The website was created alongside a branding and marketing campaign to rebrand the University of Houston's UX Lab. In this case study, we'll review the production process of the UX Lab's website and how we increased brand awareness across campus.
Figma
Useberry
Illustrator
Lightroom
Premiere Pro
Team Lead
UX Research
UI Design
Testing
Prototyping
In 2019, the University of Houston created the UX Lab to aid students and professors in their research and keep the Digital Media department versed in emerging technologies and trends. Since its inception, the UX lab has received little use due to a lack of awareness of the lab and UX as a practice.
How might we effectively establish a presence for the UX Lab online and educate the university on UX to meet the needs of students and professors?
To understand the audience for the UX lab, I developed personas and a user journey map. This approach helped the team and I design solutions that address user needs for marketing, social media, and web development.
The original website lacks educational elements and excitement for those interested in UX as a practice, but it does highlight the equipment available for researchers.
When brainstorming solutions for the site, our client considered creating a new identity outside UH branding. Ultimately, we concluded it was best practice to stay consistent with university branding for clarity and cohesion.
Dr. Elizabeth Rodwell, our client, and the lab's manager, requested a clean and simple site, drawing inspiration from similar UX labs.
Our team also looked to another lab within the university for inspiration, the CougAR lab, a virtual and augmented reality lab. During our meeting with the client, we discussed incorporating a similar look and feel to the VR lab for consistency across the Digital Media program and the University.
Based on the inspirations, the UX team created low-fidelity wireframes for confirmation with our client before proceeding with further designs.
The team created medium-fidelity wireframes for students and professors to test the navigation and content of the site. I conducted remote testing through Useberry.com, which allowed me to record user flows, track time per task, monitor mouse clicks, and analyze heat flows.
Based on the user tests, the insights led us to integrate a scheduling system for the lab through Calendly, create better content, and create solutions for future UX Lab students.
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Taking into consideration the feedback from the user, we addressed our core issues and presented our design to both our client and a group of UX professionals. After incorporating all the suggestions, I produced the high-fidelity version for our programmer.
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The goal of the UH UX Lab project was to establish a brand presence and boost awareness and engagement among UH students and professors. Despite time limitations, we made significant progress on the website development, and the client expressed satisfaction with the branding and designs delivered.
Throughout this project, I learned the value of research in the initial stages, enabling us to tackle the task by understanding the problem and user. As a leader, I organized and led a team of ten students, overcoming the challenge of coordination through communication and role assignment.
Our team's efforts resulted in the creation of valuable and recognizable brand assets, benefiting both the lab manager and future UH UX students.
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