Newrizon, the sister company to the Atlanta English Institute (AEI), was born out of the pandemic. The client is looking to go online with AEI’s United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) prep program specifically for International Medical Graduates (IMGs) as they prepare for the USMLE exam.
Research
We began the research phase by digging into documents provided by the client and understanding the the USMLE process and how important it is to the IMGs.
How Important is the USMLE?
With a 95% pass rate one might not understand why IMGs need a prep course at all. However, since hospital program directors use the test results for the selection process, the highest possible score is critically important.
Client's Materials
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USMLE Requirements Map
Program Goals
Course Outline
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Focus Group Data
Pain point: need for accountability and defined structure
Need: “Q-banks are the key to studying”
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Brand Guidelines
Understanding the USMLE
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3 step examination process required by all Medical Doctors who wish to practice medicine in the United States
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Step 1 and Step 2CK (clinical knowledge): exams can be taken remotely outside of the US
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Step 2CS (clinical skills) and Step 3: both of these exams must be taken in the US
To better understand Newrizon's goals and structure, I built a chart based on the 50 page requirement map provided by the client.
Couldn't a learning management system (LMS) do the job?
We concluded that Newrizon would not need the full scope of an LMS system after performing a comparative analysis of the top LMS systems and a competitive analysis of current USMLE prep programs.
An LMS method offered too many features and functions required for the USMLE course, based on their requirements map's needs and goals.
Interviews & Surveys
We focused on two different set of users, the IMG student and the student coordinator. We were fortunate to have four IMGs currently enrolled at AEI and an AEI coordinator willing to share their opinions with us. This high quality data became the cornerstone on everything we built.
Key questions for the students
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What learning systems did they use?
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What value added features does AEI provide?
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How can we emulate AEI success into the online experience?
Key questions for the coordinator
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What are the coordinator's duties?
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How do they manage the Q-bank materials?
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What methods are used to engage with the students?
Prologue
In February 2021, Newrizon reached out to General Assembly to hire 4 Lead UX designers. We were asked to come up with an online solution that emulated the in person experience at AEI as closely as possible.
Team - Joe Fernandez, Maryam Zehra, Stephanie Christian, and Zach Hojeibane
Duration - 3 Weeks
My Roles - Research, Synthesis, Ideation, Wireframing, UI, Prototyping, Branding
Tools - Figma, Miro, and monday.com
Synthesis
Based on our interview and survey data the following themes were discovered.
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Student study habits, online needs, and major challenges faced during their studies
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Coordinator responsibilities and how this role adds value to the program
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Specifics as to what students need to prep for each step of the USMLE
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Major strong points AEI provides that need to be transferred Newrizon
Affinity Map
Personas
Two personas were created. One for the prospective student and one for the student coordinator.
User Flow
For each of these personas, we created user flows centered around one of the first major steps when joining Newrizon’s USMLE program: creating an 8 week action plan
*The success path is highlighted in blue
To conclude the synthesis stage we created the problem, how might we and solution statements.
Problem Statement
Newrizon needs a way to transfer AEI's in-person USMLE course into a worldwide, online program so that IMG’s can prepare for their exams supported by a community of like-minded students.
Problem Statement
Newrizon needs a way to transfer AEI's in-person USMLE course into a worldwide, online program so that IMG’s can prepare for their exams supported by a community of like-minded students.
How Might We...
...build a strong community of USMLE students within Newrizon?
...develop a program that converts the AEI USMLE course offering online while maintaining Newrizon’s goals.
Solution Statement
By developing online learning and communication platforms for Newrizon to host their USMLE course, the business will be able to support IMG’s who need accountability and community engagement during their studies.
Design
Sketches
As is normal in the UX process, we began by sketching some ideas out. We decided to concentrate on the creation and approval process of the action plan, an 8 week strategy the IMGs and coordinators put together.
Communication
We quickly came to realize there was no need to build a communication system when there existed so many options that worked very well at minimal cost. Slack became our communication tool of choice.
Our research indicated that these channels will generate the most engagement, and be a great start to replicating the strong “in person” community that the students love.
Usability Test Round 1:
We agreed to combine the student and coordinator test flow with an A/B test of the student action plan template for our first round on low-fi prototype.
Version A
Version B
Takeaways:
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Users preferred the drop down system in version A as opposed to the write in method of version B.
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The calendar view in version B was preferred by 4 out of 4 users.
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Overall, students preferred version B, which included clickable week-by-week navigation tabs.
We also conducted a usability test of the coordinator’s view of the student action plan.
She shared similar feedback as mentioned above, but mentioned that she needed a larger space to make notes during student progress meetings.
We merged the best sections of versions A and B based on this feedback.
Building out Newrizon’s Brand
The client expressed that they would like to use blue and orange, similar to AEI’s colors, as well as incorporating the image of a rising sun.
During a Sunday afternoon design sprint we decided upon the colors, fonts, and finalized logo using the dot-voting method.
Usability Test Round 2:
Our medium-fidelity prototype was ready for testing after we applied our user feedback from round 1 as well as brand colors, font styles, images, and additional interactive features.
“This site feels familiar...it reminds me of the Q-bank pages I use.”
— Student 1
Glows:
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The students were blown away by the new look!
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The Newrizon logo, according to one student, reminded her of hope.
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Students appreciated having access to their research materials.
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The fact that all they wanted was on one page appealed to the students. As a result, the navigation bar was not missed by users.
Grows:
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It was difficult to find to use the scroll feature.
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For clarification, the pre-assessment results required to be color-coded.
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The Slack icon in the top navigation bar was not recognized by three out of three users.
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Students recommended filtered evaluation results.
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Additionally, when viewing their test results, students requested an "omitted" data field.
Final Enhancement: Our 3rd iteration
The team made further updates to our prototype to incorporate the most recent feedback from our users as the 3-week sprint came to an end, we shipped a high-fidelity prototype to our client.
The video of the prototype below takes you through the following scenario:
You are a new student at Newrizon.
You've just received your account details, and you've been told to do the following:
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Log in to your account.
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Review your pre-assessment results
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Create an 8-week action plan to help with your studies
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Submit your action plan
Outcome
Both our clients at Newrizon and the students of AEI were extremely pleased with our product.
The founder of the AEI program praised our team for taking her program of 28 years in the making and creating an online home that incorporates both the values and needs of the company.
Next Steps?
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Continue user testing with iteration #3
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While our feedback was positive, we want to ensure our changes are solid through more user testing
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Continue building out mobile version
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Find users to beta test the platform
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Create the admissions portion of the site
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Develop a page to host Alumni groups
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Enhance accessibility throughout the site
