Organizing SAAM's Educational Resources

CLIENT

Smithsonian Art Museum Renwick gallery

TYPE OF CLIENT

Museum

BRIEF

For this project SAAM wanted us to focus on evaluating the user experience of a few online experiences related to the education section.

TEAM

Angela. Li, Cici Lin, Mehika Singhal, Nathan Smash, Ziqi Wang

RESULT

We evaluated SAAM's educational resources through card sorting and moderated participant usability testing. The participants were asked to follow a script to complete tasks which was evaluated by the team based on RICE & severity score to improve the website. We finally presented 5 issues with recommendations.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is dedicated to collecting, understanding, and enjoying American art. They produce original exhibitions, run a Research and Scholars Center, and frequently use digital platforms to engage audiences.

Who are Smithsonian American Art Museum?

Project timeline:

Research Method:

Tools Used:

60 days

Moderated User Testing

Zoom

Figma

Optimal Workshop

Google Workspace

My Role in the project: UX Researcher and Designer

Initiated client meetings and communications

Recruited, scripted and conducted 2 moderated user testings

Designed a flow to compile and debrief team findings

Created high fidelity mockups for 3 recommendations

As UX Research team from Center for Digital Experiences at Pratt Institute, our team met with the Web and Digital Products Lead at Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery to know more about the agenda for this project.

Client Kick-off Meeting

What they wanted us to solve?

Test Search bar and filters for educational resources

01

Figure out a way to standardize language for particular resources

03

Figure out the best way to display a grouping of related resources that tie to a broader theme or actual curriculum

04

Test it according to the needs of target audiences: K-12 educators, art enthusiast, and casual browsers

02

How we approached it?

Script & Tasks

01

Developed based on goals and scope of the test

Recruitment

02

Screened participants based on the targeted user

Schedule Interview

03

Scheduled interview sessions with the targeted users

User Testing

04

Conducted both in person and over Zoom following the script

“A moderated user testing is essentially a lab experience”

Method 01: Moderated Testing

Selected 11 targeted user as participants
Recruited through screening questionnaire

Participants

In-person in a lab or via Zoom
Same scenario, one-on-one, observing screen, “thinking out loud” method

Controlled Setting

Follow the script we developed
Adjust based on the direction of the conversation with participant

Moderated

Find out how users associate categories to the topics of educational resources.
Took key categories from metadata as well as existing filter categories.
Participants were asked to drag and drop the filter cards that they think can be associated with the topic.

Method 02: Card Sorting

Evaluation: Severity Score

Compile issues

05

Each expert compile issues from their own interviews

Debrief & Finalize

06

Experts come together to debrief all issues, combine similar ones, and finalize solution

What did we Find?

Issue 1:

The drop down menu from navigation bar does not leave much interactive space in the bottom.

11/11 Participants struggled with this issue

Issue 2:

Repetitive content (images, title, description, filters) confuses the users.

Issue 3:

There is no way to sort the results data according to user preference- makes the organization of the content confusing.

"I don't understand the the method of why it's listed this way. it's not alphabetical. it's not by category like history English, arts, six through 12 six through eight, nine"

"If they're categories or have the same titles, maybe they should all be in the same search thing."

Issue 4:

Important information not available right in front as users want it (ex.PDF) to be on top at minimal efforts (without scrolling).

“I feel the ‘Education Resource Guide PDF’ are one of most important things on the page, but it been place underneath.”

Issue 5:

Inconsistency on Resource detail page (Each resource page looks very different, from layout to the text size font). The image associated with resource in results page does not match with the details page.

"No (this is not what I was expecting), because I kind of wish there was the original picture to show that I'm on the right page."

Card Sorting Data and Results

How did we solve the Issues?

Recommendation 1:

Leave interactive space below the drop down menu from navigation bar or reduce the trigger from hover to click.

Recommendation 2:

Adding sections of a topic on the detailed page with language change options to reduce stress on the results page.

Recommendation 3:

We suggest to move resource PDF into the front, which reduces users efforts and is readily available.

Recommendation 4:

Adding a “Sort” drop down menu in the filter category, and provide users with several popular ordering options, and we propose:

Alphabetically
Top Resources
Most Relevant.

Recommendation 5:

We suggest to maintain a consistent format for all resources (images and video on the left and CTA on the right) and have same titles, display images and descriptions on the search results page as the details page.

Finally, we presented the issues and recommendations to our client and they were very happy with the results.

Client Presentation

“I think you guys did an amazing job. All your recommendations make sense!”

Client Feedback

Alex Tyson, Web Lead at SAAM

"I had the pleasure of working with Mehika on the challenging task of designing an educational search experience for the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery. Mehika took the time to understand the unique needs and constraints of educators, guardians, and learners of all ages. Her analytical and design skills enabled us to catch a variety of issues early on, no doubt saving us time and resources in the long run. Her thoughtful recommendations led to a significantly improved user experience for all of our users. She would be an asset to any user experience or broader design project!"

Taylor Valore, Manager at Knowunity

"Mehika is a natural leader with an instinct for excellence, an outstanding work ethic, and a drive to innovate. As a student in my class, she was inquisitive, diligent, personable, and driven. Any organization would be lucky to have her on their team!"

WHAT’S NEXT STARTS HERE.

Get in touch at apex.mehika@gmail.com