Multilexi
User-centric vocabulary app for busy individuals to expand vocabulary with customizable flash decks.
My role: UX Designer
HCD Methods: Competitive analysis, user research, user personas, low to mid-fidelity wireframes, prototypes, usability tests.
Features: Personalized reminder settings to optimize user engagement and learning.
Tools: Pencil, pen & paper, Marvel, Canva, Google Forms, Lucidchart
Project Overview
Objective: to empower people to learn new vocabulary conveniently and efficiently, fitting study sessions seamlessly into their daily routines.
Problem Statement: How might we design a fast, simple and intuitive mobile app that allows people to learn new vocabulary in quick, 10-minute study sessions on the go?This mobile app is focused on making vocabulary learning easily accessible to users during short breaks, such as while commuting on a bus or train, waiting between classes or during lunch breaks.
Why do we need this mobile app?
Students and professionals often struggle to keep track of jargon and terminologies when studying new disciplines. They need a method to systematically categorize, reference and study new vocabulary to build their confidence and expertise in their field.
Executive Summary
Developed a user-centric vocabulary app for busy individuals to expand vocabulary with customizable flash decks. Implemented personalized reminder settings to optimize user engagement and learning.
Project Highlights:
Conducted competitive analysis, 4 user interviews and created user personas.
Designed low to mid-fidelity wireframes and prototypes focused on intuitive navigation and accessibility.Performed usability tests with 3 users, used Jakob Nielsen’s error severity rating scale and iterated based on user feedback.
Research
Competitive Analysis
Conducted a competitive analysis of three other vocabulary learning apps in order to identify strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for my app “Multilexi”.
By comparing other vocabulary learning apps, I learned what they do well and where they fall short, which helped me understand the market and decide what features I want to offer or avoid in Multilexi.
Conducted user research for Multilexi by interviewing four people to find out what current language learning tools they are using, what seems to work for them and what doesn’t, and gather insights on desired features and existing pain points.
User Interview
Can you please tell me a little bit about yourself? What do you do for a living? Tell me more about your roles and responsibilities during your daily routine.
What was your first day like in your new role? What were your biggest challenges in your new role? Why?
When was the last time you learned new vocabulary or a new language? Tell me about your experience, were you successful? Why or why not?
What kept you motivated while learning new vocabulary or language?
What kind of resource (app, course, book) did you use to study new vocabulary/language? What did you like or dislike about it?
Tell me about a time you’ve been frustrated with jargon and new vocabulary? Why did you feel frustrated? Is there something that you think can help make things easier for you?
Summary
Most interviewees felt motivated to learn a different language. Some of the reasons were due to work, family and traveling.
Many felt overwhelmed when immersed in a different culture. They felt they needed to understand culture and language quickly with little time for preparation.
Busy lives with tight schedules make language learning hard. Example: difficult to enroll in a course.
Some common challenges were feeling insecure about speaking another language and fear of not being understood.
Opinions: Learning a new language opens new doors, boosts brain development and helps connect with people.
It would be beneficial to have an app for fast and easy access to new vocabulary for example by organizing into categories such as work, slang, medical, traveling, and more.
Proto-Persona
After analyzing my competitor analysis and learning from my user interviews, I created a Proto-Persona to represent and capture the needs, goals and behaviors of potential users for a more focused development of Multilexi.
Problem Brief
Franz is a busy financial consultant who lives in a foreign country (US) and who tries to develop his English language skills so that he can feel more confident when speaking with colleagues and giving presentations at work.
Challenge
Franz struggles to find time to learn business vocabulary, he always says he will study but then forgets to do it once he is back home with his family. He knows is extremely important for him since it is not his first language and will like to succeed in the U.S.
“I don’t have a lot of patience, so I need a tool I can quickly access to study and not spend hours trying to figure out how to use it”
“I have tried using apps to learn business words but they are very basic and I want to access specific categories such as M&A, taxation etc”
“I keep forgetting to study and I know it is not an excuse. I wish there was something that could help remind me, particularly when I am laying in bed and have peace and quiet”
Problem Statement
Franz needs a way to learn new business words in order to help him increase his vocabulary and feel more confident at work while giving presentations or talking with his colleagues.
We will know this to be true when we see
that Franz is:
Moving to the next level of achievement within the business category
Keeping track of his overall progress.
2. Franz has a busy schedule between work and family, so he needs a way to remember to study and stay consistent in his learning journey.
We will know this to be true when we see
that Franz is:
Logging in the app on a regular basis
Adding new vocabulary words to his flashcards.
User Flows & Task Analysis
I created task analysis and designed user flows for features I believe Franz would like in a language learning app.
User Flow:
Study business vocabulary by creating your personalized list.
Scenario:
Franz wants to focus on studying business vocabulary and is looking to create his own list to focus on.
Task analysis:
Open vocabulary app
New or existing user
Browse category options
Find Business category
Browse list of business words
Create your own list for studying
Save list
User Flow:
Stay consistent in the learning journey by setting reminders
Scenario:
Franz is very busy between work and family.
He would like to set reminders before sleeping in order to practice and stay consistent.
Task analysis:
Open vocabulary app
New or existing user
Browse notification options
Find reminders section
Open reminders section
Add reminder
Select reminder time
Save reminder
Wireframes
Based on the user flow, I drafted simple low-fidelity wireframes to visualize how users would complete tasks in Multilexi
Study business vocabulary by adding words to personalized flashcards
Practice vocabulary by setting reminders
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes
I created mid-fidelity wireframes using Marvel to further develop my ideas and to soon initiate the testing phase. I made sure the wireframes remained as simple as possible for the testing phase but with the main ideas and features.
Adding a business vocabulary word to flashcard deck
Set a reminder
Implement
Usability Testing
I conducted usability testing for Multilexi with potential users on Multilexi to observe how they accomplish tasks, aiming to gather crucial feedback for improving the app’s functionality and user experience.
Usability Test Plan
Scope
Multilexi - vocabulary learning app
Schedule
Interviews conducted in 3 days
Sessions
15 minute testing sessions with 3 people
Equipment
Testing through Iphone XR
Metrics
Jakob Nielsen’s error severity rating scale
Direct Tasks:
Open app, create an account and go through onboarding process
Add a word from the business category to the personalized flashcard deck
Search for a new word and add to my flashcard deck
Set a reminder
Usability Test Script
Hi, ___________. My name is Alexandra, and I’m going to be walking you through this session today. We’re conducting interviews to better understand how people approach learning a new subject and vocabulary. The session should take 15 - 20 minutes.
The first thing I want to make clear right away is that this is not a test. You can’t do or say anything wrong here. In fact, this is probably the one place today where you don’t have to worry about making mistakes. If you have any questions as we go along, just ask them. And if you need to take a break at any point, just let me know.
OK, let’s get started. I’d like to ask you just a few quick questions for a project we’re working on about education and learning new vocabulary.
Scenario Tasks:
You just downloaded the app, Multilexi, to learn a new language and study vocabulary. Let’s log in, create an account and go through the onboarding process.
Now that you know more about Multilexi and what it offers through the onboarding process, you decide that you want to study business vocabulary from the category section and add a word to your flashcard deck. How would you do that?
Now that you added a new word to your flashcard, you want to search for a word of your own and add it to your flashcard deck. How would you do that?
After you are done exploring the app and adding new words to your flashcard deck you want to set a reminder so that you don’t forget to study and stay consistent. How would you do that?
Usability Test Report
Improvements
Add business word to personalized flashcards
Added step for going back to one of the main pages “content” which is where “My flashcard deck” is located at and the user can find the new word that was saved.
Modified wording
Added extra steps for clarity
Setting a reminder to practice vocabulary
Added a step for going back to settings after saving (or not) a new reminder.
Modified wording
Added extra steps for clarity
Sign in/ Create account screens
“I would like to see highlighted/underlined the “sign up here section; larger too”
“Where is the create an account button?, I don’t seem to find it”
First screen the participants saw
“During onboarding learning It would be useful to see a little more about the features and location”
“Didn’t pay full attention to the onboarding process. Used Trial and error in order to find the business section, once I found it I could see the word detail and add a word to the flashcards”
Added color that points to the location of each section presented in the onboarding process for now to make it easier to remember. Once it is created into High-Fidelity, I will make sure it stands out for the users.
Add business word to personalized flashcards
“After I added a word and it successfully saved, I would like to go back to the flashcard deck and see where my new word is”
Set a reminder
“I would like to see a list of reminders already created (above) and the add more reminders (below)”
