Applying UX Strategies
to Online Student Experience
Sara Hurley, MFA, PhD, UMN School of Public Health
What are we doing here?
Yes!
A story about how SPH has used user experience strategies to change how we solve problems students face across courses.
No!
How to tweak Moodle to do something.
Research.
UX, UI, Usability…?
UX = User Experience
UI = User Interface
Usability = ease of use
Doing UX injustice in one slide
Basic UX PracticesResearch real usersIdentify & align user and business goalsDesign, develop, analyze, research, revise
This sounds a lot like the ADDIE model…doesn’t
it?
(just a few) UX PeopleLiz DanzicoJared SpoolWhitney HessKaren McGrane
Whitney Hess’s definition
User Experience is the establishment of a philosophy
about how to treat people.
http://www.slideshare.net/whitneyhess/design-principles-the-philosophy-of-ux
The user is not lazy/stupid/annoying
Hess’s 5 Guiding Principles for UX Designers
1. Understand the underlying problem before attempting to solve it
2. Don’t hurt anyone
3. Make things simple and intuitive
4. Acknowledge that the user is not like you
5. Have empathy
http://uxmag.com/articles/guiding-principles-for-ux-designers
Whitney Hess’s definition
User Experience is the establishment of a philosophy about how to treat people.
http://www.slideshare.net/whitneyhess/design-principles-the-philosophy-of-ux
The user is not superhuman (or supercat).
What was the experience of this student?
• She was confused
• She was likely stressed
• She did not learn to improve presentation skills as part of the assignment
• She was not sufficiently supported in developing skills in the tools
Why did this happen?
• What she could have done
• She got no test runs before the assignment
• Assumptions were made
UX work: Define, define, define
Define users (+goals)Anyone taking an SPH course
Define stakeholders (+goals)FacultyInstructional Designers
Align goalsSingle point of access to education for tools and skills not related to content in SPH courses.
User Experience is the establishment of a philosophy about how to treat people.
Whitney Hess
Iteration 2 & Plans
Stakeholders & Users• What content is
important• What was confusing
Risks• We don’t want to
reinvent the wheel• We want students to
have clear paths to obtaining the education they need
Iteration 3+
Photo credit: Jason Colflesh, CC BY-NC 2.0. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonscolflesh/6954884511
Badges• Consolidate and
curate content• Package basic
credentialing
Users say avoid• Overstimulation (too
much content)• Asking them to spend
too much time (what they get isn’t worth what they invest
Make everyone more awesome
Some resources and quick reads
• UX Crash Course: 31 Fundamentals
– http://thehipperelement.com/post/75476711614/ux-crash-course-31-fundamentals
• UX Magazine Guiding Principles for UX Designers
– http://uxmag.com/articles/guiding-principles-for-ux-designers
• Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX
– http://www.slideshare.net/whitneyhess/design-principles-the-philosophy-of-ux
• The Elements of User Experience
– http://uxdesign.com/assets/Elements-of-User-Experience.pdf
• Accessible UX Principles and Guidelines
– http://rosenfeldmedia.com/a-web-for-everyone/accessible-ux-principles-and-guidelines
• A List Apart UX tag
– http://alistapart.com/topics/user-experience
• Usability.gov
– http://www.usability.gov/