Coursefinder

Role

UX Designer

Timeline

4-6 weeks

Tools Used

Figma

Affinity Designer

Able

The Problem

Users want to read accurate and honest reviews of courses from real peers, but they are unable to find them both in person and online.

What is CourseFinder?

CourseFinder is an app where users can share real and honest reviews about courses and programs so other users can choose the best course for them. CourseFinder is a trusted community of digital students, teachers, and entrepreneurs.

Hypothesis

Users want to read accurate and honest user reviews of courses and programs to educate themselves on whether the program will meet their personal learning needs. They might find it difficult to find honest reviews about their chosen course for a variety of reasons including sponsorship and poor search results when searching generic search engines.

The Competitors

  1. Udemy

  2. Coursera

  3. Skillshare

  4. LinkedIn Learning

  5. MasterClass

  6. Udacity

    • All of the platforms include or rely on video as the primary format to deliver the learning material.

    • All of the platforms require payment in some capacity, even if they have free options.

    • All of the platforms offer courses with flexible timelines which means the courses do not need to be completed on a strict schedule.

    • All of the platforms offer free trials varying from 7-days to 1-month.

    • Only some of the platforms like Coursera offer accredited certificates and degrees that are recognized by employers. Other platforms offer no formal or informal recognition.

    • Platforms like Coursera and Udacity have stricter quality control because they only hire accredited instructors. Other platforms have no quality restrictions.

    • LinkedIn Learning offers courses in 11 languages and Coursera offers courses in 60+ languages. Udacity only offers courses in English.

    • Certain platforms have a high volume of courses and course topics while other platforms have courses on limited topics.

    • Video courses are the most common.

    • Flexible courses (without a hard set schedule) are the most common.

    • Free trials are the norm.

    • The number of courses and users varies greatly depending on which platform it is.

User Interviews

I conducted interviews with four participants in September 2023 over Zoom. All participants were university-educated and in their mid to late twenties. All participants were from different industries.

    • We wanted to know what information users who are looking to learn a new skill online are looking for so we can understand the resources that they need.

    • We wanted to understand what sources users trust when they are looking for information to justify learning a new skill or pursuing a specific course.

    • We wanted to understand what stops users from pursuing a new skill when they have the initial interest.

    • We wanted to understand what stops users from finishing learning a new skill once they have already started a course or class.

    • All participants trust peer reviews.

    • All participants prefer online learning.

    • All participants would prefer free or cheaper courses if given the option.

    • All participants were, at least in part, motivated by career advancement.

    • All users mentioned price as a reason they would choose one course over another. There should be a way to differentiate free courses from the other courses.

    • Participants had difficulties finding relevant information because of advertisements. Results should be sorted by hits and relevancy.

    • Participants had difficulties finding out how a course would help them with their career goal. A career map would help with this problem.

Personas

  • Aminah

    CASHIER - 22 YEARS OLD

    Aminah is a recent Psychology graduate from York University. She lives with her parents and works part-time as a cashier at Chatime. She’s bubbly and likeable, but she’s a little airheaded. Aminah doesn’t want to pursue Psychology any further, but she does want to switch into a career in social work.

  • Cassidy

    HOMEMAKER - 30 YEARS OLD

    Cassidy lives in Vancouver and she’s a stay-at-home Mom to her 6-year-old daughter, Lily. Before choosing to stay at home, Cassidy worked as a hairdresser. Now that she has a daughter, Cassidy wants to switch to a career in Graphic Design so she can work from home and still spend every day with her daughter.

  • Lisa

    LEGAL ASSISTANT - 45 YEARS OLD

    Lisa is a legal assistant at a small law-firm in Ottawa. She likes her place of employment because of how accessible it is, but she wants to move up and become a paralegal so she can receive a bump in her salary. Lisa is willing to go in-person to learn but she would prefer exclusively online programs due to her disability.

Task Flows

Lo-fi

Hi-fi

The Solution

Our solution was to design a user-review-driven app for online courses and classes. This app includes user reviews of local in-person classes in a user’s area. This app aims to empower users with honest reviews from their peers so they know which courses will help them best reach their learning goals.