wordz
A UX Case Study
About
Busy people who want to learn new vocabulary as part of career and personal development need access to reliable learning tools that can be utilised in quick bursts while on the go.
Created as part of the CareerFoundry Intro to UX Design Course, wordz is a mobile app design that allows users to learn new vocabulary from anywhere, at any time. A simple user interface means users can easily add and edit flashcard sets and practice them via chosen gameplay.
My Role: UX Designer - Timeline: 4 weeks - Tools: Pen & paper, Figjam, Adobe XD, Canva
The Design Process
In applying a Human-centred Design (HCD) approach via a design thinking process, I have been able to achieve a well considered set of mid-fidelity prototypes that reflect the needs and goals of the user wanting to increase their written and verbal vocabulary.
The analysis of three competitive products were performed to discover usability strengths and weaknesses of their features so that we can identify reasons for why users succeed or fail in learning new vocabulary through apps.
01 Competitive Analysis
02 Define the Problem
Problem Statement
Users need a way to quickly and effectively learn new vocabulary because responsibilities such as employment require them to collaborate in accurate and professional ways. We will know this to be true when we see users more confident in their use of vocabulary and where they are able to save time by being able to communicate more efficiently.
Hypothesis Statement
We believe that by creating a flashcard application, that offers vocabulary skill development via various learning aids, that is quick and easy to use and accessible anywhere, we will achieve results where users will be able to gain more confidence in their vocabulary skills each day and will create more time for them to spend with their family and on other commitments.
.
03 User Research
User Interviews
Interview questions were designed to gain insights into the needs and wants of users of vocabulary learning apps. Interviews were conducted and recorded with permissions on 5 users noting their "doing", "thinking" and "feeling" behaviours for further analysis.
Key Takeaways
Users want an app that they can use to learn new vocabulary in quick bursts as they learn more effectively through repetition. They want an app that is engaging and fun and where they feel rewarded for their achievements.
User Persona
User Stories
-
As Clara, I want to be able to quickly look up a translation or synonym word so that I can communicate more effectively.
-
As Clara, I want to be able to maximise my memorisation of new words through repetition so that I can remember these in everyday situations.
-
As Clara, I want to have the option of learning new vocabulary through different aids so that I can maximise my learning development.
-
As Clara, I want to be able to choose the type of words I learn from a catalogue of different topics so that they apply to my real life.
-
As Clara, I want to be able to learn at any time of day, anywhere, and be able to store my progress even if I’m offline.
-
As Clara, I want to be able to store all my progress in one location so I can practise new and existing tasks easily.
04 Information Architecture
.png)
05 Wireframes & Prototypes
Low-fidelity Sketches
Creating low-fidelity pen and paper wireframe sketches are a quick and effective way to visualise initial design ideas and thereafter can be tested and iterated to produce more detailed and interactive mid and high-fidelity prototypes.
Onboarding
Add a Card Set & Gameplay
Edit a Card Set
Wireframes
These initial wireframes produce a first navigation route as prompted by the user stories and user flows.
Onboarding & Sign up
Add a Card Set
Edit a Card Set
06 User Testing
Usability testing was performed by four participants both in person and virtually via Skype. The sessions lasted 10 - 15 minutes and the results were analysed thereafter to identify and prioritise urgent, high and moderate improvements to the design.
Kick off Script
"Hi [Name], My name is Fiona and I'm going to be walking you through this usability testing session today. To give you some background, we're conducting testing to better evaluate how well our prototype empowers people to learn new vocabulary. The session should take 10 to 15 minutes.
First, it's important you know that this isn't a test and you can't say or do anything wrong here. The prototype you will be testing is incomplete and will likely contain mistakes and errors - that's why we are testing it out!
Any concerns? Ask me anything, at any time!
Ok, let's get started by asking you a few questions about yourself before we get into the prototype."
Direct Tasks with Scenarios
Task 1
Sign up to wordz using your email and create a password
Scenario1
You want a handy new app to help you learn new vocab. Download and onboard wordz and get signed up.
Task 2
Create a new card set and add a new flashcard to it.
Scenario 2
You’ve taken on a new responsibility at work and need to create a new set of flashcards to help you learn new terms and their definitions.
Task 3
Edit a word or definition within an
existing flashcard.
Scenario 3
Your employer has just announced they are updating some of their legal terms. You have a card set containing these terms so you better review them to make sure you are up to date.
Task 4
Practice learning new words via a
timed game
Scenario 4
You’ve got an important meeting coming up and want to refresh your memory of legal acronyms so choose to practice these through playing a game.
Results
Analysing the results of the usability testing sessions by inputting them to an affinity map has enabled me to organise my findings into categories including: observations; positive quotes; negative quotes; and errors made.
Following this, the results were analysed using Jakob Nielsen's Error Severity Ratings to identify and prioritise urgent, high and moderate improvements to the design. These were addressed as the following:
Urgent Priority:
-
Increase the text size of the text buttons as they are too small
High Priority:
-
Make the social icons bigger and add labels to increase readability
-
Remove unnecessary 1st screen of gameplay
-
Add an option to skip and also move to the next word on gameplay
-
Add an info icon to the list of games and explain what they are
-
Inconsistency between caps locks and lower case words
Medium Priority:
-
Add a skip option on onboarding screens
-
Add carousel to onboarding screens so users know how long is left
-
Add a "continue" button to the last onboard screen
-
Add a skip option to the daily new word screen
-
Edit caps locks of body text to sentence case
-
Instead of checkboxes, use a toggle icon on lists
-
Add icon name to the + for adding a new card set
-
Too much white space for selecting a category. Offer users predefined category options
Low Priority:
-
Make back button interactive on future prototypes
Applying changes to wireframes
Onboarding & Sign up
Add a Card Set & Gameplay
Edit a Card Set
Want to interact with the wordz prototype? Click HERE for access.
Retrospective
Looking back on this project, I can fully appreciate the importance of user research to identify a user problem and hypothesise a potential solution. For me to design with a user as the focus, I must understand their needs, goals and frustrations.
I have learned that design is an iterative process where my considerations, design and validation of solutions occur over a period of time. Additionally, I appreciate both the importance and the benefits of usability testing as an essential stage of the design thinking process to inform human-centred design (HCD).
If I were to have an opportunity to work on and deliver this project again, I would spend some time researching other means of usability testing and conduct these to ensure wordz is as valuable to its users as possible.
Looking Ahead
The next stage of the process will involve further usability testing of the current prototype to inform design development into high-fidelity mock-ups that include more detail and colour.
In terms of specific changes that could be actioned immediately following this process, I will develop some of the features of wordz, for example, adding a statistics screen to display users' learning success following gameplay. I will consider the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) to ensure future designs are accessible to the widest audience of users and consider style elements such as typography, iconography, imagery and colour in my design.
The iterated design will continually undergo testing by potential users to validate and challenge the design's usability and flow.