Sector
Public service
Client
Government of Ontario
Timeline
16 weeks
Tools
Alchemer, Zoom, Miro, Figma
Problem
Goal
Design a web product that consolidates education and career resources across ontario.ca and partner websites in one place.
View the live site
PROCESS
My involvement with this project spanned 16 weeks, but the entire end-to-end process lasted approximately 1 year. Ontario's Experience Design (XD) Lab was brought in early on to develop and execute a research plan that would reveal the challenges users face when seeking postsecondary education and career information in Ontario. I joined the XD Lab during the Alpha phase.
Generative research
Created 3 personas
While I did not participate in the research activities during the discovery phase, I interpreted the resulting findings into 3 out of 6 personas that were developed for this product.
My process involved reviewing the affinity diagrams other designers mapped out from 26 generative interviews. From the themes they identified, I aimed to create stories that demonstrated a clear need for this product - for example, how could a prospective international student uniquely navigate Ontario resources?
Quote from generative interview
"I want to ensure students are exposed to various perspectives about what comes after high school… there should be a one-stop-shop with all resources that could benefit multiple audiences, such as newcomers or refugees."
– High school guidance counsellor
Iterated on initial designs
Informed by the findings that emerged during discovery research, the team built a first draft of the product consisting of the following screens and features. I supported with guerilla concept testing, leading 3 out of 13 tests, shortly after onboarding the project. The resulting findings helped to inform a series of design iterations that aimed to clarify the flow across these screens and further spotlight in-demand careers per stakeholder requirements.
Landing page
To centralize information around postsecondary education and the Ontario labour market
Personalized guide
To help reduce information overload by mapping resources to specific user needs
Content pages
To organize information by key journey stages: career planning, pursuing postsecondary education, and finding work
Postsecondary institution map
To offer a search tool built around common behaviours with finding and selecting postsecondary institutions
In-demand career profiles
To highlight careers and the market outlook users want to consider when selecting their career path
EVALUATIVE research
Moderated 5 usability tests
Once content had been reviewed across partners and stakeholders, I co-developed a high-fidelity prototype to evaluate the evolution of user feedback from concept testing.
I facilitated 5 out of 15 consequent usability tests. During the test, I encouraged participants to organically browse the product given a scenario, typically prompting them to revisit a time when they were seeking education or career guidance. Participants were also asked to think aloud as they interacted with each screen.
Demographic information
6 current / prospective postsecondary students
9 workers, including 6 who want to change or upgrade their career
1 newcomer
Sample questions
What are you looking for?
How would you go about finding that information?
What do you expect to find on this page?
RESEARCH ANALYSIS
Gathered feedback on product terminology and naming
In addition to evaluating usability and functionality, we were asked by the program area to A/B test different product names and verbiage.
Our recommendations were informed by the goals outlined in the product requirements document. For example, since the goal was to serve both learners and workers across all stages of planning, we identified language that participants commonly associated with younger audiences and suggested more inclusive alternatives.
Overcoming challenges
Research analysis should start once all activities have concluded, but my team was faced with an especially tight turn-around time. We learned that the product was due for its final round of approval only 2 business days after our last scheduled usability test. Fortunately, our partners' transparent communication around timelines allowed us to prepare ahead.
We agreed on a unique approach: following each test, a member would immediately identify surfaced issues that could be quickly resolved. We would then regroup to discuss alignment and potential solutions, mock them up in between sessions, and share to stakeholders for inclusion in the approval consultation. This allowed us to efficiently capture changes we wanted reviewed for MVP. We later completed a fulsome analysis, which was not as time-sensitive, for post-launch recommendations.
Synthesized notes for 2 flows
Following our final test, I was tasked with clustering the feedback for 1) the personalized guide, and 2) a new map feature that displayed regional demand for specific careers.
From this work, I identified major takeaways:
Personalized guide: Participants expected that this tool would match them to a specific career, which did not align with its intended purpose of fetching a list of relevant resources
In-demand careers map: Participants experienced choice overload with the abundance of interactive elements, often returning to the landing page instead of proceeding further into the flow
Design changes
Recommended and made revisions for MVP
We found that when users saw the term 'questionnaire' in the guide's related call-to-action, especially within the context of education and career planning, they immediately associated it with some sort of matching functionality. I proposed revised copy that instead emphasized the output and designed a preamble page to introduce the tool with necessary disclaimers.
Elements of a personalized guide, before and after
The map intended to streamline in-demand careers to postsecondary institutions that offered related education pathways. Though that data could not be feasibly collected for MVP, we tested whether users would still want to view the location of these institutions on toggle. Based on our observations, I advised against the functionality, which would declutter the interface.
Interactive map with overlay of career data, before and after
LESSONS LEARNED
Speak the stakeholders' language
Although people across an organization can agree on the importance of user research, specific needs will vary across roles. As a user experience professional, I've learned that it oftentimes isn't enough to simply relay what users tell you. Designs are more likely to gain buy-in if you are able to frame users' needs in accordance to stakeholder priorities. For example, we compared users' avoidant behaviour towards the institution toggle on the map (user need) against its intention of facilitating education discovery (stakeholder priority). This illustrated how the functionality was working against their intentions, and stakeholders agreed to remove it.