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

July 28, 2015

Thank you!

Sara Hurleyhurley@umn.edu

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/