RESPONSIVE WEBSITE
FOR FINDING A STUDY PARTNER IN AN ONLINE ART SCHOOL
The second project in the UX Design Certificate program partnered with Coursera and Google, we were tasked to create a responsive website based on a randomized project generator.
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I was assigned: a user flow for finding a study partner in an online art school using Adobe XD. We were asked to design for a desktop size and a mobile sized application, taking it from research to hi-fi prototype.
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PROBLEM
Users want a website study partner search option that will allow students to search by subject, time slots, and communication styles because they find posting to forums, social media pages time consuming with little results and no way to automatically calendar them so that they remember.
UX DESIGNER FEB '22 - MARCH '22 SLIDEDECK
GOALS
Our responsive website will allow users to perform searches that sort by availability, subject, communication style and add them to their profile calendar which will affect busy, working students by streamlining the study partner search and putting everything in one place for easy reminders. We will measure the effectiveness by how many bookings are made by individuals.
CHALLENGES
Many of the challenges lied in the practical application of finding and requesting a study partner. Users were concerned with communication styles on both sides: as a study partner and as a student looking for a partner. Not only that, but it would need to look attractive and be easy to use on mutliple platforms, adjusting to screen sizing.
THE RESEARCH
In order to gather as much information as possible, I interviewed 4 individuals ranging from 20-30 who had recently completed their education or were still in the process of completing their education. I also shared on social media a short survey to try and gather more information about study habits and what individuals were looking for in their study partners.
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Overwhelmingly, research indicated that users wanted easy calendar options for recurring and last minute, one time sessions pertaining to specific topics. They also wanted to be able to set preferences for communication and location (in-person vs online). Being able to read a short profile and even have a few reviews would better help them make good choices about their study partners.
Erin, 22
the frustrated student
Erin is a student who needs a way to consistently schedule the same study partner with alerts because with her changing schedule, she has trouble remembering when, where and who she is studying with.
"I try to remember, I really do, but with work and class schedules, I often forget and it gets frustrating.”
George, 18
the nervous nelly
George is a student who wants to be able to schedule consistent study partners and times but also have spontaneous sessions because he wants to be prepared and well supported.
"I want to be prepared - even TOO prepared. This means a lot to my future so I want to do it right.”
PAIN POINTS
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CALENDAR OPTIONS
Users have expressed irritation with drop down scheduling options and that seeing a calendar visually is easier to use.
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COMMUNICATION
Users want to be able to communicate in different ways such as email, text, messengers, etc. and want to be able to set their own preferred communication in return.
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INFORMATION
Users expressed being frustrated when there isn’t enough info on a study partner to make a decision.
ITERATION
& WIREFRAMING
After doing some competitive research with other websites that offer study partner services, several iterations were drawn in various layouts. After several different drafts, it became apparent that organizing various tiers into tiles provided clear but informative homepage options, streamlining the top navigation for easier, clearer user experiences.
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After deciding on the general layout with the paper wireframes, the digital wireframes were iterated in Adobe XD, utilizing a very simple, large font layout with clear directional guides and large placeholders for eye catching graphics since it is for an art school.
In the digital wireframes, the goal was to keep things in single page formats with minimal clicks. I wanted to keep everything simple, with large fonts, so that entering information for a study partner search was easy. This would also allow for more eye catching graphics later on in the mock-ups while still highlighting the necessary information for the user flow.
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As the project moved into the mock-up stage, consideration over color pallettes and refinement took root. In keeping with the "art school" missive, primary colors were chosen with splashes of paint marks to create interest. This continued through to various content blocks. Information was presented simply to help keep the process moving with multiple ways to view profiles and select study partners. Even various helpful pages like study guides and forums were added.
STUDIES & FINDINGS
An unmoderated usability study was conducted with 5 participants ranging from late 20s-mid 40s who were adult learners, many who were receiving their second degree/certificate. Participants were asked to use a lo-fi prototype of the web-based size format responsive website to book a study partner and answer a series of questions after each step taken in the user flow.
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Users noted that the search results page was a bit overwhelming with too much information and too much scrolling in order to see all the options. Small profile tiles were designed and information condensed in the mock ups to assist with this.
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Users noted that a home icon was missing and that they would like to be able to use the logo to be able to reach the homepage so in the mock up, icons for home, back and the logo became clickable options.
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Search results page was confusing and needed several attempts to move forward.
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Some of the colors for the search results were too high contrast for users
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The need for a home button and a forward and backward button on each screen in the user flow was expressed.
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Smaller buttons were suggested as users found the larger buttons overwhelming in the web based format.
CONCLUSIONS
Users expressed interest in an easy, streamlined way to find a study partner with various time, communication, and subject filters. They wanted something that could be calendared right in their profile so keep everything together, especially with busy study schedules, many of whom were also working outside of school.
TAKE-AWAYS
Simply put: more is not better. Keeping things simple with very basic, but easy to understand steps and features is the way to go. Users don’t want websites cluttered with information. They want to be able to access their purpose and move through it with clear instructions.