creative Professional
CASE STUDY
Making Online Learning More Engaging
Project Overview
Project Team
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Morgan Caldarera, Project Manager & UX/UI Designer
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Anna Lister, UX/UI Designer
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Alexis Thomas, UX/UI Designer
Summary
Our task was to solve a wicked problem pertaining to connectivity in the field of education; we were charged with finding a way to connect a learner with an educator.
Duration
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5 weeks
Programs Used
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Miro
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Figma
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Illustrator
Problem
Online instructors need real time interaction during lessons in order to reduce distractions and increase retention of class material
Solution
We designed an interactive feature that can be used during online Zoom meetings to increase class engagement.
Research
Facts That Guided
Our Research
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80% of schools have/are prepared to purchase additional technology for students
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eLearning has created a socioeconomic divide with 25% to 33% of students not having access to resources
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71% of professors are concerned about increasing engagement in online classes
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49% of professors see eLearning as being as effective as in-classroom instruction
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​Source: ThinkImpact 2022 eLearning statistics facts & stats
Research Problem Statement
Research Objectives
We want to explore how to make online learning more engaging for teachers and students.
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How do students and teachers engage with one another in order to improve online learning outcomes?
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What are the current pain points of online learning for students and teachers in order to make online learning a more enjoyable experience?
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What online features students and teachers need in order to improve online learning outcomes?
Key Insights from User Research
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Online learning is negatively impacted by disruptions.
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Interaction with peers / teacher crucial for meaningful online learning experience.
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Built-in technology features may increase online learning engagement.
User Persona & User Journey
Background
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Graduated from 4 year college with teaching degree
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Has been teaching for 5 years
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Teaches private lessons on the side
Name:
Age:
Job:
Sofia Aguero
32
Spanish instructor at a community college
Goals
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Hopes students walk away feeling more confident in their ability to speak Spanish
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Wants to have meaningful interactions with students during online lessons
Needs
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Needs to create interactive lessons
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Needs more technology capabilities to keep students engaged
Top Three Solutions
How Might We?
Summary
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We asked ourselves "How might we create real time interaction in lessons for online instructors in order to reduce distractions and increase retention of class material?"
​The top three final solutions included incorporating a new interactive feature into Zoom. We chose question roulette because it was the option that was the most feasible, viable, and desirable.
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Jeopardy: much like the TV show, this interactive game would allow teachers to test students on their knowledge of class material by letting them choose categories and responding in a question style.
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Question Roulette: a type of test review where the students answer a randomly assigned test prep question. The teacher adds the set of review questions before class and the interactive game shows one question to each student and the student has a timed response.
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Social Media Likes: much like Facebook Live where the emojis float up to show real-time user reactions, this feature would behave the same way but during a Zoom video chat.
Methods Used
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Creative Matrix
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MoSCoW Prioritization
Jeopardy
x Feasible
+ Viable
+ Desirable
Question Roulette
+ Feasible
+ Viable
+ Desirable
Social Media Likes
+ Feasible
+ Viable
x Desirable
Prototyping
Low Fidelity
High Fidelity
User Testing
Testing Technique
Results
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2 users tested desktop prototype
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Remote Moderated Usability Test
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Number of clicks
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User 1: total clicks 4/4 = success​
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User 2: total clicks n/a (user got stuck on the third task and had to be told where to click) = failure
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Overall satisfaction with experience​
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User 1: 4.3/5 = success​
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User 2: 3/5 = partial success
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Tasks Performed
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Open the question roulette interactive game
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Add a new question to the question roulette game
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Launch Zoom session to see how question roulette feature will appear in live session
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Launch question roulette in live Zoom session
Insights from User Testing
Metrics for Success
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Number of clicks
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2 clicks or under per screen = success
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3 clicks or over per screen = partial success
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User cannot find where to click = failure
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Overall satisfaction with experience on scale of 1 to 5:
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4 or higher = success
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3 = partial success
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2 or below = failure
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Icons were either too small or not intuitive
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Generally, users wanted more instructions and explanations of how things worked
Recommendations for Future Iterations
Change Icon
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Update interactive lesson icon to an icon that better resonates with users
Add Step-by-Step
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Change the structure of the question roulette input pages to be more of a step-by-step guided process
Add Help Text
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Add more informational text on pages to help guide user actions
Clickable Areas
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Increase size of clickable areas
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Make the Zoom logo clickable to send users to home screen
Add Game Instructions
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Make a question roulette game overview page, so users better understand the end-to-end process