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CONCEPT

Enabling on-the-go Learning

How research and UX design principles shaped the design of responsive site that helps users learn wherever they are.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

CONTEXT

A Spice of Life Catering was in dire need of a training solution that could effectively meet the demands of their seasonal business cycles. As a company operating in the events industry, they faced the challenge of rapidly onboarding and training a workforce during their busy season. This struggle negatively impacted employee retention and manager morale and the company struggled to maintain service excellence during peak seasons. In response to this problem, I developed SKILLit, a training solution to meet the needs of a "deskless" workforce.

Although conceived as a conceptual project, SKILLit was grounded in real-world insights gained through interviews with A Spice of Life employees. This case study highlights SKILLit's inception and its potential to address the training challenges faced by A Spice of Life Catering.

MY ROLE

UX Design, UX Research

TIMELINE

8 Months

TOOLS

Figma

Notion

G Suite

SKILLS

UX RESEARCH

UI

ACCESSIBLE DESIGN

INTERACTION DESIGN

VISUAL HIERARCHY

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

Solution

INTERACTIVE FEATURES

SKILLit incorporates engaging elements such as interactive quizzes and instructional videos to enhance user engagement and facilitate active learning.

MODULAR TRAINING

SKILLit offers modular training that can be tailored to fit the specific training goals of each employee role, allowing for flexible and targeted learning experiences.

RESPONSIVE

SKILLit's platform can be accessed across various devices, enabling employees to engage in training, anytime, whether they're at their desk or on the go.

INTERACTIVE FEATURES

SKILLit incorporates engaging elements such as interactive quizzes and instructional videos to enhance user engagement and facilitate active learning.

MODULAR TRAINING

SKILLit offers modular training that can be tailored to fit the specific training goals of each employee role, allowing for flexible and targeted learning experiences.

RESPONSIVE

SKILLit's platform can be accessed across various devices, enabling employees to engage in training, anytime, whether they're at their desk or on the go.

User Personas

By delving deep into the needs, preferences, and pain points of the users, I was able to develop a nuanced understanding of the problems that needed to be addressed.

Sara

The Overworked Manager

Job Title:

Manager

Age:

32

Hours Worked/Week:

75 hrs

BIO

Sarah works as an events manager at A Spice of Life Catering. With years of experience in the events industry, Sarah manages many tasks, from planning and coordination to execution. She's also responsible for hiring and training new employees. However, she struggles to keep up during busy event seasons.

PAIN POINTS

  • Keep up with staffing demands

  • Onbord and train new staff

goals

  • New hires trained within their first two weeks

  • All shifts filled by qualified workers

needs

  • Train staff quickly and efficiently

Sara

The Overworked Manager

Job Title:

Manager

Age:

32

Hours Worked/Week:

75 hrs

BIO

Sarah works as an events manager at A Spice of Life Catering. With years of experience in the events industry, Sarah manages many tasks, from planning and coordination to execution. She's also responsible for hiring and training new employees. However, she struggles to keep up during busy event seasons.

PAIN POINTS

  • Keep up with staffing demands

  • Onbord and train new staff

goals

  • New hires trained within their first two weeks

  • All shifts filled by qualified workers

needs

  • Train staff quickly and efficiently

Sara

The Overworked Manager

Job Title:

Manager

Age:

32

Hours Worked/Week:

75 hrs

BIO

Sarah works as an events manager at A Spice of Life Catering. With years of experience in the events industry, Sarah manages many tasks, from planning and coordination to execution. She's also responsible for hiring and training new employees. However, she struggles to keep up during busy event seasons.

PAIN POINTS

  • Keep up with staffing demands

  • Onbord and train new staff

goals

  • New hires trained within their first two weeks

  • All shifts filled by qualified workers

needs

  • Train staff quickly and efficiently

Benjamin

The Student Worker

Job Title:

Server

Age:

21

Hours Worked/Week:

10 hrs

BIO

Benjamin, a psychology major at the University of Colorado, just accepted a position at A Spice of Life Catering as a server. This is his very first job (aside from mowing lawns when he was in high school) and he is nervous, yet excited. He hopes to get the support and training he needs to be successful and learn new skills.

PAIN POINTS

  • Not feeling very confident.

  • Unsure of what to expect.

goals

  • Working to save money for his back packing trip.

  • To learn new skills.

needs

  • A flexible job that will allow him to save money for Europe.

Benjamin

The Student Worker

Job Title:

Server

Age:

21

Hours Worked/Week:

10 hrs

BIO

Benjamin, a psychology major at the University of Colorado, just accepted a position at A Spice of Life Catering as a server. This is his very first job (aside from mowing lawns when he was in high school) and he is nervous, yet excited. He hopes to get the support and training he needs to be successful and learn new skills.

PAIN POINTS

  • Not feeling very confident.

  • Unsure of what to expect.

goals

  • Working to save money for his back packing trip.

  • To learn new skills.

needs

  • A flexible job that will allow him to save money for Europe.

Benjamin

The Student Worker

Job Title:

Server

Age:

21

Hours Worked/Week:

10 hrs

BIO

Benjamin, a psychology major at the University of Colorado, just accepted a position at A Spice of Life Catering as a server. This is his very first job (aside from mowing lawns when he was in high school) and he is nervous, yet excited. He hopes to get the support and training he needs to be successful and learn new skills.

PAIN POINTS

  • Not feeling very confident.

  • Unsure of what to expect.

goals

  • Working to save money for his back packing trip.

  • To learn new skills.

needs

  • A flexible job that will allow him to save money for Europe.

Challenge: Limited Resources

The company had limited resources, particularly when it came to training new hires. With managers juggling multiple responsibilities—from overseeing events to managing operations and handling HR duties—time and resources were stretched thin. In interviews, managers stated that they often pushed training down on their task list in order to complete more important tasks.

Solution: Independent Remote Learning

Tasks

Finish tour

DUE

JAN 16

Start onboarding learning path

DUE

JAN 16

Schedule Orientation

DUE

JAN 16

See All Tasks

SKILLit helps to free up manager time by empowering new hires to engage in independent, self-paced learning. By empowering employees to take charge of their training journey, SKILLit not only reduces the strain on managerial resources but also fosters a more efficient and effective learning experience. Features include, task management and a guided tour.

Tasks

Finish tour

DUE

JAN 16

Start onboarding learning path

DUE

JAN 16

Schedule Orientation

DUE

JAN 16

See All Tasks

Challenge: "Deskless" Workforce

Observations brought to light a significant challenge arising from the nature of catering work: managing a deskless workforce. Catering staff, predominantly operating at various event venues, lack access to computers and centralized workstations and desktop-based systems are ineffective in this scenario. Moreover, the transient nature of catering work complicates the ability of managers to provide consistent training. This emphasized the need for a mobile-friendly training solution tailored to the unique needs of a "deskless" workforce.

Solution: Responsive Design

SKILLit addresses potential physical barriers by providing a responsive training platform accessible on both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring that employees can access training materials despite their location.

Challenge: Training Integration

While remote training addressed one issue, integrating training while employees are engaged in event duties created additional challenges:

  • Balancing training with event operations.

  • Giving priority to service during events over training,

  • The varying downtime at events further complicates a standardized training schedule.

  • Employees may experience mental fatigue or reduced receptiveness to training after physically demanding work.

Solution: Bite Sized Interactive Learning

Modular Trainings

SKILLit offers modular training materials for flexibility and allows users to quickly pick up where they left off.

Engaging Elements

In addition it aims to to increase engagement through the use of quizzes, videos and progress indicators.

Usability Testing

Ensuring that the training solution effectively addressed the identified challenges while remaining user-friendly was paramount. To evaluate this, I conducted extensive usability tests for both the mobile and desktop applications of SKILLit. While the overall results were positive, indicating successful alignment with user needs, there were areas that. could be improved.

Implementing Fixes

Onboarding Flow

Users took too long to navigate through the onboarding tour. In response, I implemented changes focused on facilitating quicker and more effortless navigation for users.

Desktop Course Page

The lack of space between sections overwhelmed users. Incorporating more white space around each section provides more emphasis to each section and makes the page feel less overwhelming.

Learnings

Sticking to a brand's guidelines in UX design is essential because it:

  1. Maintains brand consistency for user recognition and trust.

  2. Ensures clarity and coherence in the design.

  3. Communicates the brand's message effectively.

  4. Streamlines the design process for efficiency.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while this was a conceptual project, the journey from identifying challenges to implementing solutions and conducting usability tests for SKILLit has been enlightening. Throughout the process, I applied various UX processes to develop SKILLit. However, perhaps the area where I learned the most was in user research. Learning how to craft a comprehensive user research plan, engage with interviewees, and translate research insights into actionable features has been invaluable. This project has not only provided practical experience but has also deepened my understanding of the critical role that user research plays in informing product development and enhancing user experiences.

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