User Research

User research has been at the heart of the Learn Foundations approach. Throughout the course of the project we adopted a variety of user experience methods to support in the delivery and decision making process, ensuring that we placed our users (both staff and students) were at the centre of what we had set out to achieve.

User research has been at the heart of the Learn Foundations approach. Throughout the course of the Learn Foundations project, a variety of user experience methods were adopted to support with the delivery and decision-making process, ensuring that users (both staff and students) were at the centre of what was set out to achieve.  To inform the Learn Foundations approach and establish an institutional standard for the use of the Learn Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) both quantitative and qualitative research was conducted with staff and students from across the University using remote and face-to-face techniques.   

Insights from the research enabled the project to build a very rich and detailed picture of what students and staff need to do in Learn, why they need to do it and how staff members can improve students’ experience in Learn. 

The comprehensive programme of user research enabled a better understanding of this entire complex ecosystem of interactions to be developed. Studies by the user experience experts demonstrated that in the past there was inconsistency across courses which contributed to a poor student experience. Students studying across subject areas, Schools and Colleges often struggled to find their course-specific resources on account of how these had been labelled, and the folders they had been placed in. To help enhance the student (and staff) experience whilst using the Learn Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), the Learn Foundations project worked with colleagues in Schools and Deaneries to define an appropriate, institution-wide course structure using consistent terminology, alleviating needless confusion caused by basic inconsistencies. 

Key Highlights 

  • Almost 5000 students engaged with our Programme of User Experience across the duration of the project.  The outputs of this programme were used to define decisions being made within the project. 

  • Almost 400 staff members engaged with across the programme of user experience research. 

  • Creation of an Academic User Group as a result of the insights identified via  

  • Student user groups. 

After each round of research, the following blogs were created detailing the research undertaken, the methodology used and the insights gained: 

A service design approach to Learn Foundations – how the research came together: 

Usability testing cycle 

Contextual enquiry and interviews 

Quantitative research 

Summaries 

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