Overview
The Client
Open Study College was established in 2009 with a view to offer an intuitive and modern approach to the distance learning model. The company offers qualified and accredited courses across all categories in an online format, tutored by professionals.
The Project
Since launching the latest iteration of the OSC website, the board required information on its level of usability. The digital solution offered a hybrid retail platform, allowing for the purchase of courses online as well as information and marketing on the brand and its offerings.
Outcome
A usability report was delivered to the client for their review. As a result of the report being delivered, a number of amends were made and plans are now in the process of developing a new iteration of the website.
Role within the project
UX Consultant (Research, Flow Review, Usability workshop)
Research
Research Goals
- To understand why a potential customer would find and use the OSC website to view courses available.
- To understand what the target audience would need to see to ascertain buy-in to a distance learning company over a more traditional class-based course.
Initial Research
Initial High-level research included investigating key market competitors to familiarise myself with the ‘Distance Learning’ marketplace. For this, I selected competitors who were online based and had brand awareness of varying levels.
Follow up Research
Secondary research was carried out on 3 key competitors
From the research carried out, the following insights were formed:
- Accreditations and qualifications are a key defining factor to which service is selected
- The distance learning market covers a wide range of course levels and entry to the market can be relatively low-cost, however, this does correlate to the qualification (or lack thereof) gained from some courses.
- A good digital experience hinges on an intuitive and accurate search function, without this potential customers will very quickly become disillusioned with the experience and move onto the next competitor.
Flow Review
A flow review of the current OSC website was executed to ascertain from a technical point of view the expected journey. This was to be used to write the script for the forthcoming usability workshop.
Usability Workshop
From the flow review the following sections of the OSC website were identified as being areas to focus on:
- Home Page - Initial view and visual design
- Search Tool - Test for ease of use and accuracy
- Course Details - Ease of understanding
- Course Purchase - Intuitive retail process
- Sub Pages - informative or creating frustration for users due to layout?
A 30 question script was written which focussed on the key areas. Each question was intended to supply an open response to a specific part of the user journey.
Candidate recruitment
The client had already held and completed some persona creation studies and so was aware of their target demographic, I used this to recruit a panel of the target audience.
In total 15 candidates were recruited to be placed through a 1on1 2 stage test.
Workshop introduction - Each candidate was introduced to the purpose of the website in a controlled manner, ensuring that the same information was passed each time.
Stage 1 - Open use of the website - Each candidate was given a fixed amount of time to openly use the website in any way that they wish to, focussing on the sections that were relevant and of interest to them. The information from this stage was recorded and analysed during the report creation section.
Stage 2 - Scripted Questions - Each candidate was asked the full set of scripted questions, responses were collated and analysed for the creation of the final report.
Interview Results - Analysis
Empathizing and understanding the choices made by each participant is a crucial step in the analysis process, so it was essential to ensure that each test was impartial, open and controlled as possible to allow the provision of totally honest feedback.
From the time spent with the group, the following analysis was concluded:
NB. This is a much cut down version of the full report that was delivered to the client
This revised asset offers the same information and options as the original but is much more weighted to functionality over style, whilst not forgetting design as a factor of the user journey.
Further development
Since delivering the report, the client has decided to revisit the design of the website and treat it as a new project. The new site will refocus the journey on delivering a highly intuitive retail solution that will inform visitors as to the services on offer and ultimately, create a flow increases