Student Account Home

Role
UX Designer

Collaborators
Aroosha Sarrafi

Company
McGraw Hill

Tools
Axure

Project Overview
Student Account Home was created to bridge the gap between the customer need to provide students with a way to access multiple ALEKS accounts through a single log in at www.aleks.com.

However, there were numerous issues subsequent to the release that needed to be fixed. Issues related to Student Account Home made up more than half of the top 10 call incidence categories reported by ALEKS Customer Support each month.

Project Goals

Goal #1

Address all usability issues identified by the ALEKS Customer Support Team, ensuring that the improved designs are intuitive for 2nd grade through college students.

Goal #2

Update the Student Account Home UI to align with the visual design of the broader ALEKS product.

Goal #3

Rework the back-end workflows to match the updated UI.

Issues with Current Design

Issue 1: Students were unsure how to access their class as they didn't realize that the class name was as a link.

Issue 2: The process for switching out of a class, adding a new class, or extending the license to a class was unclear. Students would often opt for the most prominent option, the "+ New Class" button.

Issue 3: Students accidentally deleted their accounts, requiring assistance from customer support to restore them.

Issue 4: Students were required to apply their class access code before creating an account, leading to inaccessible accounts and support issues if they exited before completing the process.

Process

Research

After identifying the major design issues, I moved into the research phase and looked at other classroom management programs for inspiration. I was drawn to the playful tile layouts used by Google Classroom and Canvas, which seemed well-suited for our needs, given that most students are enrolled in no more than two classes at a time. I then focused on integrating this tile layout to fit the ALEKS style and ensure it felt cohesive with the rest of the product.

Design

Next, I moved into the design phase. I tackled usability issues by generating multiple solutions through rapid prototyping in Axure.

  • Applied a cleaner tile layout and visual style to align with the ALEKS platform's look and feel.

  • Created a single entry point for adding, switching, and extending/renewing classes.

  • Removed the “Delete from my account” functionality entirely to prevent destructive behavior.

  • Reworked the registration flow and redesigned the registration process.

Testing

I collaborated with the research team to develop a test plan. Two rounds of unmoderated usability testing were conducted via www.userzoom.com. All participants were students currently enrolled in either a 2 or 4-year institution and ranged in age from 18 to 40 years old.

Findings

  1. Students still had trouble finding the access point into the class.

  2. Students had difficulty trying to switch out of a class (they would click into a class instead of clicking the Add New Class tile).

  3. Students could not locate important class information like the class code (didn’t know the tile could be flipped to see more info).

  4. Students expressed that they would want to hide past classes out of their view because they don’t have a need to see them anymore.

Design Iteration

I iterated upon the design based on the findings and feedback from the usability testing. Changes included:

  • Adding visual styles to class name links

  • Changing the Add New Class tile to Add/Change Class 

  • Creating a first-time use walkthrough

  • Adding a Current/Hidden feature to hide unwanted clutter of old classes

  • Conducting a second round of usability testing with 6 more participants to validate new design

Final Design and Implementation

  • Collaborated with the visual design manager to apply the final visual design.

  • Maintained close communication with the engineering team to ensure accurate implementation of the designs.

Outcome

Following the release of the new and improved Student Account Home in July 2018, there was a 4.2% decrease in the number of customer support calls received compared to 2017, despite a 17% increase in the number of new ALEKS users.

Lessons Learned

  1. While moderated usability testing can provide valuable qualitative data, quick rounds of design iteration and unmoderated usability testing proved effective for this project, allowing prompt identification and resolution of usability issues.

  2. Throughout the project, I learned to design with accessibility in mind, particularly focusing on keyboard navigation to ensure users can access information hidden behind interactions like a tile flip.

  3. Users preferred a single linear path over multiple options, reducing cognitive load.

Next Steps

  1. Continue to maintain regular communication with the ALEKS Customer Support Team to promptly address any incoming issues.

  2. Consider how to extend the updated design to be mobile-friendly, ensuring seamless accessibility and usability across different devices.

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