UX Research, Wireframing and User Testing
Problem statement
Conduct user research across the entire product life cycle to design a flashcard learning application. (Check out the clickable prototype here)
Users
Healthcare professionals learning medical terminology in their native language. Future user groups could be anyone trying to learn vocabulary in a new profession, such as architecture, building inspection, IT, etc.
- Learners need to be able to study in short bursts of time via the mobile app.
- Learners are interested in social studying with other students and sharing flashcard decks.
Role
I was the sole user experience researcher and designer on this project. It was undertaken through the Career Foundry certificate course Introduction to UX Design.
Process
The research effort took place over six stages.
I. Competitive Analysis
I analyzed three existing mobile learning applications: Brainscape, Lexilize, and Quizlet.
I used this analysis to determine missing features or enhancements I wanted to include in my application. These included:
- The ability to upload photos as the “answer” to a flashcard.
- The ability to sort or filter through search results when searching for shared flashcard decks.
- The ability to differentiate between “your” decks and decks you have saved from others.
- The ability to engage in game-like learning options.
II. User Interviews
I conducted structured interviews with five target users. Two were in healthcare, two were in software/IT, and one was in the building trade. I asked them about their learning style, prior experiences learning significant amounts of vocabulary, and what features would be most useful to them in a vocabulary app. I summarized these interviews and grouped answers into a “Doing, Thinking, Feeling” matrix.
III. Persona Creation
I combined the results of these interviews into a proto-persona who can represent a user and their pain points and goals. This allowed me to keep user needs in the forefront while designing the application.
IV. Task and User Flows
I created two task flows and two user flows based on two features I planned to develop for the application.
Task I: Add vocabulary words with context
User Flow I: Add a vocabulary word to a flashcard deck that has a context-based answer
Task II: Search for existing flash card decks from other users
User Flow II: Find and save a flashcard deck from another user
V. Wireframe the app with two main features
I created wireframes for the app with the two main features I planned to develop. I created a clickable prototype for usability testing.
VI. User Testing
I conducted user testing with five users via Zoom. I sent users a link to the prototype and asked them to accomplish five feature tasks. I took notes and recorded the interview so I could review it afterwards. Based on this, I found minor issues with three of the tasks, major issues with one task, and no issues with another.
I updated the user flows to address the issues from usability testing. If the project continued I would re-test these feature tasks to see if the updates resolved the issues users experienced.
Conclusions
There are numerous opportunities to improve on existing flashcard app functionality for a variety of users.
Users responded positively to the ability to add definitions that fit a variety of formats, such as contextualized sentences, and images.
Additionally, the opportunity to customize cards using color, highlighting and stickers offers an opportunity for flashcards to be more personalizable and fun, enhancing learning.
Users also appreciated being able to search for decks from other users.
Based on user interviews, I also recommend additional feature development and user testing around social learning, such as games with other learners and shared learning experiences such as forums or in-app chat options.