facebook and Instagram.
You can be sure that if you put me in front of a challenge, I won’t back down 💪🏻.
After interviewing 6 people, between 30 and 32 years old, whose job is buyers in different fast fashion companies, I proceeded to develop my affinity map.
With this information in mind, I conducted a survey to identify people’s main learning courses and their feelings about them.
The survey was designed with qualtrics.com in two languages, English and Italian, and was sent through different channels (Ironhack Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram stories and Facebook).
The survey was conducted over a 24-hour period and, up to the close, I had collected 38 responses. These are the general insights I was able to analyse from this research method:
Demographic
- Age: 31–50 years old 46,67%
- Location: Europe (100%)
- Course of learning: online (65,52%)
Charateristics:
- Very much important that the online courses you take are tailored to your specific needs (50%)
General topic:
- Follow the online course for personal interests or hobbies (23,08%)
- Professional growth and/or career change (38,46%)
- Improving my skills in my current job (38,46%)
Step 2— Define 🎯
The needs and pain points of my interviewees were clear. With this information and the business value of my client, I had to proceed to create a ranking of the main points to be developed in order to give due weight to all of them.
So, to meet the need of my user persona, my e-learning app should have these characteristics:
- Comprehensive courses for specific areas.
- It is very important that users can check the teacher’s CV.
- Mixed classes of live lectures, videos, notes and exercises. For longer courses, users would also like to receive coaching sessions (included in the final prices).
- Final prices are not a problem if the courses fulfill all the characteristics explained above.
And to meet the business need, the app should have:
- Selling coaching sessions for mid-courses
- Selling certifications at the end of courses for people who need them
- Giving discounts after the purchase of courses, so that people use them to make a new purchase or share them with others (possible clients)
Process Benchmarking
A good practice during the research process is to compare business processes and performance metrics with the best in the industry and the best practices of other companies. Dimensions typically measured are quality, time and cost.
In the process of best practice benchmarking, management identifies the best firms in their industry, or in another industry where similar processes exist, and compares the results and processes of those studied (the “targets”) to one’s own results and processes. In this way, they learn how well the targets perform and, more importantly, the business processes that explain why these firms are successful.
In this case, I analysed three different platforms Frontend Masters, Domestica and Udemi that were highlighted by my survey, focusing mainly on the type of business model and the type of courses offered.
Step 3 — Ideate 💡
With all previous data points in mind I proceed with my first hand-drawn prototype.
In each screen I try to put the information I wanted to share with my users as clearly as possible, bearing in mind that my ultimate goal was that the user would buy my courses.
Step 4— Prototype💡
Alicia will now represent myuser. As you know, she would like search a course that meet her need about the quality and structure.
She has already downloaded the app, and she has already make the log in. So, leat’s go!
- First, Alicia could scroll up and down the first screen of the e-learning application.
- She could decide to buy a course by type (medium or long duration), topic or teacher.
- She decided to find courses by topic.
- Now, click on the negotiation course to find out more.Alicia clicks on the structure, the teacher to check her linkedin, the type of lesson, and at the end, watches the video trailer.
- Alicia decides to buy this complete course and clicks on the buy button.
- Alicia has decided to buy the course using Apple Pay. She has decided not to add any coaching courses or certificates. In this case she does not need them.
- After the purchase she receives a discount code for her next purchase or to share with her friends.
- Alicia was able to start studying. Alicia is excited because she has finally found an e-learning platform that bases her course on real cases with the teacher working in the field.
But, to get a clearer picture, watch this quick video ⤵️
Step 5— Test 📋
Usability testing is a popular UX research methodology.
In a usability-testing session, a researcher (called a “facilitator” or a “moderator”) asks a participant to perform tasks, usually using one or more specific user interfaces. While the participant completes each task, the researcher observes the participant’s behavior and listens for feedback.
Why Usability Test?
The goals of usability testing vary by study, but they usually include:
- Identifying problems in the design of the product or service
- Uncovering opportunities to improve
- Learning about the target user’s behavior and preferences
As always the usability test had gave me many information for make as more correct and more simple as possible the final application.
So, I let’s check my big changes from the first to the last (the fifth) usability test.
Color Palette and Typography
The colour palette was based on orange for the main buttons and main information, and black for information of secondary importance.
The icons used also follow the same colour: orange when they are ‘active’ and black when they are not.
The font used was SF Pro Display in bold, semi-bold or light in accordance with the importance of the information that I would communicate
Conclusion
👉 We learn from our mistakes
👉 Time is not an enemy if well managed. Take a clear organization about the time will be all more easly.
👉 Research is not only the starting point but also what we have to take into account during the whole process.
If there is no good research and clear data to work with, it is not possible to do a good job.
👉 Social networks can be excellent tools in the research phase if they are used well.
👉 It is good to remember at all times and during each step the final objective of the project. The user’s need and then the customer’s.
👉 It is essential not to complicate our life or that of the end-user in any way.
👉 It is not possible to do this work if we start from a biased point of view.
👉 It is better to enjoy with all color palettes available. For the next project, I’ll sure dedicate more time to them.
👉 Observe a lot, observe more and more, and don’t leave out any detail.
Thank you very much for reading, and if you would like to share any comments with me to improve next time, I will appreciate it.
You can fin me here https://www.linkedin.com/in/susannacasali/
