User observation: the final exercise of my pre-work for UX/UI class

For my final piece of pre-work leading up to UX/UI class, I was tasked with observing a user search for three items on a university’s website. I allowed the user to select the school from a pre-identified list. She selected University of Connecticut.

The initial impression of the site was great based on a video that played on the home page header area; however, when asked to check out the navigation, she scrolled down and noted that it looked a bit boring. When asked to find the mascot, she went straight to the Athletics page, which did have an option to leave the site and go elsewhere. I advised her she needed to stay on the site. With that, she identified the mascot after seeing a picture on a student’s shirt, although it took a few more clicks.

The next task was to find out if the school offered Arabic as a foreign language option. This proved to be a bit more challenging. She muttered “where do I look for foreign languages”? She went to Schools and Colleges and then to Education. She wanted to use the search option, but I reminded her that was not allowed. Back to Schools and Colleges and then to Programs followed by Academics. There was a lot of back and forth to the same page as if she knew it should be there, even though she couldn’t find it there. Eventually she located it, and yes, they do offer Arabic.

Lastly, she was asked to find the nearest airport to the school. There was a lot of scrolling up and down that took place. Navigation buttons on the top and the bottom were both used to go back to the Admissions page. She finally stopped her search and noted she wouldn’t necessarily go to a school’s webpage to find the closest airport. That was something she could locate on a hotel’s site.

The main pain point in each scenario seemed to be not knowing where to go for the information. There were a lot of navigation tabs with dropdowns containing additional information. She regularly went across the top and reviewed the options in each tab. When at the bottom of the page she again reviewed the many choices available in the footer.

Thus, with instructions to select a main problem to solve, I have elected to simplify the navigation process. While the site does have a search button, when you type in a topic or question, you are presented with pages of possible links. For example, when entering “what academic programs do you offer?”, 10,200 results are displayed.

A more feasible solution could be a prompted message asking the user “How may I help you”? This would be located under the navigation bar, allowing those who want to browse the site the opportunity to do so, or for those who know exactly where they want to go. For those who are looking for simplicity, they could type in a question and receive prompted feedback to narrow down their actual need, similar to Siri for Apple.

The following picture is a snapshot of my paper prototype. Although simple in design, it could be an interactive option to engage visitors of the site. It could also allow for data to be collected regarding items of interest. More importantly, it aligns with our pre-reading, which states designers do not necessarily need to reinvent the wheel. It is okay to use a concept people are familiar with and find value in.

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Sherry Andre, Ph.D.

Co-founder of 305ELab | Business Consultant | Author | Professor

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