How Bathroom tiles got me thinking about UX design.
I never knew buying tiles for a bathroom could be so frustrating.
You might be thinking, Emma, this is a Learning and Development (L&D) blog, how on earth are you going to shoehorn bathroom tiles into something about L&D?
Stay with me…I promise this will make sense.
So bathroom tiles. Now, as most people do when renovating a room in their house, I have created a mood board of my ideal bathroom. From which bath I want, which fancy taps and of course tiles.
With it being the new year and wanting to crack on with the renovation, I began my search for tiles, jumping on to the first website that popped up.
Great I thought, they have pages and pages of different tiles, loads to choose from. I knew roughly the colour I was looking for and budget, so was expecting to be able to filter based on my needs.
Oh no, that would have been far too easy.
Instead, the only option for filtering was tile size (in inches) and material.
Now, I know I have a mood board of tile ideas, but I hadn’t quite got that specific to be identifying my ideal size and material of tile.
I looked at the number of pages to trawl through…349…sigh.
Needless to say, I got about 3 pages in, could not find what I wanted and swiftly left, jumping over to B&Q where they had all the filtering options a girl could want.
Why is this important?
Well, due to the clunky website, that particular business lost my custom.
Think about where this has felt familiar. Have you ever had a similar experience when navigating a Learning Management System (LMS)?
The type of experience where you log on, try to navigate to the course you need but get lost in a catalogue of learning. You try typing in the name of the course, but it takes you to a page showing five different versions of the same learning. You gamble and choose one, at this point you just want to get the eLearning done, but when you open it, you notice the design looks outdated, the text is all different sizes, and the imagery is straight out of a 1999 clipart gallery.
You try ringing the L&D administrative team but can’t get through. You decide to shut down the learning and try again another day.
A different scenario to my tile buying experience, but the same outcome. Task abandoned, and custom lost.
So how do we improve the above experiences? With better UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface) Design.
Before I move on and discuss why UX and UI design are important in Learning and Development, let’s first recap what exactly it means.
First up UX, or User Experience design. In simple terms, the user experience encompasses all of the interactions an individual may have with a company and its products or services.
For example, if you want to do a Click and Collect order from a supermarket. The user experience would be everything from logging-in to the mobile app to find and order the groceries you need, to the interactions you have with members of staff when picking up your shopping.
A UX designer will analyse the experience an individual has and consider how easy it is for them to complete the required task. They will then make any necessary changes to ensure a pleasant, easy and seamless experience for the individual.
This is not about visuals or aesthetics, more about ease of use and how the experience makes the individual feel.
So what about UI design then?
Well, UI or User Interface Design is focused on visuals. Great UI design should enhance the user’s experience and unlike UX Design, is focused solely on digital interactions. Think apps, websites, the takeaway coffee machines you find in service stations, essentially anything with a digital interface.
A UI Designer will consider visual aspects, such as layout, typography, buttons, imagery and responsiveness. Top notch UI design will provide an intuitive experience that feels easy to navigate and interact with.
An example of UI Design in one of my recent digital learning courses. Clear next and back buttons are used, along with simple instructions and well spaced imagery.
Experience and design should be a top priority for Learning and Development.
Let’s revisit our LMS scenario. What made this a bad example of UX Design?
The LMS is hard to navigate and does not provide a clear signpost to the course which the individual needs.
The individual cannot get through to anyone when calling for assistance.
They give up and decide to do the learning another day.
Trying to complete the necessary task resulted in a frustrating experience that didn’t allow the individual to meet their needs.
“Having worked as an administrator myself in an L&D department, I can say with conviction that most of the feedback we received regarding our learning was not about the content, but how frustrating it was to book on to the course, or how the eLearning navigation didn’t perform correctly.”
So what about UI design?
The LMS catalogue was packed full of courses and when the individual searched for the specific course they needed, they still couldn’t define the right one. This indicates unclear navigation, or a lack of detail regarding the courses.
The eLearning itself featured outdated imagery and inconsistent design.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not expecting L&D departments to suddenly hire a UX or UI Designer, because let’s face it, they do not have the budget for that.
However, it’s about being mindful and considering how the overall experience of booking onto a course and accessing / navigating digital learning, can impact the attitude towards the learning.
Having worked as an administrator myself in an L&D department, I can say with conviction that most of the feedback we received regarding our learning was not about the content, but how frustrating it was to book on to the course, or how the eLearning navigation didn’t perform correctly. This then resulted in unhappy delegates, that then went into the learning with a negative mindset and often skipped through to just get it done, as they had already wasted 10 or so minutes trying to just get it to function correctly.
Do we think this then instils confidence in the learning we are providing, or supports retention of learning?
Nope.
Let’s not forget that people have less and less time nowadays too, often just 30 – 45 minutes to complete any necessary learning. Think about the impact it may have if they’re spending 10 of those minutes trying to figure out how to navigate a course, or searching for the eLearning they need.
So whose responsibility it is to consider UX and UI design?
UX Design - Heads of L&D, L&D coordinators / administrators, and anyone with any influence over the delivery and planning of learning.
Anyone involved in the end-to-end delivery of learning should be considering UX Design and the overall learning experience for the individual. Think about…
Your LMS – how easy is it to use? Have old courses been archived? Is learning catalogued and labelled correctly? Have courses been assigned to their correct audience? Would an LXP (Learner Experience Platform) be a better option?
Support – how easy is it for learners to access support if they need it? Are there helplines available and during which times? Is there a support chatline or email address and if so what are response times like?
Digital learning – what are loading times like? Is completion tracked correctly? Can the learner come back to a course halfway through, or will progress be lost? Is internet required, if so what happens if this is lost?
UI Design – Digital learning designers, eLearning developers, Instructional Designers.
Those that have any involvement in the creation of digital learning should be considering UI Design and how this may impact the experience for the end-user. Think about…
Navigation – Clear, simple navigation is key to supporting a positive learning experience. Consider the controls used, are they clearly labelled? Is there a menu, is this restricted or free? Are clear instructions given on how to navigate the learning? Is navigation consistent?
Branding, typography and colour – Consistency is incredibly important when using any form of branding, typography or colour. Is the logo in the same place on the slide? Is font size and placement consistent? Is a colour scheme used appropriately and effectively?
Layout – Are slides cluttered and increasing cognitive load? Is it clear in which order the learner should interact with elements? Do images, text and buttons have space to breathe?
Interactivity – Are instructions for any quizzes or interactive elements clear? Do all buttons, flashcards, etc. work correctly? Is the choice of interactivity suitable for the content, i.e. does the text fit accordingly? Is the imagery used appropriate and reflective of the content?
Accessibility – Is the colour contrast high enough? Are there closed captions, voiceover and Alt Text available? Are a range of learning aids used to support retention?
Integrating the above questions into your decision making and development of digital learning can have a significant impact on the experience and attitude towards the learning you provide.
Here are some top tips to help get you started…
An example of UI Design inspiration from Pinterest.
Make a mood board! Every month or so I jump onto Pinterest and search ‘UI design.’ From here I save any great examples of UI design that I can use in my digital learning creation.
Shop around for an LMS. Not all LMS are created equal, be sure to do your research, ask for demos and think about it from the viewpoint of the end user and not the administrator.
Test, test, test. You can never test things too much. A robust review and testing process needs to be in place that incorporates a variety of different individuals.
Keep things consistent. UI Design in particular will go through various trends, and it can be tempting to jump on all of them. Try a few things out, find a design that works and implement it across a couple of courses to see how it is received. This is particularly important when it comes to navigation controls as you don’t want your learners having to relearn how to use an eLearning each time.
Take advantage of royalty free websites and accessibility checkers. There’s no need to become a photographer yourself, there are a wealth of royalty free image and media websites out there to help you source high quality imagery for your digital learning. Accessibility sites such as WebAIM can help when checking colour contrast and ensuring your digital learning meets accessibility standards.
Oh and I never did order those tiles.
