Role

UX/UI, Product Designer

Duration

Feb, 2022

Tools

Figma, Miro

Team

None

The Problem

Existing Course Portal is making less productive

Students spend an average of 3.5 hours studying through their university course portals. Most of the universities have their own study portals and some use the canvas or Sakai. As Canvas is largely used by universities lacks a user-friendly interface. Students don't get used to this interface after two or three uses. This difficulty can limit its usability to students. Using many apps, making them less productive.

The Solution

1. Flexible Dashboard

a. Simple usage
b. Immediate access to the recent and important activity
c. Access to the calendar for daily activity without more clicks

2. Easy access to all the courses

3. Lesser Emails, Comfortable Instant Messaging

USERS

We have 2 kinds of Users

Research Findings

Student

1. It’s not friendly to use
2. Too many unnecessary tabs in the courses
3. Not mobile-friendly
4. Confusing to navigate with so many tabs
5. Do not want to give phone numbers to everyone in the class, especially during group projects.
6. Wants an effective way to communicate with them without several applications.
7. Receives 15-20 emails daily, sometimes miss important emails from Professors regarding clarification of doubts.
8. Use of at least 2 calendars for study, work, personal
9. Cannot draft any files in canvas for anytime submissions
10. There is no statistical overview of the grades
11. Waits till the deadline to submit the homework. If I forgot the laptop, then it would mark as a late submission. Wants way to access them through phone

Faculty

1. Entering grades is a complex and time taking process
2. Students view is not much use to view as any particular student

What Apps they use daily?

Professor/ University Emails

Friends Communication

Workspaces

Takeaways based on the interviews

User Interface

The application is not mobile-friendly

Confusing to navigate within so many tabs in a courses

Communication ineffective

The inbox is kind of email

Wants an easier way to communicate with students without the need for phone numbers, emails

Submissions

Needs workspace to store their work

Calendar

There is no automatic update of the calendar when Assignments are created.

Takes 10 courses, needs to create manually to-do, tasks, deadlines for every other course

User Journey Maps

Daily Routines

Brain Storming & Ideation

Putting Pieces Together

Sketches

First Iteration- Low Fidelity Designs

Low Fidelity Sketches and Design Testing

Inputs from users

Dashboard

“I like the idea of recent posts. I do not much refer to the recent uploads/ submissions except the upcoming assignments

Wants to have a quick overview of the daily activities

The grade numbers are showing only the recent ones. Need to go to the courses to view the full grades.

Inbox

Need to be cautious when messaging that might go to Professor

This messaging is kind of easy and less formal which saves time unlike the email interface

Courses

Those numbers are quite confusing

Needs to scroll horizontally so much if there are more courses like 10. The saved files option is nice to have rather than going through the modules

High Fidelity Designs

Showcasing the Second Iteration

High Fidelity Designs Testing

Point of Views

Comparisions

Hurray! Final Prototype :)

Reflections

My Thoughts

Best Solution doesn't exist
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Every user has their own perspective and different inputs of frustrations which got me feeling I didn’t design the perfect solution. It’s only the better version
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Would be nicer to interview more people. The more people interview the better the edge cases and solutions
‍
Leant the organized manner- that is going through step by step process- mainly the user research, interview, data analysis, brainstorming
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Future Scope

May be...

This application is focused on undergraduate and grad level university students. It’s nicer to expand to the schools. Due to the pandemic, the whole education system is relying on these online platforms, this will give chance to expand their application in schools. This is easy to use and simple for the school level students
‍
As part of the courses, the students might want extra help like doubts, which can be done by including small videos of the concepts.
‍
Voice Assistance which can read like the podcast for the assignment questions, module. Would be helpful for them when travelling.
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Smart Calendar- Making life easier and more productive
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Student Course Portal