PROJECT OVERVIEW : Rethinking Student Experience
The RIT myCourses portal struggled with usability, necessitating a redesign to enhance key user experiences. Our professor tasked us with improving assignment submissions and communication between students and professors.
I conducted extensive user research to identify pain points and designed improved user flows using Figma. The new interface incorporates high-fidelity screens and micro-animations to create smoother, more intuitive interactions.
The solution features a redesigned landing page, core pages, and micro-interactions. Future iterations will focus on enhancing the end-of-semester experience to better support students' academic needs.
MY ROLE
UX Researcher
UI Designer
TEAM
Solo Project
TOOLS
Figma
Qualtrics
Zoom
IMPACT
Reduced submission friction.
Improved communication clarity b/w students and professors.
Elevated usability through visual hierarchy.
Enhanced engagement with micro-interactions.
PROBLEM : Identifying Core Frustrations
The RIT myCourses portal faced significant usability issues, necessitating a redesign to improve core functionality. The focus was on enhancing assignment submission and streamlining communication between students and professors.
Through user interviews and surveys, I uncovered three main pain points they face
Submission Frustration
Too many steps make submitting assignments tedious.
Communication Gaps
Messaging between students and professors feels unclear & clunky.
Cluttered UI
The portal is hard to navigate and visually overwhelming.
And so the design question arises
How might we make the RIT myCourses portal intuitive and seamless, so students can submit assignments and connect with professors more easily and confidently?
SOLUTION : Fixing Flows with Clarity
Mapping the journey to a better myCourses experience
To solve key usability issues, I followed a structured, user-centered design process that guided the platform’s redesign:
Define Problem
Areas
Conduct User Survey
Run In-Depth Interviews
Analyze Insights
Design & Prototype in Figma
Feedbacks
Effortless Assignment Submission
The redesigned flow improves clarity and efficiency with a structured layout, multi-format uploads, and clear submission feedback.
Seamless Student-Professor Communication
The new messaging flow streamlines communication with a direct button, simplified interface, and clear feedback.
So, how did I arrive to the main design?
RESEARCH PROCESS : Listening, Testing, Refining
To guide the redesign, I followed a structured, user-centered research process:
User Survey
Interviews
Usability Audit
USER TESTING
10
Students from RIT
25 mins
live, moderated
sessions
These sessions aimed to evaluate how easily students could submit assignments, communicate with professors, and navigate key areas of the portal. The structured process included pre-test questions, task-based evaluations, and post-test feedback to uncover usability challenges and improvement opportunities.
Pre-test Questions
Participants were asked about their familiarity with the current myCourses interface and any recurring issues they face during assignment submission or communication with professors.
User Tasks
Students were given tasks such as submitting an assignment, messaging a professor, and checking assignment deadlines to assess how intuitive and efficient the portal currently is.
Pre-test Questions
Post-test questions focused on identifying frustrations, workflow inefficiencies, and recommendations for improving clarity, speed, and ease of use.
AFFINITY MAPPING
After conducting surveys and interviews with students, I organised feedback using affinity mapping to identify repeated frustrations and interaction issues.
The process helped surface pain points related to assignment submission and communication, giving me clarity on what needed fixing.
Grouping these themes allowed us to prioritize fixes and streamline the redesign scope.
Goal
To identify recurring usability issues students faced while submitting assignments or communicating with professors.
Results
The mapping revealed major friction points around workflow complexity, communication gaps, and interface clutter, guiding key changes in the redesign.
A section of the larger affinity map
ISSUES WITH THE CURRENT DESIGN : What Wasn’t Working
Problem 1: Users struggled to access key actions like grades and submissions due to poor visual hierarchy and cluttered layout.
SOLUTION
Card Layout – A more structured and user-friendly layout that streamlines assignment management and grade tracking.
Clear Deadline – Deadlines are now clear, urgent, and easy to spot, reducing confusion and missed submissions.
Submit Button - Makes submission faster, clearer, and more intuitive, reducing user frustration and ensuring assignments are turned in on time.
Problem 2: Disconnected and Unclear Assignment Workflow
SOLUTION
1
2
3
Project Brief - Assignment instructions more digestible, scannable, and actionable, reducing confusion and ensuring students stay on track.
New Dropbox - Dropbox design is more versatile, intuitive, and efficient, allowing students to upload multiple file formats effortlessly in a modern, streamlined interface.
Upload Button - The button makes submission clear, quick, and effortless, improving usability and reducing friction in the assignment upload process.
OUTCOMES AND LEARNINGS : What I Took Away
Designing for real student pain points: This project reinforced the value of user-centered design. Hearing directly from students helped shape features that simplify their daily tasks, like submitting assignments or checking grades.
Balancing structure with simplicity: I learned how to streamline complex academic flows into clean, intuitive components like submission cards and deadline indicators—without overwhelming the interface.
What I would do differently: Next time, I’d incorporate more quantitative insights, like analytics on missed submissions or low engagement clicks, to complement qualitative findings. I'd also explore ways to test the design with faculty for a broader perspective.
