E-LEARNING PLATFORM
An e-learning platform that helps improve researchers' skills and success during their research.
Overview
Role
Tools
Duration
Cactus Communications is building an ecosystem for researchers, which includes R Pubsure and R Upskill. During the development of R Pubsure, a gap in researchers' skill development was identified through user interviews and data. Many researchers have difficulty finding a suitable platform to improve their research writing abilities and, as a result, need to subscribe to multiple platforms. This led to the creation of R Upskill as a part of the ecosystem.
Research
Facilitator
User Persona
Customer journey
User/Task Flow
Wireframing
Prototyping
Adobe XD
Figma
Adobe CC Suite
Google Analytics
Notion
3 Months
The Challenge
The challenge is to design a dedicated
e-learning platform that is user-friendly and can meet the diverse needs and learning styles of researchers. Furthermore, the platform should facilitate the formation of a community of mentors and researchers to promote collaboration and provide support.
1.
Researcher's are seeking courses that are affordable and in bite-sized format.
2.
Seek resources like cheat sheets, case studies, and assignments.
3.
The researcher's lack of motivation to finish the courses.
Design Thinking Process
Empathize
Understanding the User
Since R Upskill and R Pubsure share the same user base, we carried forward the three user groups we had identified during our research for R Pubsure. These groups were categorized based on the users' knowledge, expertise, and publication history. The defined user groups are as follows:
1. Beginner
Novice Ph.D. students seeking a mentor to guide them and enhance their skills as they practice manuscript writing during their research journey.
2. Intermediate
Intermediate-level researcher with 2-5 successful research publications, motivated to expand their skills and advance in their field.
3. Expert
A seasoned researcher with a publication record of over 10 papers, striving to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in their field.
Quantitative Research
In this section, I have presented the data gathered through an online survey conducted using Google Forms. The purpose of the survey was to gain a deeper understanding of the needs and pain points of a specific group of users through quantitative research.
Qualitative Research
We conducted semi-structured interviews with professionals and students aged between 24-48 years to gain insights into their concerns about research paper writing, plagiarism, and paper publishing.
User interview questions
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Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your research background?
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What motivates you to write a research manuscript?
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How many research papers have you written in the past, and how many of them were published successfully?
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What was the biggest challenge you faced during your research journey, and how did you overcome it?
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Can you elaborate on your experience of overcoming research challenges?
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Would you be interested in learning online? If yes, what is your preferred learning style?
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Are you currently using any platform for learning? If yes, which one(s)?
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What are some positive experiences you have had with online learning platforms?
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What has been your biggest challenge when finding a course online?
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Can you tell us about what you are currently learning, and how it relates to your research interests?
Competitive Analysis
Competitive Analysis of the same top few platforms allowed us to understand their business model and accordingly plan further steps.
Gathering Insights
Platforms are complicated to use
First-time users lack trust to pay for courses on the platform
Platforms are complicated to use
Limited access to reference material
Time Consuming Courses
Lack of experienced instructors
Lack of online resources for assistance with career path
Lack of In-person Interaction
It is hard to decide from where to start
Researchers require progress measurement in courses
Uncategorised Courses
Expensive Subscriptions
Uncategorised Courses
Lack of motivation for learning
Define
User Persona
We have developed user personas for our two primary user groups to better understand whom we are designing for. By examining their personalities, behaviors, needs, expectations, concerns, and motivations, we have gained valuable insights into our target users.
Customer Journey Map
We have developed user personas for our two primary user groups to better understand whom we are designing for. By examining their personalities, behaviors, needs, expectations, concerns, and motivations, we have gained valuable insights into our target users.
How might we create a dedicated platform that can help researchers to enhance their skills?
Ideate
User Flows
The following flow demonstrates how the researcher navigates through different modules, enabling us to comprehend the portal's actions, the order in which it presents information to the researcher, and the features or pages to which each belongs.
Enroll Course
Make Payment
Get Certificates
Information Architecture
After conducting card sorting, we were able to develop the first-level of information architecture as users were able to locate and group relevant topics and categories.
Takeaways
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User research and personas helped me cater to the diverse needs and learning styles of the target audience
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Working with others, it's important to have a plan for dividing tasks and staying focused on completing them
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Being a part of the team and sharing my ideas during brainstorming sessions improved my strategic planning skills