For a research task to get us back into the flow of researching users we were presented with a task to find out requirements for a new blended learning tool for university students. To start off the project we defined what a blended learning tool is (always a great spot to start) and then moved on to define who our user groups were. We defined a primary user group of students and mature students along with a secondary group of users being lecturers. To start off the process as a hroup we built out some basic user personas so we could understand each user, some background about them and understand how they might like to access information

Once we completed preliminary user personas we looked at a basic feature level competitor research table to see what is currently on the market and where they are lacking. We looked at three options - canvas, moodle and blackboard. We approached this project as if we were creating a whole new system for students so wanted an overview of everything we deemed essential for features. No system offered full inclusivity of features we discussed so this is something we had to consider.

Moving on, we wrote a basic script for a user interview - if we were to have more time we could have ran the interview and got feedback from users such as students and lecturers. We broke it down into six main questions, giving us open ended conversation and ensuring the questions were not leading. We offered alternative questions at one point to vary for user groups, whether that be for a student or a lecturer.

If time allowed, we would’ve ran the interviews and gathered patterns together to see common themes across the insights. Moved into more detailed user personas and finally developed a series of requirements for moving into the design stage.

This process was a really good reminder of some tools we can use to gather data about users and a nice ice breaker back in after a year out of university environment.