UX DESIGN
WordClique
A concept mobile application to help users build their vocabulary.
Role: UX Designer
Time: 2 Weeks
Tools: Marvel, Adobe XD
Background
The Problem
The user needs a way to build their vocabulary with words related to their field of study.
The Solution
One possible solution would be to create an application that keeps a record and groups searched words into related categories. This will achieve a higher return rate of searched words and increased application use.
Discover
User Interviews
The goal of this research is to gain insights into the wants and needs of users and their experience with learning vocabulary. The research will be done through an interview with a selection of three participants. The interview is consisted of seven questions to explore the participants methods, challenges, and strengths when learning new vocabulary. The interview will also explore the participants methods and behaviors towards building their vocabulary and building on what they find most useful.
Interview Questions
Tell me about yourself.
How often do you seek to learn new vocabulary?
Tell me your experience with learning new vocabulary words.
What do you think worked well during this experience?
What did you find challenging?
What methods do you find most useful for learning new vocabulary?
What factors would motivate you to build your vocabulary?
Participant Statements
Doing
“Springing it on people using a word that they donʼt know.”
“If i could go back I would learn a different way”
“Being able to remember and hold the information.”
“Listening to other people speak. Especially people from different backgrounds because they use different vocabulary.”
Feeling
“I look it [a word] up to see what it means”
“I would look at the card catalogue to find a book, and then read the book.”
“I usually look up words that I hear that I donʼt know what they mean.”
“I will read a book and if it comes up I will look for context clues”
“I would use the words and read them in sentences.”
“I have to say it, put it in a sentence, or an analogy for it to stick in my head.”
Thinking
“Gaining all that new vocabulary and feeling confident. I can use it in future conversations.”
“It is challenging trying to find a dictionary online thatʼs user friendly, where you have to download it.”
“I feel like the last time I was taking the GRE in grad school and the format asked us to pick the best word. It was not helpful, I had trouble with spelling and different meanings.”
“It fascinates me and motivates me to learn new vocabulary.”
The User
Define
User Stories
● I want to be able to incorporate vocabulary in my everyday rhetoric that is related to my field of study.
● I want to be able to confidently express my thoughts and ideas to those with whom I am working.
● I want to be able to build my vocabulary in my free time in a way that I will be able to remember it.
● I want to be able to review what I am learning in a way that matches my learning style.
User Flows
Objective: Search for words by subject.
Entry Point: Launch of application
Success Criteria: The user will find words related to their subject of interest.
Objective: Add specific words to a group.
Entry Point: Home page
Success Criteria: The user will find words related to their subject of interest.
Sketches
Test
Direct Tasks
Task 1: Search by subject
Task 2: Add Word to group
Task 3: Navigate to word groups
Task 4: Add word directly to groups
Scenario Tasks
1: You are studying a specific subject and would like to see a list of words that are related. Search for words by “Subject”.
2: You want to add a word you searched to a group. Create a new word group.
3: You want to see all the word groups that you have created. Navigate to your Word Groups.
4: You want to add a word directly to a specific word group. How do you think you will be able to achieve this?
“Can I search for a word without signing in?”
“I think there should be a different symbol for the groups.”
Revisions
Task 1: A filter option was added because the participants liked the option to search by subject but wanted to be able to narrow their search.
Task 2: After adding a word, the users will now remain in the group they selected or created and not be taken back to choosing a group.
Task 3: The “group” icon was changed because the original design was not intuitive.
Task 4: The user was originally taken to the main word search screen when selecting the option to add new words while in a specific group. The user will now be able to search within their selected group and have the ability to add words.
Additional Revisions:
An option was created to search for words without creating an account or logging in. The features were limited to only using the advanced/search by subject options to encourage users to create an account to use the other features.
An option was created to return back to the main screen if the user accidentally clicked “Login”.
Takeaway
As an initial concept design for users to build vocabulary, I was focused on the issue of how to increase productivity for users relying on word search applications. This project challenged my assumptions of what was intuitive and missing critical features that would needed to have been included in the application. What I found most useful in the testing process, was discovering what users would expect out of a vocabulary building application and how to improve on what I initially designed. This was assignment completed within two weeks and for future considerations, I would like to see how the participants interact with the prototype as a high fidelity mockup.