Optimizing the generation and analysis of academic reports
Period
May to October 2024
Company
Creator4All and FATEC Presidente Prudente
My role
Product Designer
Area of expertise
Web Application - Reports Area
Project context
This project was developed as a Course Completion Project (TCC) in the undergraduate program of Systems Analysis and Development through an educational partnership between Fatec Presidente Prudente and the company Multimídia Educacional.
Creator4All is a Learning Management System by Multimídia Educacional that allows educators to create and share teaching materials with students. Subsequently, it is possible to generate reports to measure results and make data-driven decisions.
Defined objectives
Analyze and compare Creator4All's positioning in the current LMS scenario
Understanding market perspectives
I started by researching and defining who the direct and indirect competitors were. After that, I analyzed everything from their market perspectives to the features related to reporting. You can check out a summarized version of the analysis below:
What do users have to say?
Users find the filters complex, with too many choices, and the platform displays too much information without users needing it.
Users are not notified of system updates, leaving them unaware of platform changes.
The majority of users did not demonstrate a good understanding of the reporting options available for generation.
Pedagogical coordinators need to take screenshots of the reports to document the results.
Approximately 48% of the teachers said they did not know the system documentation in the applied survey.
Understanding the user profile
I created two personas to synthesize the results obtained through the research.
Prioritizing the necessary efforts
The identified problems were transformed into questions using the How Might We technique. Later, I conducted a double prioritization using an effort x impact matrix, followed by MoSCoW.
Exploring potential low-fidelity solutions
Starting with the good old pencil and paper, I created low-fidelity wireframes to explore possibilities.
The proposed solutions
Keeping users informed of platform updates
Notifying users about updates can increase perceived value by providing context and helping them get familiar with the platform.
Assisting in the understanding and categorization of existing reports
Categorizing reports into tabs, accompanied by clear descriptions, can help users better understand the available options and support scalability if new options are added.
Reducing the cognitive load associated with filters
Separating the report period from the filters and organizing options into expandable menus can offer a progressive experience, making it easier to understand and reducing complexity for users.
Simplifying the way to export reports
The “Copy as image” feature can make exporting faster, reducing dependencies on external tools and optimizing the workflow.
Creating links between system documentation and its features
Making access to documentation more prominent can encourage users to use it as support, promoting greater integration with the platform's features.
Validating with users
I conducted moderated and remote usability testing sessions using the Maze tool. Five users participated, including 1 teacher and 4 Creator4All partners.
All tasks were successfully completed by the five participants.
Some users found the "Display and print" text in the filter category ambiguous.
Some users did not quickly notice the report categorization tabs.
The identified improvement opportunities have been defined for future corrections.
User feedback
Three participants commented on the interface being lighter and more user-friendly.
Two participants highlighted that the new filter proposal reduced the visual clutter that existed before.
One participant pointed out that this organization of the filters facilitates the growth and scalability of the platform.
What did I learn during this project?
Thinking about the scalability of solutions ensures a smooth and consistent experience.
Creating low-fidelity sketches helps save time and avoid rework.
