My role: UX Designer
Timeline: 2 weeks
Team: UX Designer, UX manager, Developer, Project Manager​​
Problem Statement
The MyUoY app at the University of York helps over 15,000 students stay updated on campus events and activities. However, it does not have a personalised calendar feature, which makes it difficult for students to manage their schedules. This gap often leads to frustration and missed events, as students need to use other tools for calendar management. To improve this, we identified the need to create a personalised calendar feature. This addition will help students stay engaged and organise their activities more easily within the app.
Research & Insights
To understand user needs and preferences, usability testing was conducted on three different prototypes: infinite scroll, pull-down calendar, and calendar overview. The key research questions included:
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Which design is most effective in helping users discover events scheduled in the next month?
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Which design do users find most user-friendly and intuitive?​
Seven participants (students and faculty) conducted semi-structured interviews, sharing their thoughts on the prototypes' usability, navigation, and effectiveness. Feedback focused on issues like ease of event discovery, clarity of navigation, and overall user satisfaction.
Design Process
Initial Designs
Design 01: Infinite Scroll
This design allowed users to scroll through the calendar to discover events by date.
Design 02: Pull-down Scroll
A drop-down feature for selecting specific dates and viewing events scheduled for that day.
Design 03: Calendar Overview
Provided a full calendar view with events displayed on specific days.
These scenarios were used to evaluate the usability of each design by simulating real tasks.
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Scenario 1: A third-year student, Emily wants to find and save a university event within the next month.
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Scenario 2: A faculty member, James wants to view all university events for a specific month.
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User Scenarios
Usabilty Testing
The usability tests revealed several key insights:
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Design 01 (Infinite Scroll):
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What worked: Participants found the date navigation intuitive and effective for discovering near-future events.
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What didn’t work: Users struggled to find events scheduled far in advance, highlighting a need for better event discoverability.​
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Design 02 (Pull-Down Calendar):
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What worked: Most participants preferred this design for its clear presentation, allowing users to see both dates and event details simultaneously.
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What didn’t work: A lack of visual cues (e.g., "<>" symbols) led to confusion when swiping between months.​
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Design 03 (Calendar Overview):
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What worked: Four participants appreciated the clarity and efficiency of the calendar overview.
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What didn’t work: Two participants found it too similar to Google Calendar and suggested it lacked distinctiveness.
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Impact & Results
Through testing and user feedback, we identified that combining elements from the infinite scroll and pull-down calendar designs would create a more intuitive and efficient solution. The final design allowed for seamless navigation and easy event discovery, improving overall user experience and engagement with the app.
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Seamless event discovery with infinite scroll for short-term events.
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Easy navigation with a pull-down calendar for month-specific event viewing.
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This combination allowed for a more efficient and flexible event management experience for users.
Reflection
Final design of pull-down calendar combined with infinite scroll
As a UX designer in this project, I collaborated closely with the UX manager, project manager, and developer to ensure the usability testing process was aligned with the team’s goals. I was responsible for participant recruitment, conducting the usability tests, and presenting the findings to the team. The insights gathered were crucial in informing the design iterations, and I played a key role in ensuring clear communication of these insights to all stakeholders, including the product owner.
The MyUoY App Usability Testing project was an invaluable learning experience. It provided me with deeper insights into user-centric design principles and the importance of flexibility and adaptability in the design process. I particularly enjoyed conducting in-person usability tests and interviewing students, which allowed me to engage with real users and gather actionable feedback. Discovering that combining elements from two designs was the optimal solution reinforced the significance of iterating based on user feedback. This project highlighted the value of collaboration and open-mindedness in creating an optimal user experience.
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