Initial Usability Issues
Upon initial observation of the Roosevelt University app, I took note of 3 main usability issues. The app is lacking in organization, presents cluttered information, and does not provide enough value to be of daily use for students.
Organization
Related information is spread out throughout the homepage of the app. This is an issue as users cannot find important information intuitively.
Clutter
Presentation of information is overwhelming. Listing everything at once makes non-essential features cloud space that could be used for important tasks.
Purpose
App does not provide sufficient value. Most features provide links to outside resources.
Usability Evaluation
To begin, I brainstormed what goals users have when interacting with an academic based app, and what tasks are most essential to a student's day-to-day life. I then compared my findings to the tasks supported by the current RU app, in an attempt to determine if the users' goals are truly addressed.
What goals should a user be able to accomplish using the RU app?
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Monitor academic progress
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Track financial information & changes
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Stay up to date with school wide updates & annoucements
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Have easy access to information
What tasks should the RU app support?
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View live grades
-
Edit dashboard
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Check student meal plan balance
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View emergency notifications
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Access digital ID card
Task Evaluation
Tasks
Status
Notes
Usability Issue
2
1
3
4
Fully supported
Needs improvement
Not supported
Not supported
Supports task, but difficult to find.
Only provides link to university website.
Supports task, but no indicators of message importance
Only provides link to Blackboard application.
Clutter & Purpose
Organization & Clutter
Purpose
Purpose
5
Not supported
Only provides link to student account website.
Purpose
Redesign Approach
After my initial evaluation of essential user tasks, I compiled a detailed outline of the features that needed to be added to the app or modified to better support the users' goals.
Added Feature
Add live grades to course section
Usability Issue Addressed
Organization & Purpose: adding live grades to the
course section improves the layout of the homepage as the two related sections become one. It also gives the app more relevance as students can now check their live grades on the student app rather than being redirected to a different app to do so.
Task Supported
View live grades
User Goal Supported
Monitor academic progress &
Have easy access to information
Original
Updated
Added Feature
Add meal plan balance to tuition section
Usability Issue Addressed
Purpose: allowing students to view & make changes to their meal plan balances improves the app's usefulness and makes the process more intuitive for users by reducing the number of sign-ins and outside sources to complete one task.
Task Supported
Check student meal plan balance
User Goal Supported
Track financial information & changes
Original
Updated
Added Feature
Add digital student ID card to bottom navigation bar
Usability Issue Addressed
Purpose: having a digital ID card within the student app gives users an additional reason to use it more frequently, and solves an issue that students encounter regularly: forgetting their IDs or not having easy access to it.
Task Supported
Access digital student ID card
User Goal Supported
Have easy access to information
Original
Updated
Modified Features
Modified Feature
Simplify edit dashboard feature
Usability Issue Addressed
Organization: The gear icon is associated with account or app settings, while the pencil icon better indicates editing or modifying content. The text + gear icon combination creates confusion and extends the process, while the simple pencil icon creates a clear, concise experience.
Tasks Supported
Edit dashboard
User Goal Supported
Have easy access to information
Original
Updated
Modified Feature
Give notifications urgency levels based on color
Usability Issue Addressed
Organization: The original app displayed messages with the same visual weight, making it difficult to identify which notifications required immediate attention. By adding clear urgency indicators, information is easier to scan and prioritize, addressing the organization issue by creating a clearer visual hierarchy.
Tasks Supported
View emergency notifications
User Goal Supported
Stay up to date with school wide updates & annoucements
Original
Updated
Modified Feature
Remove cluttered sections on home page
Usability Issue Addressed
Organization: Several less essential sections were removed from the homepage to reduce visual clutter and improve organization. The original app displayed large amounts of information at once, making important features harder to find. By removing or relocating sections that students access less frequently, the redesigned homepage creates a clearer information hierarchy and makes frequently used features easier to locate.
Tasks Supported
All
User Goal Supported
Have easy access to information
Original
Updated
User Testing
I conducted comparative usability testing to determine whether the redesign addressed the key usability issues identified in the original app.
Participants: 2 Students
Tasks: 5 essential tasks
Method: Think aloud usability testing
Task 1: Find current grades
"The grades are super easy to find in the updated version. I like to check my grades at least twice a week, so it's important that that's super accessible for me." User 1
"It would be better if it said 'My Grades.'" User 2
Original App
Not supported
Redesigned App
Completed
Findings
-
Original App: users scrolled through entire homepage searching for a section that included grades, became frustrated or intimidated, and abandoned task.
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Redesigned App: users scrolled down to Courses section and immediately selected "Grades".
Original
Updated
Task 2: Customize the dashboard
Original App
Completed
Redesigned App
Completed
Findings
-
Original App: users had little to no trouble completing the task. One user selected the text "Your Dashboard" and then the gear icon when no feedback was given.
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Redesigned App: users showed some confusion when identifying where to complete the task. Pencil icon didn't seem intuitive enough.
Original
Updated
Task 3: Find student meal balance
"I like that the second version is very simple and there's not so many links that take you to different places..." User 1
"In the first version, it was annoying that I kept having to scroll." User 2
Original App
Not Supported
Redesigned App
Completed
Findings
-
Original App: users struggled to find student meal balance section and were unsure if they completed the task or not.
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Redesigned App: users were able to scroll down the homepage and identify the meal plan section immediately.
Original
Updated
Task 4: Identify the most urgent notification
Original App
Not supported
Redesigned App
Completed
Findings
-
Original App: one user was unable to identify the most urgent notification, while the other user was only able to after reading the content in the messages.
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Redesigned App: users identified the 3rd message as the most urgent immediately.
Original
Updated
Task 5: Find the digital student ID card
Original App
Not supported
Redesigned App
Completed
Findings
-
Original App: users were unable to identify any student ID card.
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Redesigned App: users were able to navigate to student ID card page immediately.
Original
Updated
Iteration
Based on the feedback and observations gathered in my user testing, there are areas I could continue to improve to best support users' needs.
Observations & feedback
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Both users showed confusion or hesitation when completing Task 2, edit the dashboard.
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One user hesitated while completing Task 1, find current grades, and explained "It would be better if it said 'My Grades'".
Areas to improve
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The users reaction to the task made me question if the pencil icon is actually the most intuitive option. I would plan to change the icon and possibly add back the text description and see how users respond.
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The feedback from User 1 indicated to me that the size, placement, and wording of the text to show users their current grades may not be attention grabbing. I'd like to make it more clear what the section entails by increasing the size of the text, changing it to read "My Grades", and making it better resemble a press-able button than a link.