Degree Works redesign Research Report Lauren Wisnewski January 25th, 2018 Montclair State University User Interface Design
INtroduction and summary Introduction Montclair State University students and advisors, along with 854 other institutions, utilize an academic software/interface entitled Ellucian Degree Works in order to track students progress as they work towards graduation. It helps keep requirements transparent so students and academic advisors are on the same page. Some features that Degree Works has are degree audits, student planning tools, what-if analyses, advising notes, and GPA calculators. Degree audits show past courses taken, current courses, and courses that still need to be taken based on an individual s major requirements. Extensive research and software analysis uncovers the less-than-ideal visual interface; it is aesthetically inconsistent, exhibiting a confusing hierarchy and order of information. The design is not visually appealing, nor is it easy to navigate. While Degree Works makes the graduation process quicker and more efficient, it is obvious that there are still many improvements that could be made to the software in order to further decrease confusion caused by the interface and its lackluster design. summary The research has been fueled by the intent to redesign the Ellucian Degree Works software in order to make it more user-friendly. Error analysis and user feedback are extremely important in this stage of design development. An initial analysis of the interface was taken into account; additionally, students at Montclair State University were asked to perform tasks on Degree Works and answer subsequent questions. Tasks 1. How many classes are you currently enrolled in? 2. How many credits do you need to graduate? 3. Who is your advisor? 4. How do you contact your advisor? 5. Can you send a digital degree report to the 6. Are you able to find and open registration? Questions 1. What 4 things do you find most frustrating about this interface? 2. What 4 things do you think are most important to have in an interface? Finally, a software similar to Degree Works, known as WebAdvisor, was researched in order to compare and contrast the interfaces. 1
Preliminary Analysis General Comments I hand-drew the wireframes of the current interface in order to understand its layout and functionality. One of the first things I noticed was a problem was the phrasing; words like Worksheets and Notes feel too vague to be used for navigation because they are not easily understood, nor do they dictate commonly used terms found within academic interfaces. It is also redundant to have a Worksheets link under a Worksheets tab. Much of the running copy existing in subsections is often centered, as well as almost as large or as large as the heading copy, which makes for a visually confusing experience in reference to the hierarchy of the information. worksheets > worksheets The homepage opens up to a page under one of the secondary navigation tabs entitled Worksheets. The drop-down list entitled Format can be selected to show the Student View, Graduation Checklist, or Registration Checklist. These options seem confusing initially because the user is not fully aware of what view they should use in order to browse Degree Works. The degree audit design itself can use a design improvement because its layout is somewhat inconsistent, containing tightly-packed information. On this page we evidently see the differing link and button designs, as well as the centered copy. The link and button designs used are inconsistent, and the top navigation bar is too thin and the buttons are too wide. It is difficult to understand immediately that it is the heading navigation. The content of each button also may not be important enough to be in the main navigation since they all seem to be secondary actions, besides Log Out. FAQ opens a PDF, Starfish links to an external site, and Print opens the print dialog. The student information under the main navigation is confusing becuase the gray boxes look like forms that can be altered, but the information is static. 2
Worksheets > History When you click on the History link under the Worksheets tab, you can view different Historic Reports (Degree Audits) in the drop-down menu under Historic Reports. The interface is slightly different than the Worksheets link in the content shown. Worksheets > Look Ahead This layout is confusing because it looks like there are two headers, but one has running copy which makes it look thicker and more visually obtrusive. This design is inconsistent with the designs of the previous sections. Worksheets > what if Interface and purpose of the What If calculation is not readily apparent. There are a lot of forms with drop-down choices. This layout appears slightly more organized than the others so far. Notes > View Notes There is minimal information that is arguably not necessary, especially to have as a stand-alone tab. The information could possibly be combined with another section when redesigned. 3
GPA Calc > Graduation Calculator This is a simple interface with centered running copy that makes it difficult to read seamlessly. All other content is centered as well. GPA Calc > Cumulative GPA Calculator Inconsistent alignment is prevalent here because everything is centered. The centered layout is not working well for this subsection of the interface. 4
Tasks and interviews Craig Peters Photography Major Kelsey Graham Photography Major Result: Had to scroll awhile to find it. Result: Took awhile again more scrolling. Result: Couldn t figure it out. 4 Most Frustrating Interface Elements: Nothing labeled correctly, categorization was confusing, all information not in one place, too many links. 4 Most Important Interface Elements: Clarity, less links, organization of information and navigation, user-friendliness. Result: Clicked on advisor s name email link. 4 Most Frustrating Interface Elements: Links confusing, hard to navigate, no option to browse classes, What If view is not specific. 4 Most Important Interface Elements: Speed, navigation, contacting advisor, prominent links. 5
Marco Dimaculangan Photography Major Hannah Kottke Education Major Result: Relatively quick had to scroll a little and find each of his classes. Result: Had to scroll and add up his credits in his head, which took a little while. Result: Wasn t sure, then noticed his advisor s name became highlighted when scrolled over and realized it was an email link. Result: Not directly save PDF and email it. 4 Most Frustrating Interface Elements: Looks like a spreadsheet, does not have all credits needed in one place, check boxes are not clickable but they look interactive, most text is small except for copy at the top which is unnecessarily large sometimes. 4 Most Important Interface Elements: Hierarchy, organization, drop-down menus that are implicit in their purpose, design that is not abrasive (i.e. not having unnecessary embellishments). Result: Found it quickly, clicked on Class History. Result: Had trouble finding it, she said the requirements were all over the place. Result: Clicked on advisor s name email link. Result: Not directly save PDF and email it. 4 Most Frustrating Interface Elements: Does not understand the purpose of the interface, difficult to see basic things (i.e. credits to graduate), frustrating to have Nest and Degree Works as separate interfaces, layout is confusing. 4 Most Important Interface Elements: Home page with clear navigation, all classes listed (what to take, what is finished, etc.), having a Save as PDF option, bigger font for legibility. 6
Danielle Spataro Public Health Major Sam Tierney Public Relations Major Result: Found it quickly clicked on advisor s name. Result: Not directly save PDF and email it. 4 Most Frustrating Interface Elements: Current classes are at the bottom, not having class requirements all in one place, not being able to send transcript directly from the interface, GPA calculator makes little sense. 4 Most Important Interface Elements: Intuitive design, having everything you need in one interface (rather than having Degree Works and Nest), simple design, aesthetically pleasing. Result: Found it quickly clicked on advisor s name. Result: Not directly save PDF and email it. 4 Most Frustrating Interface Elements: When something changes there is no explanation (you are not notified when classes are waived), some things do not update quickly enough (i.e. they update right before you graduate), could be more visually appealing, no list of classes you still need. 4 Most Important Interface Elements: Easy to navigate, collapsible menus and information so there is less scrolling, most important information at the top, less gray in the color scheme. 7
Tasks and Interviews: ANalysis Analysis of Tasks Relatively speaking, most students who completed the tasks and interview process were able to complete the first three tasks without much difficulty; current classes, credits needed, and advisor names were found generally quickly and easily. Finding current classes was fast for each student, though each one had to scroll a few times to figure it out since the classes were not together in one place. That being said, it did not take much time. Figuring out how many credits are needed to graduate was more difficult for half of the students. Kelsey, Danielle, and Sam found the information relatively quickly, while Craig, Marco, and Hannah took longer to scroll and add up the credits. Finding the advisor name was overall the easiest for every student, which could be attributed to the fact that it was clearly labeled in their degree audits at the top of the page. Most students did not have trouble figuring out how to contact their advisor. Kelsey, Hannah, Danielle, and Sam knew to click on the advisor s name in order to open an email draft. Craig could not figure it out, while Marco realized that his advisor s name was a link only upon scrolling over it. He clicked on the link and was surprised to see an email draft open up. Sending a digital degree report to the department was evidently not straightforward, as two students could not figure it out and the rest of the students said that they would save a PDF and email it to the department outside of Degree Works. No one could find a way to open registration through Degree Works, which highlighted its lack of existence within the interface. Analysis of Interviews Some of the general qualities that the participating students look for in an interface are clarity, organization, navigation, a sense of hierarchy, a home page, intuitive design, and pleasing aesthetics. These will be taken into account when redesigning the Degree Works interface. Specific to Degree Works, Craig felt that there were too many links. Kelsey agreed with Craig, and said that the existing links should be more prominent because the current links are overwhelming and confusing in their placements. Multiple students commented on how disorganized the degree audits are; they said that they would like to have lists of enrolled classes, classes taken, and classes needed so that the information is more easily accessible. Having to scroll and search for classes is not ideal, and makes students feel like they may have missed something while scrolling. Sam suggested implementing collapsible drop-down menus to make navigating large amounts of information much easier, and also said she would like to see the most important information at the top. Marco and Danielle both said that they would like a more simple, intuitive design with less embellishments. They felt the current interface had too much going on to fully make sense or be user-friendly. Going forward, I will take every piece of feedback into account. Mainly I will focus on: organizing information more clearly, creating a simple/intuitive navigation design, focus on hierarchy, combining Nest s features and Degree Works features into one interface, making the design more aesthetically appealing, and creating a home page. 8
WEbAdvisor ANalysis WebAdvisor is a software developed by Ellucian, under a suite of programs entitled Colleague. Based on Ellucian s website, WebAdvisor has an open architecture which allows institutions to customize the interface to better fit their specific needs. It has the ability to be integrated with other Colleague products, websites, and third-party software resources. It can be used through a website, community portal, self-service intranet, etc. The design itself looks very dated and visually unappealing, as seen to the right in screenshots of various schools versions of WebAdvisor. Students, faculty, employees, and advisors can all utilize WebAdvisor. According to a How To Use WebAdvisor Registration PDF from Lenoir Community College, there are many different categories and links that can be clicked in the homepage of their version of WebAdvisor. Some of these categories include Registration, Communication, Business Office Information, Financial Aid, Academic Planning, Academic Profile, and Documentation. comparison Montclair State University s version of Degree Works looks more aesthetically pleasing than WebAdvisor; that being said, both interfaces do not look as visually appealing as they could, and seem to lack user-friendliness. Degree Works sorely lacks content and functionality in comparison to WebAdvisor, namely in registration capabilities but also in functions such as viewing or making payments, viewing class schedules, and financial aid. Degree Works does have more of an ability to plan ahead compared to WebAdvisor. The goal is to combine the necessary functions of Nest, Degree Works, and WebAdvisor to make a more versatile and complete interface for universities. 9