Talk That Talk

A mobile first vocabulary app designed to help adults learn new vocabulary.

The Problem

How might we design a mobile app that empowers people to learn new vocabulary?

The Goal

Help users learn new vocabulary confidently. Design an app integrates smoothly into users daily, weekly and monthly routines.

  • Duration

    4 Weeks

  • Role

    UX Research

    UX/ UI Design

  • Tools

    Adobe XD

    Sketch

    Miro

Research

Competitive Analysis

Chegg Prep

Pro’s

  • Can search through pre made flashcard packets

  • Breaks flashcard menu down into clear subject matters

  • Friendly atmosphere to design

  • Has multiple study options- you can use traditional flash cards or a multiple-choice format

  • Gives you a score after each round of flash cards

  • In the multiple  choice section, the app lets you know in real time if you have made a mistake

Con’s

  • Must create a user profile in order to make your own cards

  • User decides if they are grasping the material, in flashcard mode there is no way for the app to check the user

  • No image based flash cards

  • Design is friendly, but at times crowded in it’s design

Quizlett

Pro’s

  • Quizlett live section, which allows users to study with other users or a teacher, so good for classroom integration

  • Has wide array of flashcard sets to work from

  • Has image and audio based flash cards

  • Along with flashcard learning, user has the learning options of: fill in the blank, matching and testing options

  • Can participate in “classes” with other users

  • Notifications option

  • Clear and easy navigation

Con’s

  • Must sign in on the first page and make an account before you can access any tools

  • Gives automated username that is not clear (my auto user name was “magesticshavekotte”) I just want it to be my name and for me to put it in

  • After creating an account you get a pop up for Quizlett plus, this pop up occurs before the user can begin searching the free version

  • Cannot check progress for free

Flashcards App

Pro’s

  • Can make manual cards, which allows for the user to create a personalized set of flashcards

  • Has dark mode

  • Has a “Your decks” home page where you can easily see flashcards you have made

Cons

  • “Upgrade to pro” advertisements everywhere and difficult to avoid, app is very limited unless you pay to upgrade

  • Has an alarm clock feature, but that doesn’t seem relevant to flashcard study

User Research

3 Participants - ages 28-32 - 2 with ADHD Diagnosis - Based in USA - All have received some level of Tertiary education

 

User Persona’s

  • Damiana Murphey

    “I hate group involvment in my study efforts. I try to work and I try to keep lots of notes. Other people get in the way of that.”

  • Alex Santiago

    “I love feeling like I’m helping the community, but sometimes I feel more like an educator than a lawyer, its tiring.”

  • Allison Bracker

    “I’m a social performer, and sometimes I focus more on being likeable than on my study needs.”

See All Persona's

The Design Process

User Flows

Making the user flows allowed me to focus on the primary tasks of my user persona’s. With all apps, a lot can be designed into them but, by working with specific flows I can cut down on distractions and follow one task from start to finish, ensuring that my user can too.

The user flow process really helped me understand the contextual necessity of things like User Persona’s and User Stories, as a new UX designer I wasn’t sure how the persona’s played an effective role in app development, however once I started making flows based on what those imaginary users needed, the lightbulb went off! And I saw that by creating personas and designing to their perceived goal, the app’s complexity could be broken down into smaller, more human elements.

 

Wireframing

 

Usability Testing

Revisions

In my first set of wireframes, I added color elements too soon, which limited my ability to convey IA through

form, weight and placement. In the second iteration, I brought my color scheme back down to grey scale.

 
 

What I Learned

Talk That Talk is the first app I developed, what I learned most was how to put all the UX skills I had been learning together. Through this design process I better learned how one process fed into the other and how each element of the design thinking process played a necessary part in the success of a project. The iterative process allows for constant reevaluation and refinement, people are constantly changing and updating, the iterative process allows design to do the same

Pro’s

User Flows and Persona’s really help to make sure the app is constructed in a thorough and clear manner, where sections are designed in small groups and then assembled into a collective whole

Market Research and User Research really help define what a project needs and doesn’t need

Wireframing ensures that an app is designed with functionality first and style second

It’s okay for the apps initial problem statement to change, especially if user feedback points the project in a different direction.

Con’s

Usability testing in the early stages can be difficult, as sometimes the lack of build-out can cause distractions in the test.

Competitive Analysis can seem arbitrary without prior User and Market Research

 
 
 

Interactive Prototype

Or if you would prefer, you can watch me go through the app below.

 
 
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