Background
This project was completed as a part of the Career Foundry UX Introduction Course. The goal of this project was to use an overview of the UX design process to create a paper prototype with a mobile-first approach.
Role
Sole UX Designer
Time
1 month
Tools
Pencil and paper
Marvel Prototyping
How can we make learning new vocabulary easy and enjoyable for busy people?
Young professionals need a way to learn new vocabulary quickly and communicate with their colleagues effectively in order to help them feel more empowered at work.
Competitive Analysis
I started exploring the products currently in the market, and analyzed strengths and weaknesses about 3 popular vocabulary learning apps - Quizlet, WordUp, and Brainscape.
Strengths:
use of color, icons are easy to understand, upgrade prompts are appropriately placed
Weaknesses:
cannot edit or delete the name of a class, there aren't any suggestions for pre-existing flashcard sets
Strengths:
easy to understand icons and buttons, many options/examples for a word
Weaknesses:
splash screen is cluttered, age indicator is not clear, color scheme and graphics are distracting
Strengths:
instructions are very clear to create your own deck, icons are visible and clear, user can try out a class before committing to upgrade
Weaknesses:
most of the pre-made flashcard decks are not accessible without upgrading, hamburger menu has too many options
User Research
To better understand my user and help me find design opportunities for RevYou, I interviewed 3 people and asked them about their experiences learning new vocabulary and using vocabulary learning apps.
To better understand my user and help me find design opportunities for RevYou, I interviewed 3 people and asked them about their experiences learning new vocabulary and using vocabulary learning apps.
Key Findings
People will be more engaged with learning if there are different options of games to play or ways to study that cater to different learning styles.
Just going through definitions is not an effective learning strategy, especially if people are studying on the go.
People need sufficient incentive to continue coming back to a new topic, especially when they are learning on their own.
User Persona
Next, I made a proto-persona to help me make design decisions later in the project. I kept this persona in mind while designing RevYou so I could make sure the design was user-centered.
Task Flows
After getting a clear picture of the problem statement and my target user, I was able to define how the user would interact with the app by making task flows for my 2 core features:
-
creating a flashcard set
-
learning a flashcard set
Creating a flashcard set
Learning a flashcard set
Entry point
Success criteria
Wireframing
Using the task flows as a guide for which screens I needed to design, I sketched wireframes for the above 2 tasks, and for the sign up/onboarding screens. Using the wireframes, I created a clickable prototype using Marvel.
Usability Testing
1. Sign up as a new user
2. Create a new folder
3. Create a new flashcard set
4. Study a flashcard set
Learnings
1
2
3
I learned the necessity of asking follow up questions to testing participants even after getting positive results. It's just as important to learn what went right regarding the design as it is to learn what went wrong or why the user was having difficulty.
A skill I developed through working on this project was how to decipher feedback from users to create design elements. Not everyone speaks the same language as designers, so I had to think critically about how to translate user's pain points into design fixes.
The most important part of the process is to constantly iterate on the design. There is no such thing as a "perfect" design, but constant testing and iteration will help make the design great.