Revising An Existing Design for Internship-On-Demand
The usability testing results directly informed my design revisions of the Internship-On-Demand (“IOD”) website and I made a “Research Findings and Prototype Plan” on how to improve it by modifying what already exists.
The Problem:
Students use Internship-On-Demand to access internship training and resources online but user research revealed the platform can be confusing to use due to lack of confirmation, lack of error prevention and task-specific word choice.
How I Solved It:
I conducted user research by studying the context in which students use the site to identify key user task flows that matched users’ expectations (and those that didn’t). I used the data to present design suggestions for improvement in the form of annotated interactive prototypes.
My Roles:
• UX Designer
• UX Researcher
Methods:
• Contextual Inquiry & User Stories
• Cognitive Walkthrough/Website Audit
• User Flows
• Site Architectual Diagram
Tools:
• Figma
Deliverables:
• High Fidelity Interactive Prototypes
1. Discover The Problem
The Client
Internship-On-Demand (“IOD”) is an online platform that connects employers with college students/prospective employees:
Students can learn new skills, gain a deeper understanding of a prospective company, and improve their odds of finding their next professional experience.
• Students can submit work-related assignments to their portfolio, collaborate as a team, and interact with company employees through discussions and panels.
• Students can work through company-centric learning modules including readings, best practices documents, and video lessons
I wanted to familiarize myself with the client’s site Internship-On-Demand and find out how it works and how well it works (or doesn’t) so I audited the site using a cognitive walkthrough to get an evaluative sense of how the main features of the site worked.
From the client goals, I parced a list of main tasks that students use the site for.
I evaluated two of those main tasks:
Client: “Students can share their portfolio of work to hiring managers directly on their profile.”
Task #1: Post a completed project to portfolio within IOD platform.
Client: “Students can work through company-centric learning modules including readings, best-practices documents, and video lessons. Then the student can submit work-related assignments”:
Task #2: Download/Upload an assignment to the assignment portal within IOD platform.
Time to get up close with users and observe how they use the site…
On a research team, I conducted two contextual inquiries of two college students who use the Internship-On-Demand platform. We wrote a Primary Research Protocol script and asked several questions to gain first hand insight watching real users performing the key tasks.
credits: istock via getty images
Key Findings
As to Task #1 - Post a completed project to portfolio within IOD platform:
Users lacked basic knowledge of how to use the portfolio feature. One user didn’t even know it was there.
As to Task #2 - Download/Upload an assignment to the assignment portal within IOD platform:
Users expressed confusion and irritation due to non-specific button labels and the lack of confirmation after submitting an assignment. Even though the user had completed the assignment and uploaded it, it was not being counted as complete.
Research Conclusions:
• Users needed more clarity around completing two key functions of the site Internship-On-Demand, populating their portfolio with assignments and submitting an assignment.
• Both tasks were noted by the client as being important elements Internship-On-Demand towards equipping the student with unique projects and skills training.
• Yet both tasks presented users with confusion and frustration due to lack of confirmation, visibility, error prevention and copy specific to the tasks.
2. Ideate The Solution
In order to conceptualize the ideal paths users could take, I had to visualize them.
So I ideated two user scenarios, two user stories and two task flows of the two key tasks that I had tested with users.
Task #1 - Post a completed project to portfolio within IOD platform
Task #2 - Download/Upload an assignment to the assignment portal within IOD platform
I also ideated an architectural diagram of where the task flows are located within the anatomy of the platform.
This gives me a visualization of the entire system and how a user will move through it.
Then I sketched out what the user interface could look like for users completing the two tasks.
Pictured: task flow #1: Post a completed project to portfolio within IOD platform.
3. Prototype The Solution
I made digital wireframes interactive on Figma to show how the new functionality I designed would work.
Then I annotated each function for the client and for the development team - showing them what and why I did what I did based on my key research findings.
Task #1
Post a completed project to portfolio within IOD platform
For Task #1,
• I redesigned the nav menu and made it easier to interact with and edit the user’s profile by adding confirmation boxes, error prevention messages, and specific clear copy. The copy in the error prevention and confirmation dialogue boxes refer to the portfolio as “public”, making it clear to the user that anyone can see it.\
• I made it more obvious to the user that there is a portfolio option by adding it to the same secondary menu where the user profile is found.
• I made a more visible function guided by confirmation on how to add and remove a project to the portfolio.
These changes should enable the user to use their portfolio in the way the client intended: by adding completed special projects to the portfolio and sharing it with prospective employers.
View the Annotated Protoype on Figma
Annotated Prototype for Task #1
Task #2
Download/Upload an assignment to the assignment portal within IOD platform
For Task #2,
• I redid the way a user can upload an assignment that mirrors the way they download supplemental assignment materials.
• I added a submit button to upload to make it clear to the user that it will be submitted, not just uploaded. Once the file is uploaded, a confirmation box tells the user that the assignment is submitted.
• I removed the extra last step to click the “Mark As Complete” button that users kept forgetting to do. Instead I added an “edit submission” button where users can re-upload files if they need to.
Annotated Prototype for Task #2