2023 ~6 months
UX, UI
A tool for universities to share interactive content with students, such as exercises, feedback and self-assessments. The product was already being used by Cardiff, Loughborough and other universitites, who started voicing difficulty navigating the growing number of features. I was asked to improve the interface and experience as much as possible, whilst maintaining the underlying infrastructure. I was a solo designer, working directly with the CEO and Tech Lead.
The process
I started with a heuristic evaluation of the existing tool, identifying the areas that needed the most attention. We prioritised them together and defined a rough roadmap for the following months.
We mapped out the journeys for the most complex features, as well as the overall target customer experience with both on and offline activities to get a clear understanding of the ultimate purpose of each feature, and overall strategy for the business. This exercise allowed us to see that some of the profile features were important for the overall strategy, so we gave them a bit more weight when it came to prioritisation.
Creating a new design system was one of the top priorities, but instead of f creating a sheet of components, I redesigned them in the context of a full journey - for instance, the review process above. This made sure we serviced the user experience and usability rather than making isolated aesthetic decisions.
Showing by example
The product was full of advanced features, staff could mix and match components to create simple or complex pages. But without training, they didn't know what was available. My approach was to always give them an example, whether visual, through text or templates, starting each interaction by giving them an idea of how it could be used.
The range of options was a huge selling point, but quite overwhelming for users who were just starting out. I decided to reveal complexity in stages, so users only had to absorb and understand features they had activated and chosen to engage with.