UXComm Journey
Mindmap
I began the journey by creating a mindmap.
People aren’t paying sky high tuitions at universities - both traditional and non-traditional - every year for fun. They are doing it with the end goal of getting a job. So the question was, how can this UX school help student achieve that goal.
Based on my experiences as a student studying UX as well as looking at the experiences of people with careers in UX (via LinkedIn, Instagram, and blogs), I identified 3 “pillars” that I wanted to build my school on.
Learning because well...its a school. Students need to learn certain theories and methodologies in order to successfully begin a career in UX. So I began exploring how can this UX school educate effectively relay information to its student and then measure how well they have received the information.
Community because one of the most consistent things I’ve seen is the idea that a lot of learning comes through discussion with others. Even in traditional classes, the classes I’ve enjoyed and learned the most from were those where there were a lot of discussions. Every teacher I’ve had and UX professional I follow online always stress the importance of networking and connecting with other UXers. Projects in classes usually have some element of teamwork. So the challenge was how to bring those elements into an online learning environment.
The last pillar is Portfolio. Every single job UX job post I have ever seen has required its applicants to submit a portfolio. Portfolios are used to showcase applicants' skills and potential ability to do the job. So it thought it important for
Meet The Users
My next step was to take a look at who my user would be. My target demographic are students who otherwise be studying at a traditional university. So the age group I considered first was 18 - 25. To create personas of these users, I looked at LinkedIn and Instagram profiles of people studying UX.
Mackenzie:
“I know I would like a carrer in UX Design but I don’t have the money for tuition fees at a University. Even if I did, I work and don’t have time to attend traditional classes nor do I want to wait 4 years before I can begin my career. I like the idea of taking a class on a platform like SkillShare or Udemy, but how do I know I am getting a quality education?”
Ryan:
“I went to school for graphic design. At the company I worked for previously, I was able to work on a project with a team of UX Designers. Their work was really interesting and I’m now considering a career change. I’m not ready to commit to paying for an education but I would like to learn about the field and what a career as a UX Designer looks like.”
How Might We...
After creating my personas and identifying their goals, I then began considering how the UX School could help its user achieve their goals.
...Help Mackenzie?
Mackenzie’s main concerns were price, time, and quality.
To address financial concerns my idea was to offer flexible payment plans and different course options with varying prices.
As far as time, because this is an online platform, students will largely be learning through video lessons. Classes would be offered and run through a set period, similar to a semester in University. But rather than having several small projects, classes would culminate in a single final project that student will have all semester to work on.
Ensuring students would receive quality education should a priority of any school. UXComm could do this by hiring mentors who are experienced design professionals. In Georgia Universities, professors are required to have AT LEAST a Master’s degree in their field. This means someone who received a graduate degree in design 1 year ago has a better chance of becoming a professor than someone with a bachelor's degree and 10+ years of leadership experience in the design field. And when you consider that many UXers did not enter the field with a degree in UX Design...well Universities are missing out on a lot of opportunities. So for UXComm, I thought hiring mentors who have both educational qualification as well as experience with proven success should be a priority. UXComm could also have partnerships with well-known and respected design-focused companies (like Adobe, Invision, etc.) that would add a layer of credibility.
...Help Ryan?
Ryan’s goal was exploring the field without making a commitment.
I believe the community aspect of UXComm would be beneficial to Ryan. As a free member of UXComm, he would have access to the community page. He could participate in the UX Challenge which would give him the opportunity to work on a project with other designers. He could also discover events (conferences, meetups) and resources (books, webinars, podcasts).
About the UX Challenge:
The UX challenge would be a bi-annual competition that would be open to UXComm members. UX Comm could partner with non-profit organizations who need some sort of online platform. Challenge participants could form teams with other members of the community and compete to have their design chosen. As a reward, they might receive job/internship opportunities, scholarships, recognition, or discounts for conferences, UXComm, classes, or even design tools like the Adobe creative suite.
Looking For Inspiration
My next step was to look at how similar platforms have helped its users achieve similar goals.
For the learning aspect, I not only looked at other online learning platforms (Skillshare, Udemy, FutureLearn, Coursera, etc.) but also video streaming platforms like Netflix and Youtube. I looked at these because I knew much of the learning would happen through video lessons and these platforms do a good job of keeping their users engaged.
Looking for inspiration for the community was interesting. Most online learning platforms I looked ar lacked a strong community presence. They only had a comment section were students (and teachers) could interact with each other. So I turned to other platforms that focused on community. I took a look at Reddit, Facebook, Goodreads, Slack, Skype, and Eventbrite.
For the portfolio, I looked at Dribble, Tumblr, Behance, Awwwards, UI Movement, and SiteInspire. All of these platforms focus on showcasing designers work.
Sketching It Out
With my research complete, I then began considering what UXComm might look like and how it might function.
Building The Prototype
This part was the most challenging for me. I had an idea of how I wanted the UI to look but struggled with bringing to life. It was easy enough creating the main elements, but when it came down to creating buttons, icons, deciding on the color and font...well it was interesting. I have all of the main pages on the navigation bar built as well as few microinteractions.
Follow the link below to see my prototype (so far...)
https://xd.adobe.com/view/884c4189-4041-4833-55b8-049f4b8ff7a6-fe7d/?fullscreen
What’s Next
Although I am submitting this, I already know that there are some improvements I want to make.
I would like to fether develop the community page so I can showcase what the UX Challenge and the Feed would look like.
I would also like to use Adobe After Effects to add animation to the design.
I’m also not completely happy with the colors I’ve chosen.
While building my UX school, I discovered another user that I felt important to consider. I named this user Elizabeth. Elizabeth is not a typical user because she is not a student but she is important nonetheless. She is a recruiter. She’s the one looking to hire the UX school’s students. I think it was important to think about how the UX school would point these recruiters in the direction of its students and how they would showcase them. While I didn’t get so far as to actually build a prototype of this I have considered how this might look and plan to add it as a further develop the project for my portfolio.
I would also like to try to design an app to accompany the desktop version.
Overall Takeaway
This was definitely the most challenging project I have ever had and I’m really glad I was able to have this experience before graduating. In past projects, I usually worked on with a team and my focus has always been on research, strategy, coding, or writing reports. This was my first time being so involved in the actual development of the UI design. I really enjoyed the challenge of bringing my ideas to life on my own. Doing this project has given me the confidence to develop some ideas I’ve had floating around in my head and see how I can make them a reality.