Research Lab Website Redesign
Conducted exploratory research with formative evaluation to reshape website navigation flow and co-designed a new website
Study Overview
The original website aims to showcase the lab’s continuous and high quality of research. However, the website is outdated, experiencing low traffic, and lacks information that align with main audiences' needs.
As lead UX researcher, I conducted research and co-designed the website to enhance site navigation, clarify user needs and expectations, and identify issues and opportunities for improving user engagement.
ROLE
Lead UX Researcher
TEAM
Lab Principal Investigator,
Lab researchers, UX Designer, Backend Engineer, Product Manager (6)
Define Objectives and Scope
Define research method
Data collection and analysis
Report and documentation
Prototype and Design Iteration
TIMELINE
2 Months, w/ongoing research and testing support
Outcome
We successfully launched the new website, and the redesigned screen garnered praise and recognition from our PI and PM. Implementation of research insights led to a 33% increase in pageviews and a 7.87% extension in the time spent on the new OpenStax Research page! 🕺🏻 🎉
Define Objectives and Scope
The original research inquiry was:
“Hey Jasmine, we need you to help redesign this existing site”
However there was a lack of clarity on 1. why the website needs redesign and 2. how was it failing to meet user needs. My first job is to Clarify Context.
How? By asking the Right questions:
What’s the project goal?
What problem are you trying to solve?
What does success look like?
Why a website?
… …
Need Assessment Interview
Interviewed with internal stakeholders to learn business goal & plan for better defining research questions, goal & plan
And now, here’s the “new” inquiry ✨:
“Hey Jasmine, we have an existing sites designated for junior and senior researchers. We want to use this site to advocate for our team, our research result & implementation, and welcome collaborations to help build better educational tools for public.
However, The site is really outdated and has low discoverability, but we don’t know what’s missing and what researchers want or need to see on the site. We need you to help redesign this existing site”
2. Define Research Method
The new inquiry helped me understand:
Which stage is the research in the product cycle?
Discovery stage
Do I want to know how people feel (attitudinal) or
how people behave/use/do (behavioral)?
More attitudinal, less behavioral
Do I need quantitative or qualitative data
Qualitative
Which helped me determine the most appropriate methodology to apply
In depth interviews
To explore user’s experience and feelings in depth. (n=11)
3. Data Collection & Analysis
Besides the notes collected from interview sessions, I also used transcription tool to help clean up the qualitative data. Then used post it notes & process/concept mapping to further break down data pattern and identify insights
