Who were our users?

REX Academy provided us with 5 students that were currently using the REX program. Additionally we recruited 7 students that had never used REX before. The only criteria was tech savvy 6th through 12th graders that were able to use ZOOM.

We interviewed 6 boys and 6 girls first asking questions allowing us to get to know them and learn a little about their personalities, interests and hobbies.

The next step was to observe their interactions with the REX program and learn more about what was working well for them, and what needed to be improved.

“When I first looked at this page, I was like wow, but it’s not really that complicated, it’s just something you have to look at for a while to understand it.”

— Lewis

What did our users say about REX?

  • Login

    Users experienced a few bugs during login and expressed a preference for a centered screen. SSO is commonly used and will improve user experience. Competitor login screens are more focused on the login itself with only some graphic enhancement.

  • Dashboard

    The Dashboard lacks clear groupings and priorities. Announcements should be more prominent and there are opportunities for more useful tabs and buttons and a sidebar that indicates your current status. Design seems geared towards older students only.

  • Course Overview

    Students are interested in tracking their progress in their REX courses and lessons, but find the current process to be confusing. They were unsure which items had been completed and which were open and available to work on.

  • Course

    Students enjoyed learning in the courses but sometimes experienced usability issues while working in them and navigating between lessons. A number of students mentioned they would prefer more hands-on activities while a majority of the older students found the video content elementary.

  • Gamification

    Many students are unaware of the current gamification system and did not know how to progress. There is a great opportunity to improve REX's current system to be more engaging and integrated into the experience, because students do enjoy it.

  • Analytics

    Analytics was not understood to be a location for grades, but our users were not in traditional classroom settings. There was appreciation for the additional color in the section, but the amount of information was overwhelming.