Seattle Fabrication School teaches TIG welding and metal fabricataion to people of all skill levels.
UX, UI, Responsive Design
Seattle Fabrication School is a 2 week welding school that gives students a strong foundation in metal fabrication. SFS offers a unique, fully immersive experience that differs from many other technical school programs in the area. This project involved working with a client to design a responsive website for the school. Unfortunately, the client decided to put the school on hold for now.
Show people the benefits of a bootcamp style welding school.
Get interested individuals to sign up for class.
Over the course of 4 weeks, I used a human centered design process to discover the needs, wants, and pain points of users. I also worked with the client to ensure business goals were met with the new website.
Design Process
Discovery & Research
Competitive Analysis of Trade School Websites
I went through a number of trade school websites and performed a heuristic evaluation. Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each site helped me identify future design opportunities for the SFS website.
User Interviews
Understanding the Student’s Journey
I was very curious about the user’s journey and what influenced their decision to register at SFS. With the client’s approval, I reached out to several prior graduates of the class. Performing user interviews helped me gain a better understanding of their motives and what they were looking for in the school.
Interview Goals
What led to their decision to go to school? What were their motivations?
Why were they interested in Seattle Fabrication School?
What are their biggest concerns to signing up for school?
Key Interview Findings
Instructor qualifications is a top concern.
When asked what their main concern would be signing up for class, the first thing every participant said was the instructor’s experience.
Students are not the only ones using the website.
Many students were sent to SFS by their current employer for additional training. Employers will want to see how the school can provide training tailored to each individual’s needs.
An emphasis on hands-on learning.
Students are drawn to welding for the hands-on experience of creating something. Participants with various levels of experience, stressed the importance of hands-on learning to become a better welder.
Defining the User
Disproving and Validating Assumptions
Interviewing past graduates helped me disprove my assumption that students are the only ones using the website. Employers are another group of users that should be considered in the design. Creating user personas helped me further empathize with the user and make design decisions based on their unique needs and pain points.
Defining the Design Challenge
Seattle Fabrication School takes a different approach than many traditional trade schools. To ease the minds of users, the website must assure students of all abilities that they will benefit from training.
Information Architecture
My research findings provided a better understanding of what users would be looking for on the site. I included pages that would address their concerns and labeled them using a language users could easily understand.
Wireframing
Designing Practical Solutions
Creating wireframes helped me see the overall visual hierarchy of the site and see if important content is being displayed effectively. I addressed some of my key research findings in various areas of the design.
Solution 1
Instructor Qualifications
Knowing the instructor’s qualifications is a top concern for users. The instructor bio page highlights the instructor’s qualifications and provides testimonials from previous students.
Solution 2
Information for Employers
Students are not the only ones interested in the school. I included a page that would include relevant information for employers. The page shows previous companies SFS has worked with.
Solution 3
Showing a Hands-On Experience
Participants said the best way to learn is by a hands-on approach. The website features a gallery section showing real student projects and what they could create in two weeks.
UI Design
Deciding on a Visual Language
With the structure of the site’s content defined, I explored brand styles that would be appropriate for the school. My goal was to keep the site visually exciting but professional. The bright blue used in the design is a color the client has used before. It holds special significance in the food and beverage industry, an area where TIG welding is commonly used.
Prototyping
Using my UI designs and Invision, I made a working prototype of the website. The prototype allowed me to gather feedback from real users and make quick design revisions where necessary.
Usability Testing
In order to validate my design decisions, I performed an in-person usability test with 3 participants. Each participant had an interest in welding and prior experience working in the trades. To get the user’s impression of the school and whether or not it addressed their concerns, I gave the participant a task that was very open ended.
Goals for Testing
To see what the overall impressions are of the school
Observe the users behaviour as they navigate through the site
To understand their concerns and if they were properly addressed on the site
Task for Usability Testing
Visit the website and learn about the school. Based on what you see, decide whether to register for class, send a message on a contact form, or pass on the school.
UI Revisions
I organized my findings from the usability test into an affinity map. Based on some of the concerns participants still had, I made revisions to the final design.
Revision 1
Adding Class Details
Participants were looking for more class schedule details. I included the date and time of each class in the course overview section.
Revision 2
Qualifications for Class
Some of the test participants were still a little concerned with the qualifications required for the school. I changed the headline on the homepage to include “Training for all ability levels” along with relevant content.
Project Take-Aways
Challenging Assumptions About the User
One of the challenges of this project was recruiting people to interview. With a strict timeline, I was forced to move forward with my own assumptions about the user. My original user persona was eventually thrown out after I was able to interview SFS graduates. Interviews allowed me to discover another group of users that made an impact on many of my design decisions. This project was a good reminder of how valuable the user research phase is and the importance of challenging our own assumptions.
