FlexPoint Education Cloud 2021
FlexPoint is a rebrand of the Florida Virtual School, in which I played the role of UX Researcher, UX Designer, and UI Designer for eight months. The goal was to design a B2B website that was informative and modern, while also implementing a user experience process within a marketing team that was skeptical about UX.
Problem Statement
“How may we help our users understand EdTech and its benefits so
they may decide to partner with FlexPoint?”
Research
As I began the design process, I conducted exploratory analysis and facilitated an empathy map exercise.
Exploratory Analysis
I began my research by conducting an exploratory analysis of the EdTech industry. I focused on the hierarchy of information, the tone of messaging, and imagery.
Postsecondary
Main Users: Students
Imagery: Loud and exciting
Use of school colors
Information Layout: find your degree, benefits, explore classes, enroll
K-12
Main Users: Stakeholders and parents
Imagery: Youthful but serious
Use of blues, green, and oranges
Layout of information: who we are, what we offer, and connect with us
Empathy Mapping & Persona
Next, I wanted to better understand our primary user. However, due to confidentiality, I was unable to conduct user interviews. I decided the next best thing was to present a team of individuals who best know our users with an opportunity to participate in an empathy map exercise. Initially the team was hesitant, as they had no previous experience with UX or design thinking exercises. Nonetheless, after providing them with a clear explanation of the benefits, they lowered their guards and agreed to participate. Ultimately, the team felt invigorated and empowered by the exercise; and with empathy map findings in hand I created our persona—Joe.
Artifacts
After the research was completed and the persona Joe had been created by our team, I set out to design a website that would best appeal to him.
Hi-Fidelity Mockups
A Modern Approach to Education
A few things that came out of the exploratory research and empathy map for our persona were the need for a modern and clean design that kept students at the forefront. With this in mind, I focused on including the following:
Humanist and bold typography
Images of students
Organic shapes
Fresh icons
Value Proposition
The need to have clear and concise information to help our persona make a decision to work with FlexPoint was also noted in the research.
In order to achieve this, I have presented our persona with multiple clear sections to learn and connect with FlexPoint.
Testimonials
The empathy map exercise also touched on the many things our persona may be hearing from others. Seeing how testimonials make an influence, I wanted to design a modern testimonial section that could highlight stories from like-minded decision makers.
Students First
Lastly I felt the need to add imagery of students, which can be seen throughout the site. The hope is that this will build trust with our persona and that they feel that FlexPoint aligns with their needs to help students become successful.
Conclusion
From start to finish, my work on the FlexPoint website was challenging, exciting, and rewarding. Although I cannot provide specific metrics because I left before the site was published, I do feel that I was successful as a user experience designer. Working with a marketing team that lacked UX expertise was quite challenging at times, but I am pleased to have educated them on the UX process and design thinking. They continue to use the tools I developed for new projects. This is a success for me.