Project Date: 2011 - 2012

HBS Online Learning Program

D2L - 2011 - 2012

As Lead Designer at D2L, I designed two key applications to enhance the learning experience for Harvard’s MBA and Executive programs. The first was a new Calendar application, which provided a streamlined way for students and instructors to manage schedules, deadlines, and events across their rigorous programs. The second was The Seating Chart, a classroom management tool tailored to the needs of Harvard’s discussion-driven teaching model. This app allowed instructors to track attendance, monitor participation, and evaluate students’ speaking and engagement performance during lectures.

UX Research

We interviewed clients and potential job candidates to better understand their goals and frustrations with existing Career sites job application flows. We also implemented Google Analytics into the existing site to determine drop off points, areas where people are stuck and what content they are required to input before, during and after the application is submitted. We encapsulate all of the feedback and requests into project requirements and Jira epics and stories.

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Experience Vision

Most people don’t realize that up to 90% of the candidates they drive to their applicant tracking system leave without submitting applications. That means up to 90% of their recruitment marketing spend and efforts are wasted! We discovered that most candidates were frustrated by the complexity of the navigation, frustrated by duplicate entry requirements, and not confident that the submission was accurate and complete.

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Information Architecture

We use task analysis, journey mapping and task flow diagrams to map out the user path through the design. We try to define what the 'Happy Path' through the flow would be and focus our efforts there. Our goal is to create a guided workflow that is immediately intuitive for new users. I leverage a set of global UX Heuristics and Design Patterns to provide a framework for making good design decisions and evaluating options.

Lean UX Development

We use Design System components and static data to design the workflows and interactions quickly and efficiently. We used mobile use cases as a start and then optimized for tablet and desktop experiences. This also included content optimizations to leverage more screen real estate and a stationary context. We follow a build-measure-learn process by testing early and often with SME's, stakeholders and representative users based on the primary outcomes we want to achieve.

Usability/Accessibility Testing

I use UX Heuristics and Design Principles to evaluate the Design. We do usability testing for both mobile and desktop use cases. We leverage new co-op hires as a fresh set of users to test our apply flows with and determine how effective our solution is. We also test for keyboard and screen reader usability to ensure WCAG 2.1 AA compliance.

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Implementation

After we have tested our prototype thoroughly, we proceed to the implementation phase where we wire up the design and build on top of the target system data and any API's we need to leverage. To do this we leverage our Angular component library and Design system. I act as a key point of contact during this stage to finish the UI Design and answer questions about approach if there are any constaints or scope changes. We also test accessibility and performance metrics with greater scrutinty and examine analytics and qualitative feedback from UAT and ongoing usability testing to constantly improve and iterate on the design.

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Business Outcomes

Increased Engagement

Student participation and activity in the system increased by 42%.

Lower Support costs

Our solution transforms the user experience and visual design resulting in drastic reduction of support calls or technical issues.

Increased Productivity

Our solution reduces the time to complete Benefits enrolment from 30 minutes down to just under 5 minutes and gives the employee peace of mind and some of their time back.

Improved Usability

Qualitatitve testing shows a huge improvement in the employee experience since we create visually compelling experience and streamline the workflows for speed, accuracy and confidence.

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