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REDESIGNING BLACKBOARD

A menace to all Srishti students 

What is blackboard?

Blackboard LMS is an online platform designed for course management, communication, and collaboration in educational settings. The platform aims to facilitate a digital learning environment.

market segment

Ed-Tech Segment 

product type

e-learning platform

personal statement 

Deciding to revamp Blackboard LMS comes from the daily struggles we face in college while using it. We chose this product because of the close connection we had with it, thus helping us redisign the product better.

my role

UX Head | Planning | Organising | Teaching 

tools

Figma, Notion, Pen & Paper

problem

Complicated flow

Bland UI 

Bad integration of tools 

methods used

Heuristic Analysis

Geurilla Usability Testing

SWOT Analysis

Competitor Analysis

Affinity Mapping

1

2

Understand

Research

3

4

5

Analyse

Sketch

The redesign

1

UNDERSTAND

Understanding the problem
Knowing the organisation’s objectives

2

RESEARCH

Conduct user research
Learning about target users & user problems

3

ANALYSE

Do affinity mapping
Empathy mapping
Creating User Personas

4

SKETCH

Creating paper representation
of solution

5

THE REDESIGN 

Create High Fidelity Wireframes

In this UX case study focused on Blackboard, we aim to transform the platform into a user-centric and streamlined experience.
To achieve this, we will simplify content flow and navigation, ensuring users can effortlessly reach their goals.This includes adhering to an efficient information hierarchy. We'll strike a harmonious balance between aesthetics and functionality, keeping in mind that every element added serves a vital purpose.

Our overarching goal is to streamline user workflows, delivering a more intuitive interface that caters to users' needs, ultimately elevating the overall user experience.

Team Goal

- Lead a team of four juniors in redesigning Blackboard LMS for improved user experience.

- Emphasize user simplicity and efficiency in the redesign process.

- Foster a collaborative and creative team environment for optimal results.

- Prioritize skill development among team members.

- Ensure each team member contributes their unique strengths to the project.

- Commit to refining leadership skills throughout the project.

Personal Goal 
:
as the Head of UX

Understanding the problem

SWOT Analysis

I chose to do a SWOT analysis as it enhances UX design by identifying team strengths and weaknesses, aligning design with opportunities in the market, and proactively addressing threats like competition, enabling a more effective design process.

STRENGTHS

User Interface and Customization:
- Allows customization of landing page, color, and course homepage.
- The landing page is decently categorized into different sections.
- Easy login with saved password and ID.

 

Content Management:
- Can hide and show submissions to students after submission.
- Supports a substantial amount of information on the site.
- Can create blogs that can be submitted and accessed by all.
- Allows blogs to be public or private.

User Interaction and Communication:
- Has a lot of tools to facilitate workflow.
- Performs multiple functions that assist with the interaction between a student and facilitator
- Institutional Adaptability

Flow picked:
The Submission flow

 

This flow was one that was used by everyone regardless of their major. It also had the most pain points (from a designer's perspective). 

We then conducted a heuristic & competitor analysis 

The heuristics helped us in evaluating the effectiveness, efficiency, and overall usability of the submission flow on Blackboard 

We gained valuable insights into what works and what doesn't in other similar service providers. We conducted the competitor analysis on 3 websites:

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Google Classroom 

Manage-

Bac

Moodle

KEY INSIGHTS 

What could be done/ What is needed ?

- Comprehensive Course Information

- Well-Organized and Aesthetically

- Customized Interface

- Effective Communication and Interaction

- Dedicated Assessment Area

- Task and Deadline Management

- Efficient Scheduling and Countdowns

-Flexible Submission Options

PROBLEMATIC AREAS

​- Inconsistent User Experience

- Limited User Guidance

- Navigation and Accessibility Issues

- Real-world Alignment and Efficiency

Understanding our users 

Since we were redesigning blackboard in a Srishti (college) context. All our users had to be students in college.

Guerrilla Usability Testing 

We conducted 

To understand how different types of users interacted with the submission flow. 

The types of users included:

- The Novice : A first time user 

- The Foundie : A user who has just started their journey with Blackboard 

- The Seasoned User : A user who has been using it for a considerable amount of time.

PROBING QUESTIONS

  1. ​What do you major in/ what do you study?

  2. How long have you been using blackboard?

  3. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 on your comfortability using BB

  4. Have you used any submission portal before? how was the experience?

  5. Did the submission flow feel intuitive?

  6. What difficulties did you face while performing the task? Were you confused at some point?

  7. Were there any specific elements or features of the submission flow that stood out to you, positively or negatively?

  8. Did you have to search for a specific feature? if yes what?

  9. Do you want more information on your submission?

  10. Do you know of there is any difference between journals and blogs?

  11. How do you keep yourself updated on bb? and manage your assignments?

  12. Have you had any unpleasant submission experiences? if yes, what?

  13. How do you usually attach files on bb or anywhere else? (drag and drop or attach)

  14. Final thoughts/ suggestions/ recommendations?

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USER INTERVIEWS

WHAT WE OBSERVED

  • The sequence in which the user interacts with the screen. (Where they click first)

  • Where the user makes mistakes(Goes off course of task)

  • How the user gets back to the stage where they left off

  • What are the questions they ask

  • Where they spend the most time to figure out what they have to do.

WHY

  • How user’s behave in the flow chosen.

  • The pain points.

  • What are the questions and doubts that arise in the user’s mind when using that particular flow?

  • What the user thinks could be better?

  • How would each user ideally use this app.

  • If the user wouldn’t use this app ( with regards to flow chosen), what would make it more attractive to them?

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Neha

the foundie

Has just joined Srishti and is excited to embark on her educational journey. She is starting with her classes soon and has to navigate BB for the first time.

Needs: They don’t need external help or guidance to navigate the website.

Pain point: The navigation was not intuitive at all.

Goals: To submit all assignments on time.

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Sakshi

the seasoned user

She has been using BB for 3 years and has gotten used to its working; it’s become a habit for her and finds comfort in it. She hates the way the website looks.

Needs: The option of setting timer in journal or blog and it would pop up as a reminder like FIGMA

Pain point: Larger file size, has a problem during exams.

Goals: Submitting large assignments for thesis and pre-thesis.

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Needs: A more organised course and assignment list.

Pain point: No deadlines visible and misses out on assignments because he never realises a submission is due.

Farhan

the novice

Has been at Srishti for half a year and has just started to get comfortable in his new environment, he found it overwhelming at first but finds himself becoming proficient in his BB usage each time he uses it.
However he doesn’t particularly like using it. He also finds it hard to keep track of deadlines as he is relatively new to having multiple assignments

Goals: Understanding the software and utilizing its multiple features

User personas

the usability testing helped us gain insights on on the different types of our users, thus helping us categorise them into

Key pain points

the usability testing helped us gain insights on how our users interacted with the flow, we then used these insights by categorising them, performing an affinity mapping exercised and then creating a user flow. This helped us validate the problems we identified in the affinity mapping.

old flow - 8 steps 

Log in -----> Select Course ------>Go to tools ------->Select 'Blog'------> Pick particular blog ------>Click 'Create Blog' -------------------> Fills form accordingly -------Submits

new flow - 4 steps 

Log in -----> Select Course -------> Select Task ------>Fills form accordingly -------> Submits 

or

Log in -----> Select Task ------>Fills form accordingly -------> Submits 

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Sketching 

Middle Fidelity Screens

Homepage - Course list

Dashboard_Mid fid.png
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Keep track of deadlines

Upcoming submissions are placed at the top of the screen to help users keep track of upcoming deadlines and provides them with a shortcut to submitting their assignments.

All the course are displayed in blocks for ease of location, they are also categorised by Semester. 

Course_Mid fid.png

All your tasks displayed in the same place regardless of type.

Active tasks are categorised using symbols, They also give you information on submission deadlines

No more searching 

Task_Mid fid.png

Quickly attach files

More importance is given to the attachment option therefore alloting it more space than the body text.

Submit & Re-Submit

- Make changes until the deadline

- You can submit once after the deadline passes to turn in late assignments.

Search for what you are looking for directly with a smart search bar.

Get notified of approaching deadlines, comments on assignments, taskes being created & other course related announcements 

Search for what you are looking for directly with a smart search bar.

Get notified about approaching deadlines, task creation, comments on assignments, messages & other course related assignments.

Interface design

An online platform designed for course management, communication, and collaboration in educational settings at a college level (in this case). The platform aims to facilitate a digital learning environment therefore needed to be something that looked professional.

 

A monotone colour scheme with tones of blue was chosen to emphasize this feeling. User's didn't want to feel like they were in school, a clean and minimalistic interface was used to channel this experience.

#F7BC45
Lincoln Green

#C3DCDC

Light Blue

#1B3936

Dark Slate Grey

#F6F9F9

Seasalt

What would I have done different?

Upon reflection, this is one of the only projects that I have truly worked on with a participative team. Furthermore, I was presented with the opportunity of heading this team as well, which consequently made most of my learnings that of communication and working with various perspectives, opinions and people. 

However, I would have liked to have been able to redesign more of Blackboard instead of only picking one flow, hence helping my team understand how these processes could feed into each other. Time was also something I would have liked more of to conduct conduct a usability test to understand whether we succeeded in solving issues that we were hoping to solve.

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