Project Overview
LexiCap is a native mobile app meant to empower people to learn new vocabulary even when they only have short segments of time in which to study.
LexiCap logo
My Role
UX Research, UX Design, Usability Testing
Project duration
3 months
The Problem to solve
Knowing that we wanted to create a mobile app for learning new vocabulary, in order to better understand the problems at hand, we set up three user interviews asking the following questions:
Are you currently a student, professional, or both? Please give us a snapshot of your responsibilities and daily routines.
When tackling new educational material (a new class, a new job, a new project, etc.) what are the challenges that stand out to you?
How often do/did you use your available time to study new vocabulary? Does/did it seem sufficient? Why or why not?
What motivated you to study when you needed to but kept facing roadblocks (such as lack of time, tiredness, apathy, etc.)?
What do/did you enjoy about learning new vocabulary and why?
What was frustrating or difficult about it for you? Why do you think that is?
The responses we received helped us gain a better picture of who we were designing for and what problems they were trying to solve, leading to the creation of our main user persona.
Meet Heather
Full time student, mother, and wife
Working towards a Bachelor of Science degree in a medical field
Based in Southern California
She has to stay organized to find study time while taking care of her family’s needs
She loves learning because it opens new worlds for her to enter and creates new ways for her to engage with the people and culture around her
““I have to take care of my people.””
Image Courtesy of Jonathan Borba
What does Heather Need?
Going back to the insights gained from our interviews, we analyzed the behaviors of Heather, what she needs, and what her goals are
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• She studies in small chunks of time spread throughout the day to fit with a busy schedule
• She loves learning because it opens new worlds for her to enter and new ways for her to engage with people and culture
• She organizes herself around the rhythms of her schedule and her professors’ expectations
She prefers to make physical flash cards as her primary study tool
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• To be able to upload cards she’s already made in order to use them in shorter bursts of study time
• To be able to import/download cards that others have already made in order to save time
• To be able to capture video of her professors pronouncing specific words
• To be able to quickly review before tests
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• To learn the medical terms associated with her degree, not just for tests, but in order to perform the future job well and care for people well
• To fit in with the medical community and be able to communicate clearly and effectively, using the language, terms, and jargon associated with her field of expertise.
In summation, The problem is that…
…she needs a way to be able to create or access customizable flash cards for flexible study and review because she is entering a demanding field and needs to learn and internalize a large quantity of difficult terms, not just for tests but for daily use in her future career.
We will know this to be true when we see her improved ability to converse with her professors and colleagues using the terminology as well as improved test scores.
Obstacles to consider
Beginning to Ideate
With a better idea of features that might actually help Heather achieve her goals, we started crafting out user flows to visualize the process for capturing new flash cards and for reviewing existing flash card sets, taking into consideration the decisions she might need to make and how to best present intuitive solutions for her.
The User Flows
Capturing a new flash card
Review an existing flash card set
The Wireframes
This provided the groundwork for us to then start sketching wireframes for a sign-up / login process and a basic dashboard and move into what we would need for a rough prototype.
A couple of onboarding screens to explain the functionality presents Heather with the option to sign up for an account, login if she already has, or continue as a guest to explore the dashboard.
Since we wanted the feature of uploading physical flashcards as well as creating new ones or searching for cards that others had made, the term “Capture” seemed to hit the right tone, both for obtaining new knowledge and its correlation with “capturing” a photo.
For the review section, our design goal was to keep the process simple, setting up the app as a digital means for Heather and users like her to self-test. Since she would have to grab small bursts of study time throughout her day, having her cards readily available for simple review at a moment’s notice was more important than trying to gamify the review process.
It became quickly apparent as we started to move into an initial round of testing that some ideas didn’t make as much sense once sketched out, such as the “Recent Set” on the dashboard.
The Test Plan
Usability Testing
With a clickable prototype to work with, we conducted a round of usability testing. We only had time and resources for three participants, but they provided a lot of information to help us learn how well our initial ideas met the goals we had set. Here are the main highlights of what we learned:
Confusing sign-up / login screen
Multiple testers got mixed up and couldn’t tell immediately which section was for new users and which was for those with accounts already made.
Missing / incomplete feature
One test participant noted, “So I can only review the cards, not make any edits to them?” - We hadn’t considered that need.
Unclear flow
Multiple testers got stuck after adding a new term title and couldn’t figure out the next step because the check mark didn’t make sense and there was no clear prompt.
Confusing signifiers
A few other testers noted, “Why does it say ‘Home’ at the top still?” and “How does this review system work?”
Valid questions that we need to now answer.
Improved Iterations
Taking what we learned from testing, we created a list of possible solutions / improvements and created new wireframe sketches
Separate the sign-up / login screens
By making them into separate screens, we allow for more white space around all of the elements and allow for input field labels that are easier to read.
Refine the “Capture” a New Card” flow
Simplify and enlarge the components for increased readability, add text prompts, and make confirmation decisions more obvious.
Add points of affirmation
This will help our users know when they’ve been successful, either in capturing a new card or in reviewing a card set.
Make the headings reflect the location
Since our users will likely be using the app in short bursts of time, each section’s top bar needs to reflect where they are to alleviate any confusion.
Improve the general sketch quality
Some of the hastily drawn elements were difficult to decipher during testing.
Redraw the dashboard layout
Remove the “Recent Sets” section for now and make the “Capture a New Card” section more prominent and readable.
Explain the review section better
Add some onboarding prompt text to the review section, as an explanation of how the self-test system works.
Add options to existing card sets
Allow for adding cards to existing sets, editing cards within a set, and review the whole set.
Future Improvements
After making these improvements based on the usability testing results, our next step would be to continue refining the prototype, moving towards a mid-fidelity level mock-up and beginning to iterate a user interface before going through more rounds of testing. We want to explore additional menu functionality, research needed features in the settings section, and work out more parts of the existing user flows.
At this point, the project is on hold, and we’ll wait to see if it gets cleared for further development.