A visual way to provide instructions.
There is no universal way to learn and retain information. However, most instructions are primarily provided in a written format even though more than 60% of people are visual learners. That's about to change.
Scroll down to read the case study
Role
Timeframe
Industry
Tools
How do you learn?
If you've ever tried to learn something new and found yourself struggling, you’re not alone. But could you pinpoint why? Understanding your personal learning style is vital to the success of following instructions. Although we are commonly taught new skills through self-guided, written formats, not everyone is able to retain information that way.
It started with a dead plant
Recently, I was asked to plant-sit for a friend. They left me written instructions with the care requirements for each plant. Unfortunately, I misread their instructions and I ended up sending a majestic Fiddle Leaf Fig to a watery grave. In the days following, I pondered where I went wrong and knew that there had to be a way for someone with my learning style to succeed at such a (seemingly) simple task.
Time to gather data
I wanted to know how other people learn and use instructions so that I could decide if there was a need for something that provided alternative ways to receive information that might help users have better retention of that knowledge.
The disconnect
The results of the research indicated that most instructions are delivered or created in a written format. Interestingly enough, when I asked the survey participants about their primary learning styles, the majority did not align with reading and writing.
Breaking down the research
.jpg)
Summarizing the themes
Not enough details
Instructions are hard to follow due to not receiving enough details on what is expected.
Delivery
Instructions are better understood when provided with multimedia or in-person support.
Skip steps
Too many steps lead to them being skipped or missed. Information that is already known tends to be looked over.
Hard to follow
Instructions are often created assuming people know more than they do, causing them to be hard to follow.
This is how Instruct was created
User personas
Primary features
I identified 3 primary features for the app. It was essential that the product started out simplistic, so I focused on getting the core functionality correct.
Create instructions
View instructions
Share instructions
User flows
The functionality of the app was designed to make it easier for users to create and receive instructions. It was important that the user flows reflected that by having the process of completing the primary tasks be user-friendly and familiar.
Create instructions
%201.png)
View & share instructions
%20222.png)
Bringing the concept to life
Using the user personas and user flows, I began to sketch out ways to develop the app that made it easy for users to adapt the product.
Creation process
View & share process
Mid-fidelity wireframes
The wireframes below showcase the original instruction creation process focused around editing and creating multimedia instructions. The process is intended to be similar to the way mainstream social media apps allow their users to create content.
Finalizing the wireframes
The mid-fidelity wireframes gave me an excellent foundation to begin finalizing. After reviewing my research again, I decided to change the flow of the creation process to make it more aligned with the end-user's needs.
Creating instructions
The process of creating instructions allows users to edit the videos within the app. Users can edit video durations as well as add voiceover, text, and music onto the videos they have within their phone library.
.png)
%20Screen%20-%20Revised.png)
%20Screen.png)
Viewing instructions
Users are able to input comments or questions on each video as well as view written details about the contents. To go from video to video, users touch each half of the screen to go forward or backwards between the steps.
Bringing it to the user
After creating the high-fidelity wireframes and prototype, I brought the minimum viable product (MVP) to potential users to obtain feedback on the product.
Overview
The testing was completed on Useberry. It was unmoderated using mouse tracking. I asked participants to complete three tasks:
1. Create instructions
2. View the instructions
3. Share the instructions
1. Create instructions
2. View the instructions
3. Share the instructions
Goals
I wanted to know if the functionality of the app felt familiar to other multimedia based apps.
Additionally, I wanted to determine if users found the three tasks user-friendly and easy to complete.
Additionally, I wanted to determine if users found the three tasks user-friendly and easy to complete.
Survey says
The average time it took participants to complete accomplish all three tasks was 8 minutes and 35 seconds. Participants provided a lot of feedback including two primary areas needing improvement related to editing and viewing videos.
Feedback
Prioritization
Editing videos
While on the original edit video section, it was not clear for users on how to add text, voiceovers and music to the videos. Users were confused by the icon, expecting it to crop the video. I changed the icon to make it more clear of the adding content functionality.
Viewing videos
Users were unable to tell what step of the instructions they were on. They also had a hard time knowing if the videos would autoplay through each step or if they needed to click to move forward. I added an indicator at the top of the videos displaying what step they are on.
What I took away from this case study
Circle back
When making decisions on how to develop features of a product, it’s important to circle back to the research that was originally collected.
Everyone learns differently
Everyone learns and processes information differently. It is important to keep in mind all different types of learners when developing products.
Don't overcomplicate it
Make sure that task flows are not more complicated than necessary and have the end-user in mind.
Remember what matters
It’s important to keep your focus on end-user goals and functionality rather than on things that can easily be changed, such as a color palette or font size.