Career Key Case Study
My company, Leapfrog Technology, worked as CK’s development and strategy arm to redesign and test the experience of Career Key’s UI.
Career Key is a software product that enables students and professionals to make in-depth career and educational decisions.
Role: UX Researcher
Location: Seattle, WA
Methods: User interviews, Usability Testing, Wireframing
Objective
After investigating user retention data, our team learned that 21% of discoverers dropped off of the application before completing the assessment. The product had undergone a reconfiguration in order to address these retention issues. This usability study was to ensure that the redesign was successful, and that the new product was an improved user experience for all students.
At a high level, the goals of this usability study were to:
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Incorporate accessibility best practices to ensure that all future product features meet the WCAG standards
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Create a detailed and extensive plan that can be repurposed for future testing initiatives
Research Questions
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Are users successfully able to navigate the platform through where the previous drop off in retention occurred?
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Is the redesign easy for new users to navigate?
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Are users able to find careers and majors that appeal to them?
Participants
Demographic: Users who are looking to for help finding college majors or career paths
Gender: mix
Ethnicity: mix
Devices: 3 Desktop/Web browser, 2 mobile
Usability Test Plan
My research plan was to test with 6 students, covering a range of gender, race, and age. We also made sure to include students who have learning disabilities or neurodiversity. This ensured that the product would be functional with all students who would ultimately use it.
The tests were conducted remotely over Zoom and I had the students share their screen while they navigated the product features. The 3 test scenarios assessed the student’s ability to navigate the page.
Study Scenario
The following scenario shows how I determined whether the new design would still have a drop off in user retention.
Prompt: “As this page loads, tell me the thing that jumps out at you. Describe what this page does."
Goal: This point was a major drop off point in the old design. I wanted to know what the users first impression of the new results page was, and what they felt that they could gain from this page.
“Hmmm, is this number how well I did on the assessment? Why is this one bigger?”- P3
As evidenced by the quote, only 7 out of 8 people understood that the numbers on the assessment results indicated a score for each personality. Although each person vaguely understood the numbering scheme, this could be clearer as a few people struggled to grasp their meaning. The current layout somewhat works, but our team determined that the visualization of the numbers needed adjusting and clarity.
Iteration
After the usability tests were complete, I collaborated with the development and design team to ensure that necessary changes were made to the next iteration of the product launch. Some of these key changes included:
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Clearer organization and description of how numbers correlate to assessment
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Color choices to increase contrast for low vision users
Impact
The new system, including the user test implementations, has been displayed by Career Key’s CEO at conferences and sales meetings with prospective clients. Counselors and professionals in Education Technology are astonished by the clarity and level of customization the new system offers.
Takeaways
Do more usability tests throughout redesign process
Having multiple usability test sessions throughout the product development cycle if financially feasible would greatly aid a project. For example, I realized that while I knew where the drop off in user retention occurred, it would have been beneficial to test this in real time with the old design to gain a deeper understanding of why this happens. This would have allowed me to be more informed when writing the test scenarios in attempts to test if the problem had been mitigated. My results would have correlated more directly to the old platform.