Strudel Media Live

An live online photography school that allows you to take classes from the comfort of your home.

Project Overview

Strudel Media Live is an online photography school in which students of various skill levels can learn from knowledgeable teachers from all over the world. While completing my UX design program with Kingsborough Community College, I had the opportunity to with a team of other students to help the company redesign their website.

Hypothesis

A meeting with the client helped us learn that the loyal students of strudelmediaLive often used their emailed newsletters to discover and register for new classes. As a result, they didn't use the company website as often. We set out to discover whether the student's lack of interaction with the website could be linked to some possible issues with usability. 

Role

UX Writer, UX Designer

Tools

Figma

Platform

Web-based Application

Deliverables

Mockup

Timeframe

July 2020 - October 2020

How might we improve the experience of enrolling in photography classes online?

Forming A Clearer Picture

User Research

User Testing

We conducted user testing on the initial website with Strudel Media Live's current customers in order to get a sense of how users are currently navigating the website to identify their pain points.

The pain points brought up by the customers were:

1. The lack of student work showcased throught the site
2. The amount of overwhelming text on the homepage
3. Not having the ability to filter or search for classes
4. The lack of clarity with some students regarding what the Photo_Talks series is and why Strudel Media Live hosts Photo_Talks events

Heuristic Analysis

I conducted a heuristic analysis on the original website to pinpoint potential usability issues that could be preventing students from using the website to register for classes. I highlighted the following heuristics as areas that needed to be addressed.

Identifying Targets

Photography students currently struggle to register for classes because it's difficult for them to navigate to the enrollment page. We set forth the following targets for what it would mean for our redesign to be successful:

• A redesign of the client's website will clarify various navigational elements that allow students to register for classes more easily
• Success for this project will be when the online enrollment for photography classes increases

We set out to improve the following usability issues discovered during research so that we could enable users to register for classes more efficiently:

Links that look like regular text

It is difficult to differentiate between regular text and links.

Navigation

The navigational menu items don't highlight when the user selects a page, making it difficult for the user to remember which page they're on

Indistinguishable Action Items

The class titles are the same as the teachers' names, making it difficult for users to tell the difference between the two

Link Interactions

It's difficult for users to tell when they are hovering over a link and when a link can be clicked.

Final Solutions

User Interface Design

UX Writing and Visual Design Solutions

After brainstorming a few ideas and making sketches based on those ideas, we used Figma for creating mockups. In addition to improving the usability issues discovered during user testing and the heuristic analysis, I worked on improving the UI copy throughout the website.

While improving the UI copy throughout the platform, I set forth the following goals - which overlapped with the overall design goals - based on the findings from the user testing as well as the heuristic analysis:

1. Provide concise, actionable copy that lets users know what Strudel Media Live has to offer and what sets the school apart from others
2. Improve the information hierarchy on each page so that users can find what they need with as little trouble as possible
3. Make it easier for students to browse through course options
4. Guide users through the site in a way that allows them to find a course that suits their skillset and interests

The user research and ideation resulted in the following changes:

Homepage

Classes Page

Class Description Page

Photo Talks Page

Always Room for Improvement

Takeaways

Balancing Client and User Needs

While working on this project, I had the opportunity to see a bit of the business side of the design process, and what stakeholders need to keep in mind for the sake of their business needs.

Tailoring Research Methods for Each Project

This project helped me understand that every research method isn't required for every project. I had the opportunity to learn how assess the project requirements at hand and tailor research methods according to the stage in which a company currently stands.