UX Research & Iterative Course Design

Usability Testing, Iterative Design, Survey Design

Questions

Q1) How can courses best be designed to maximize user learning experiences and improve university enrollments?

Q2) What are users’ “pain points” while learning?

Q3) How can current instructors implement the best learning strategies?

Target & Timeline

• 125+ U.S. American undergraduate students at the University of the South.

• 18-22 years old.

• 1 instructional year (2 instructional semesters).

Methods & “Answer”

To address Q1) I designed a condensed research plan in consultation with stakeholders, chiefly department leaders and teaching colleagues. Later, I performed preliminary research before launching the course. This included pre-launch meetings between stakeholders that identified administrative and departmental objectives and shared knowledge about previous classes. Team members spoke candidly and constructively about previous course launches—what worked well and what required improvement.

To address Q2) I identified user pain points through early and late-stage feedback: informal focus groups and surveys. Focus groups consisted of 5 to 6 users within the first week of launching the course. Focus group questions prioritized the users’ satisfaction with prior courses. Surveys were administered 3 times during the instructional semester—at the start, middle, and end of the semester launch cycle. I incentivized participation in the study with class credit to recruit the broadest range of users. This included not only people from different backgrounds but also those with diverse learning levels. At the end of each instructional semester, I received formal departmental evaluations about my teaching.

To address Q3) prototypes of course content were created and distributed to users. This included user-centered course syllabi and assignment prompts. The success of the users’ course learning experience was tested throughout the semester via usability testing. I observed users during teaching sessions, including how users interacted with the course content. I also actively consulted with and received external feedback from departmental resources like university teaching center coaches.

To discover learning experience pain points, I continually collected, analyzed, and implemented data via users, stakeholders, and usability testing. For example, rather than using static lecture slides (what users disliked), I integrated more interactive materials like social media. Final adjustments occurred under the formalized assessment of departmental leadership. This was accompanied by official, documented evaluations of my performance at the end of each instructional period.

Key Findings

Successful learning experiences are an iterative, not linear, process. Organizational needs and those of users are fluid and changing. UX research and its systematized but flexible methods reveal this point. Course design should be iterative and based on principles of efficient collaboration, adaptation, and testing. Doing so helps coordinate the sometimes contrasting aims of organizations (administrators, departments, and instructors) & users (students).

Through repeated assessment and testing, I could stay empathetic to the learning styles users found most effective. This included modifying course content that better reflected users’ preferred modes of learning. For example, most students requested interactive discussions over fixed lectures. Conversely, I could still seamlessly implement stakeholder objectives like assigning required tasks despite some users initially showing less interest. In this way, from end to end, I served to successfully bridge the desired outcomes of departmental stakeholders and student users.