Courseloop

Overview

CourseLoop's curriculum management software has been created by higher education specialists with firsthand university expertise, to deliver exceptional solutions for today's students, administrators, and educators.

This software streamlines curriculum management by replacing outdated methods with an exceptional user experience, providing CourseLoop users with the tools they need to plan their futures with certainty.

The challenge

The CourseLoop platform was outdated and faced usability challenges reported by university staff. In order to maintain a competitive edge and grow the business, our team of UX and UI designers were tasked with conducting user research and providing UI and UX recommendations with focus on:

• Improving overall design and user experience;

• Developing a scalable and consistent design system that can accommodate future modules;

• Implementing self-service capabilities to empower universities to manage their data more efficiently;

• Reducing implementation time for new clients to enable scalability of the business.

The project was executed using Agile methodologies, with a focus on user-centred design principles, usability testing, and data analysis. We also worked on creating wireframes, mock-ups, and high-fidelity prototypes to test and validate our design solutions, as well as user flows, information architecture and interaction design.

My role in this project

Together with my team of three designers we were tasked to review the CourseLoop platform and together with the client, prioritise areas such as navigation, information architecture, dashboard design, aesthetic minimalism, and providing clear and up-to-date UI, along with help and documentation. We also created and documented a new design system in Figma to improve collaboration and streamline the design process.

Planning process

Existing documentation and research review

We analysed previous testing data on the current platform to gain insights into our users' experience. After reviewing the existing documentation and research, we were able to develop two personas based on their roles and primary responsibilities, as well as establish user journeys. This assisted us in mapping out the Information Architecture (IA) and creating a screen flow.

Through observing existing user interviews, we identified key pain points, which guided us in prioritising areas for enhancement.

Initial research’s results

Heuristic evaluation

Our design team of three collaborated to assess the current CourseLoop platform, focusing on crucial modules, global sections, and user navigation.

Together with the client, we created a prioritised list with an emphasis on global areas including navigation, information architecture, dashboard, and a minimalist design approach.

We utilised essential modules and previous research as a guide for our project, which was constrained by time and development limitations.

Hypothesis

By addressing the following focus areas, the CourseLoop users will experience less friction and better ability to accomplish their tasks:

• Global navigation issues resolution

• Simplifying interface design, reducing cognitive load and consistent interface patterns

• A clearer dashboard that directs users to key tasks

• Improved guidance and status indication during the proposal approval process

• Making hidden information, such as help content and mapping canvas, more accessible.

User testing

Our initial round of user testing focused on enhancing the user experience for current CourseLoop clients, specifically for university staff with technical skills and academics with less technical expertise who use the platform to manage curriculum, review, and update courses they oversee, sometimes only occasionally.

We analysed previous testing data on the current platform and identified key pain points to address. Our next steps included creating wireframes based on our focus areas and prototyping to retest with similar users. We aimed to find solutions for academics who need to "create" and "revise" academic items. Our testing plan included:

• Wire-framing a new dashboard design;

• Prototyping the user flow for revising an existing course;

• Examining ways to improve information architecture and navigation;

• Investigating how to improve the help section and its visibility;

• Developing a series of interview questions to test the above and working with the project manager to schedule 10 participants from 3 universities for 1-hour facilitated testing sessions on Google Meet.

User testing report

The user testing report highlights that the designs were generally successful, but there were some areas for improvement. Many of the more tech-savvy users were positive about the new designs, but less tech-savvy and infrequent users still had difficulty with technology and website terminology. To address this, the report recommends further support for these users.

Additionally, it was discovered that many academics were not aware of the help section and suggested short video reminders as a helpful resource. As a result, an improved email template with links to these videos was designed to assist with task completion.

Below are some highlights from the 60 page user testing report.

Old design vs New design

The old interface design was lacking in accessibility and consistency, making it difficult for users to navigate and complete tasks. The new interface design addresses these issues by implementing accessibility guidelines and creating a cohesive look and feel throughout the platform. This not only improves the user experience, but also makes the platform more user-friendly for everyone.

The redesign of CourseLoop’s platform also aimed to simplify its use, making tasks clearer and more straightforward to execute. This was achieved by streamlining the layout, reducing clutter, and providing more intuitive navigation. The end result is a platform that is easy to use and understand, which can greatly improve productivity and user satisfaction.

This project was completed within a 3 month time frame and was focused on delivering a MVP, meaning that the platform interface may undergo further changes before its final deployment.

Design system

The CourseLoop design system has been developed with scalability in mind, as the curriculum management software is intended to expand with the addition of more modules.

The system comprises 30 pages of high-fidelity components that were designed using user-centred design methodologies and in accordance with web accessibility guidelines.

Measuring success

The way our client will measure the success of this project will be:

• Word-of-mouth, satisfied clients, and increased sales;

• Overall reduction in time and effort, leading to increased profit;

• Improvement in the satisfaction and an increase in retention;

• Reduced stress on the support team and an improvement in the satisfaction and support of internal staff at CourseLoop and the implementation team;

• Enable the team to focus on other areas for growth;

• Possibility of outsourcing implementation to contract teams more easily.