Overview

The Client

Emily Griffith is a technical college located in downtown Denver, CO, with a diverse population.  Emily Griffith Technical College wanted to update the design and function of their current learning management website to benefit student and faculty and to achieve more with powerful new tools.

The Challenge

Design a website for students and faculty that will allow easy access to courses, grades, and other college resources.  Build a site that is functional and attractive that inspires users to engage and to utilize more of the system features. 

Outcome

A usable and aesthetically appealing online learning platform with strong brand identity

Length of Project

5 months

My Role:

Implementation Project Manager and LX Designer 

Research

During the research phase, I sought to understand the current state of Emily Griffith’s user experience. My intention during this phase was to uncover the needs and frustrations of both the learner and the faculty user to understand how the site might function better for them. 

Research Goals:

  1. What are business targets of the project?
  2. What features are important to Emily Griffith and need to be present on the site?
  3. How will EG users access the site/ What is the user journey?
  4. What type of experience does EG want its users to have upon entering the site?
  5. What tools and resources need to be easily accessible from the site?
  6. How will learners use the site?
  7. How will faculty use the site?

Secondary Research

First, I reviewed articles, case studies, and other sites to identify industry standards and user expectations. 

I found areas in which the college’s site could be updated and improved and tools that could benefit both learners and faculty in using the system more efficiently.

Primary Research

I conducted a discovery call and interviews with faculty, staff, and system administrators to determine what they felt was important to improve site usability and resource access. 

My interviews produced the following insights:

  • Emily Griffith had two types of users accessing the site with different security needs.  I worked with my team to develop two different authentication options for the site so that these different groups could access the site as needed with the permissions that were relevant to their role.
  • Emily Griffith was using an outdated course format that would not transfer content to their new site.  Content would need to be manually moved from old course locations to the new.
  • Several of the courses Emily Griffith offers utilize proprietary tools.  I worked with their IT team to install an LTI and complete the proprietary integration on their site.
  • A unique email integration was requested by the college to make student and faculty communication easier.  I worked with my team to develop a messaging system that satisfied the desires of the college. 

Project Planning

Process & Timeline

Once I understood the critical elements involved in our site build and implementation for Emily Griffith, I developed a project plan using Asana and Excel that included the various integrations and design milestones.  The plan was provided to the client so that everyone was on the same page with regard to timeline and expectations.  Because the client project required manual movement of files from their old platform to the new, their timeline was longer than some. 

Design

Our first step was to build a site and wireframe for the client so that they could begin to get a feel for how the site would function and how it would interface with users.  Once the initial wireframe was available, we met with stakeholders to review any concerns or functionality needs they wanted to discuss.  We worked through several iterations of the site design before fleshing it out, adding artwork and branding.

To make the transition to the new site a smooth one for students and faculty, we employed intuitive navigation with some of the steps remaining similar to what they experienced on the old site.

Function

Several integrations were required to achieve the functionality Emily Griffith needed.  My team and I worked with them to establish two different authentication methods, email messaging, and a custom integration with their student information system for courses and enrollments.  We also installed various tools to improve the user experience such as video capability, document converters, access to outside resources, and modern course design tools.

Launch

Prior to launching the site to all users, usability testing was performed.  A faculty user group was developed and faculty were given access to the site several weeks before the final launch.  This preliminary access allowed faculty to experiment with course building tools, to become familiar with how the new site functioned, and to ask questions about tasks such as grading, and new feature use. 

The final site launch to all users occurred just ahead of the fall semester with a smooth transition and positive feedback from our client.  Emily Griffith is enjoying a state-of-the-art, custom learning experience with tools that will prepare their students and faculty for the next decade of advancement in education and employment technology.