The Design Chapter in the Digital team at the University is comprised of user experience (UX) researchers, UX designers, and content designers. The Chapter employs user-centred design principles to help understand user needs, ideate, prototype and test – putting our users at the heart of everything we create, in line with the University’s 2030 digital strategy.
Read this blog to learn what Amelia’s role as a UX Researcher in the Digital team involves.
What is UX Research?
All of us interact with digital touchpoints, usually every day. Sometimes these interactions are fluid and easy, and sometimes, less so. UX (User Experience) Research is about understanding what people need, want, and find difficult in an experience, with the aim of making it better. This can be an experience of a product, a service, or any part of a person’s day. At the University, we research what it’s like for our users (not just students!) to be part of the Exeter community – what is working and what can be improved. We aim to understand user needs, motivations, and the challenges they face during their time with Exeter. Through research, we enable suitable and effective solutions to the right problems.
How we do it
Mapping
As researchers, we build our understanding by engaging with people through activities like workshops, interviews, co-creation, and usability testing sessions, all of which help us to generate empathy and gain insight. We use the outputs from these activities to create visuals and reports that are easy for stakeholders to digest and use to make effective changes.
For example, we are creating an undergraduate student journey map of their whole Exeter experience, from discovering universities, right through to alumni engagement after graduation. This visual provides a holistic view of the student experience from a student’s perspective. The teams that deliver each part of the journey can use this to understand how their role fits into the wider context of the journey.
Note: This map is always being updated. This version is correct as of Feb 2024.
Segmentation
As well as journey mapping, we are also creating behavioural segments. These are different to the typical segmentation of demographics (Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Home, and International). These behavioural segments can span any demographic, and students can move between them throughout their time at Exeter.
Over the last 6 years of UX research, there seem to be 3 main behavioural groupings that our users fit into, taking into account attributes such as their digital confidence, social dependency, organisation and approach to problem-solving. They are valuable to us as they allow us to understand how each segment may behave in any given situation, and then consider this when designing an experience.
Note: These segments are always being validated. This version is correct as of Feb 2024.
What’s the best part of the job?
My favourite part of being a UX Researcher is making a real difference to the student experience at the University of Exeter. I love running activities and hearing students talk about their time, how their course is going and what societies they are part of! It’s the most rewarding part of my job. Additionally, viewing the experience through the student lens is a new approach for the University of Exeter, I’m really excited to be leading in this area and see the impact it’s going to have.
Want to find out more?
We are speakers at this year’s THE Digital Universities UK, talking all about how UX Research can drive digital transformation and help solve the real problems your students are facing. We will also cover behavioural segments and mapping in more detail. Come and chat with us at any point during the event if you have any questions or things you want to discuss.
Otherwise, email a.johnson7@exeter.ac.uk and we can chat more!
– Written by Amelia Johnson, User Experience Researcher