Study Buddy
a digital flashcard app
Project Overview
Role
UX Researcher and Designer
Duration
August & September, 2021
Background
Study Buddy was the first UX project I completed as a part of an online intensive training in UX research and design. It was my introduction to the design process: research, ideation, wireframing, prototyping & testing. I was the sole researcher and designer on this project, with my work receiving feedback after each stage and a all deliverables compiled and presented in a presentation of the overall project.
The Problem
How might we design a mobile app that empowers people to learn new vocabulary?
Before making design decisions, I learned how to research the problem by asking questions: Here I asked questions of the competition and actual users.
Research: Competitor Analysis
I began by comparing 3 mobile apps that were already working to address this problem for users: Quizlet, Brainscape, and DeckU Flashcard.
Research: User Interviews
I then interviewed 3 people with experience using digital flashcard apps to better understand their wants and needs.
The interviews were recorded and analyzed, with the findings presented in the form of Doing, Thinking, and Feeling statements.
Main Takeaways
Users want digital products that help them learn new things that are relevant to their lives, both professional and personal.
Users want to easily add content and engage the material in a variety of ways.
I need to get a better sense of what real users might want in an app like this.
While the core function of these apps may be similar each offers different secondary features and functions.
The secondary features can be catered to specific types of users
Defining the problem space
User Personas
User Stories
Problem Statements & Hypothesis Statements
After synthesizing the key insights from user interviews and competitor research, it became easier to see a potential direction to take the project
To gain a better understanding of the problem space that would begin to design a solution for, so I began to construct a proto-persona for the subject.
Designing for the problem:
Having a better understanding of the problem and the user I was designing for, I began to sketch the journey Evelyn would take to complete two critical tasks within the app. I learned it’s important to define the user challenges as best we can, based on available research, to help initiate and foster the design process.
User Flow #1: Studying a foreign language
User Flow #2: Downloading Series 7 study deck
Wireframing and prototyping
Building off what I learned and developed so far, I drew some initial sketches that illustrate key journeys our user would take.
Testing, feedback, revisions
Usability Testing
I tested the prototype by asking real users to perform 4 basic functions within the app on their own devices. Tests were observed in person, with audio recording and physical notes taken down.
Test analysis and report
After analyzing test notes, users’ comments and errors were organized as observations for each task, with observations ranked using Jakob Nielson’s error rating scale.
Revisions
Having the usability report to work from, it was easy to see which problems to address first in revisions.
Concluding thoughts
In retrospect, I wish I could have relaxed more and trusted the process. This was my first student project that was intended to give me a broad overview of the user experience design process.
In this regard, there are some key lessons learned: each phase in the process is connected, yet distinct. This emphasizes the need for the researcher/designer to trust the process and give each phase the work it is due.
To this end, I wish I could have broadened my research pool. I had difficulty finding users with similar experiences, so it became a bit of a guessing-game when creating the user persona and aligning business goals with user needs.
The experience of performing usability tests on a design of my own was a new and invaluable experience for me, as they are the only way to know what another person experiences when they interact with your design. Again, the parallels I noticed between the writing process and the research and design process were obvious and informative for me.