In the digitalization era, where you can get everything at the click of a button, the nature of teaching has forever changed. With advancements in convenient technology, traditional classroom setups are now shared by computers, tablets, phones, and even smart watches. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped how the world thinks about remote work and remote learning.
eLearning has now become a necessity.
The UX design for an eLearning product cannot be overstated. Your eLearning UX should be seamlessly intuitive, transparent, non-obtrusive, and perhaps most of all, inclusive and accessible. Learners should be able to find the information on instinct, without any frustration while navigating, and without any accessibility issues they might face.
The goal of eLearning then should be to make the process of learning easy and straightforward, eventually leaving the learner delighted, satisfied, and asking for more.
Let’s explore some of the ways in which you can improve your UX and make eLearning more delightful, accessible, and inclusive for the current digital audience.
1. Following the “F” pattern
According to research by Nielson Norman Group, it was found that the individuals tend to read online content in the “F” shape.
This means that important information should be clustered on the top left corner with suitable images. The content should be contrasted by using white spaces when the user scrolls down to the lower part of the screen. This will enable the learners to understand that the content they are seeing is important.
The F pattern also helps users get a sense of predictability while engaging with your UX, further enhancing the comfort and overall experience of your design.
2. Emphasizing accessibility
Certain types of impairments need to be taken care of while making a digital product accessible to all. Notable impairments for UX considerations include visual and hearing impairments.
Readability can be enhanced for a person with a visual disability using alternative text to describe pictures and contrasting colors. Consult guides for finding balances between an attractive color scheme with the types of color-blindness user may have.
Further, voice and audio commands could also be used for improving the overall user experience of visually impaired users.
For users with hearing impairment, audio and video transcripts are frequently used to make content accessible. These can be done in-house, or out-sourced for a very low cost.
Using screen readers for a better explanation of links to the anchor texts can also ease anxieties and comfort users who may be wary and exhausted from not finding credible services. Make yours standout.
3. Responsive eLearning and a lifestyle of convenience
“Responsive design” describes that content is available across multiple devices properly. Fitting a particular device’s dimensions to create an optimal view and make the learning experience all the more exciting for the end-user is a mandatory consideration, especially if your product needs to be taken seriously.
In 2020, as the smartphone industry is continuing to boom, most online learning platforms have had to adapt by developing mobile apps. According to research, an average smartphone user’s app usage is between 2 hours to 3 hours, where apps installed count between 60 and 90.
Around 51.3% of traffic comes from mobile devices. Therefore, while designing for mobile apps, keep in mind that you focus on developing an accessible interface.
Due to this increasing usage of mobile apps, it becomes critical for the app developers to emphasize the convenience of their eLearning product. A UX that is not properly optimized for mobile use will not fit the lifestyle of convenience that users today expect.
While using a smartphone, the screen size becomes small – the images have to be made visible by arranging them vertically. Hence, no content is lost. Instead, build adaptable layouts according to various devices’ dimensions. Further, you should avoid making the screen too crowded.
Remember, when it comes to user experience in web and app design, less is always more. Try to keep the layout of your site/app minimalistic so that you can avoid overcrowded screens.
4. User test with a varied demographic across multiple platforms
The beautiful part of remote user testing is the ability to harness a vast network of individuals with any possible background combination. Specifically for eLearning UX, many testers in the TryMyUI panel are stay-at-home parents looking to supplement their income in quick and convenient ways.
What better demographic is there than the people who will be supervising or assisting their children with eLearning programs, or people interested in furthering education while remaining at home?
We have an example of user testing a digital education flow, but here a few relevant highlights of features and capabilities for eLearning design:
- Demographic filters that include family size, employment, and education level
- Screener questions for finding users with specific impairments
- Intuitive quantitative graphs and charts for convincing stakeholders
- Same-day videos of testers using your product and narrating their thoughts
- Post-test surveys to get to the heart of problems and thoughts of the testers
TryMyUI offers user testing for desktop and mobile web, mobile apps, prototypes and wireframes, and practically every other platform you can think of!
We’ve worked with colleges, educational app developers, high schools, and educational book publishers, and we are always happy to help the education sector succeed.
We offer resources from general usability testing to industry-specific usability considerations.
Try a free trial! 14 days, 5 test results, and full features!
Wrapping Up
Your eLearning interface should be polished and grab the attention of the learners immediately. Upon interaction, your UX should prove to be inclusive and accessible. Some of the critical aspects that are taken into account include:
- Consider the balance and relationship of colors
- Offer transcripts
- Make sure your designs are responsive
- User test with a varied demographic
The best user experience will attract and maintain the most reliable customer base.
Author Bio: Hardik Shah works as a Tech Consultant at Simform, a leading custom software development company. He leads large scale mobility programs covering platforms, solutions, governance, standardization, and best practices.