Usability Testing

Evaluative

ASU’s ABC Tool is a student-centered tool that enables students to plan, customize, and track their academic journey from start to graduation. By empowering students with a visual interactive map of their academic trajectory, ABC helps them make informed decisions about their schedules and ultimately graduate on time.

Students at ASU face challenges in planning their path to graduation, such as course availability, credit requirements, and personal preferences. User research was needed to ensure it addressed students' current needs. Our team conducted evaluative and generative research to ensure the current IDP design aligned with students’ behaviors, mental models, and needs, ultimately improving the user experience for over 114,000 users and guiding data-driven decisions.

Understanding users’ behaviors, preferences, and challenges

Generative

Details

Role: UX Researcher

Team: Arizona State University UX Research Team

Tools: Zoom, Calendly, Miro

Participants: 31 students across various academic levels

My Impact

In this project, I collaborated with stakeholders to implement a data-driven approach in evaluating two UI layouts for ABC. By leveraging user data and key findings, I guided product development toward user-centered solutions that aligned more closely with both user needs and business goals. Initially, stakeholders were unconvinced about the alternative design’s potential; however, I crafted a comprehensive presentation that effectively conveyed user insights and data. This shifted stakeholder perspectives, ultimately leading to their support for adopting the alternative design.

The resulting improvements optimized functionality and usability, delivering a significantly enhanced user experience for the students of Arizona State University.

Process

  1. Research Planning: Collaborated with a 20-member cross-functional team and stakeholders using Miro to gather research questions and assumptions, which we then used to create a research plan and interview guide.

  2. Interviews & Usability Testing: Conducted 1:1 moderated usability tests over Zoom with 31 students. Participants were asked about their academic planning behaviors and completed tasks using the ABC development build, followed by a comparison of an alternative interface.

  3. Data Analysis: Using affinity mapping in Miro, I analyzed qualitative data to uncover recurring themes, identify critical insights, and prioritize findings.

  4. Presentation to Stakeholders: I created a presentation to convey user-centered insights and recommendations to the team.

Key Takeaways

  • Excitement for ABC: Students were enthusiastic about the tool, particularly if it could offer more automation and predictive features to reduce advisor interaction.

  • Short-term Planning Behavior: Students tended to plan only a term or two ahead due to course availability issues.

  • Concerns About Staying on Track: Students were anxious about staying “on track” for graduation and meeting credit hour requirements, which often impacted financial aid or accelerated programs.

  • Preference for Alternative Design: The majority of students preferred the alternative interface over the current ABC design for its clearer, more intuitive layout.

Reccomendations

  • UI Enhancements: Students preferred data visualization on the left side and a clearer interface to help first-time users navigate the tool more effectively. Simplifying the "target credit hours" accordion and clarifying unclear terms were also critical.

  • Data Visualization: ABC should provide clear indicators to help students track their progress toward graduation, the target credit hours accordion was confusing for some, so consider exploring a different way to present that information. 

  • Trust Building: Given students' hesitation to plan far in advance due to course availability issues, ABC should introduce features that build trust in long-term planning.

  • Language Updates: Consider working with a content writer/strategist to improve the naming of some terms for clarity.

***Note this tool has not been released, the name has been kept confidential. This portfolio piece is still a work in progress. Screens to come.