University Project
9 weeks
4 members
MIRO, Figma, Zoom
Overview
When the global pandemic hit and students were forced to stay home, it significantly impacted their education. With the shift to online learning, everything had to be reimagined, from teaching methods to curriculum. Unfortunately, many students expressed their dissatisfaction with the new learning experience.
To tackle this problem, we embarked on a UX Research study to improve online learning for students. We aimed to understand what "better" means to students in the online learning environment and uncover design requirements based on our findings. By the end, we created User Personas, and developed a low-fidelity prototype for a Futuristic Online Learning Experience called WizDome.
My Role
As a member of the UX Research team, my role encompassed various tasks and responsibilities throughout the project. Here are the key activities I was involved in:
Research Planning
Interviewing
Social Media Observations
Affinity Mapping
User Personas
Collaboration
Throughout the project, I took on different roles, including interviewer, note-taker & observer, and collaborated with the rest of the team to contribute to the overall research effort.
Our Research Plan
Timeline
The 9-week-long project was structured and organized according to the following format.
What are we looking for?
In our study, we set two main research goals to guide our investigation:
How do university students define a ‘better’ e-learning experience?
What are some design opportunities that will help us improve the online learning experience for university students?
By addressing these research goals, we aimed to comprehensively understand students' perspectives and generate design recommendations that could lead to a more satisfactory and impactful online learning experience.
Gathering Insights
We conducted four semi-structured interviews remotely using Zoom. The interviews were designed to gather comprehensive insights from participants regarding their online learning experiences, focusing on four primary topics, each explored through open-ended questions.
Interviews
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Participants were encouraged to share their overall experiences, highlighting both positive and negative aspects of learning online. This allowed us to understand their perspectives and identify pain points.
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We sought to learn about the subjects or courses participants found engaging or valuable in an online learning environment. This helped us identify successful examples and potential areas for improvement.
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Participants were asked to reflect on additional skills they acquired during online learning. This provided insights into the potential benefits and opportunities associated with this mode of education.
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We asked participants to share their thoughts and suggestions on enhancing the online learning experience. This allowed us to gather specific recommendations for improving the design and functionality of online learning platforms.
Our participant pool consisted of students from various universities and disciplines, ensuring a diverse range of perspectives.
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Based in the same city as their university while attending online. This participant had firsthand experience with the local university environment and the transition to online learning.
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Also located in the same city as their university while attending online. This participant too provided insights from the perspective of someone navigating the local university community and online learning.
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Resumed on-campus learning after 9 months of exclusively online education. This participant had the opportunity to compare and contrast their experiences with both online and in-person learning.
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Engaged in online learning internationally. This participant's perspective offered valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with remote education across different geographical locations.
Social Media Observations
We conducted observations on four popular social media platforms commonly used by university students.
Discord
Observed an active server of students from a leading Australian University.
Quora (My Focus)
Observed thoughts of students, parents, & educators on online learning.
YouTube
Observed an interview of four students on their e-campus experience.
Reddit
Observed subreddits of students from Australian Universities.
Social media platforms offer users a certain level of anonymity, which can encourage them to express their opinions more freely. However, it is essential to note that users on these platforms share more negative views than positive ones.
Making Sense of the Data
To analyse the large amounts of data generated through our research, we used the Affinity Mapping approach, as stated below:
Gathered essential information from interview participants and social media platforms.
Used colour-coded sticky notes to capture key findings and insights.
Clustered similar notes together based on common themes or topics.
Identified a primary focus within each cluster and enlarged the corresponding note.
Linked the prioritized information to determine relationships and connections between different findings.
By completing the mapping, we could make sense of the information, identify patterns, and extract meaningful insights to inform our design process.
NOTE: Conducting Affinity Mapping on a large volume of data presented a significant challenge. However, we successfully overcame this challenge through collaborative efforts and unwavering dedication.
The gathered information was organized into 9 primary clusters with additional subclusters (as depicted below).
Complete Affinity Mapping
What users enjoyed about Online Learning?
Users' mindset towards Online Learning.
Delivery Modes of Online Learning.
Practical skills gained through Online Learning.
Technical issues faced by users.
Impact on Users' mental health and wellbeing.
Users' personal preferences.
Social elements and Interactions in Online Learning.
Our Findings
What did we find?
Based on our research, we discovered four primary findings regarding the online learning experience:
Finding 1
Missing hands-on experience in online learning increases the feeling of incompetence among students.
Students from non-practical classes enjoy the convenience, flexibility, and cheaper living costs of online learning.
Finding 2
Lack of social interaction in online learning disconnects students from the outside world, simultaneously demotivating and negatively affecting their mental health.
Finding 3
External distractions and poor content delivery have significantly reduced students’ focus and motivation during online learning.
Finding 4
Unsatisfactory quality of educational experience for the same tuition fee as face-to-face learning displeases online students.
Who do we help?
We have created two personas, Rajesh and Leesa, to represent different types of students currently participating in online studies. These personas help us understand these students' needs, goals, and characteristics.
Persona A - Rajesh (Student who loves online learning)
Persona B - Leesa (Student who dislikes online learning)
How can we improve?
We identified three design requirements to enhance the online learning experience for students:
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Some tips and suggestions:
Move the online classroom beyond a flat 2-D screen to a virtual 3-D world.
Virtual Reality (VR) - E.g., using Horizon Workroom by Meta.
Mixed Reality (MR) - E.g., using Microsoft HoloLens.
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Some tips and suggestions:
Design a campus-like environment with socialising functionalities.
Increase online collaboration, communication, and asynchronous interactions.
Include virtual co-presence and privacy.
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Some tips and suggestions:
Match the cost of subjects to accurately reflect promised content and experiences delivered online.
Some disciplines like Finance and IT can be transitioned online completely to cut costs.
Final Thoughts
Reflections
Positives
Research findings and methodology were appreciated.
Valuable insights were generated to improve online learning experiences.
All stakeholders participated in the research enthusiastically.
Challenges
Some participants wanted to avoid turning on their cameras, rendering it difficult to read body language, facial expressions and emotional cues.
All our participants were forced into mandatory e-learning due to COVID restrictions, making it difficult to get feedback from students who chose it willingly.
The anonymous nature of social media led to users voicing negative opinions more often.
Next Steps
The UX Research phase of the project is now complete, and we are ready to move forward with the subsequent steps, which include:
Ideation to implement the suggested design requirements (as much as possible).
Iterative designing of low and high-fidelity prototypes for the novel solution.
Usability testing of the newly created prototype(s).
Our team has suggested a low-fidelity prototype for a futuristic immersive online learning experience called WizDome. It aims to provide a virtual interactive online learning experience, fully immersing students in their education and offering a unique concept beyond the current technological limitations.
You can watch a short video below that describes the concept behind WizDome and gives an overview of its features.
NOTE: As we progress, we may need to revisit the UX Research phase or conduct additional studies to refine our design and address any emerging challenges or requirements.
Conclusion
Our UX Research study aimed to improve the online learning experience for students by understanding their perspectives and identifying key findings. We discovered challenges related to the need for more hands-on experience, limited social interaction, external distractions, and unsatisfactory quality of education.
Based on these findings, we formulated three design requirements to redefine the practical and social experience and improve overall satisfaction.
Our research provides valuable insights and guides us towards designing a more engaging and impactful educational environment for students.
Thank You
This project would not have been possible without the support of our lecturer, tutor, and the rest of the team.
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