Overview

Our team conducted a comprehensive user research project focused on Turnitin, a leading platform for plagiarism detection and academic integrity. The goal was to understand how users interact with Turnitin, identify usability issues, and provide insights for enhancing the user experience.

My Role

• User Researcher: Conducted user interviews and analyzed responses.

• Affinity Diagram Analysis: Participated in analyzing data to uncover themes and pain points.

• Persona Development: Helped develop detailed personas to represent various user groups.

• Customer Journey Mapping: Assisted in creating a customer journey map to visualize user interactions and identify touchpoints.

• User Experience Questionnaire: Collected and analyzed user satisfaction data.

Problem

Understanding the interaction patterns and usability issues faced by users of Turnitin to improve the overall user experience.

Solution

By conducting in-depth user research, our team identified key usability issues and provided actionable insights for enhancing Turnitin’s user experience.

Process

1. User Interviews & Affinity Diagram

• Interviews: Conducted in-depth interviews with a diverse group of Turnitin users, including students, educators, and administrators.

• Affinity Diagram: Analyzed the responses to uncover common themes, behaviors, and pain points. This helped us categorize and prioritize key issues affecting the user experience.

2. Persona Development

• Personas: Developed detailed personas to represent the various user groups of Turnitin, such as students submitting assignments and educators reviewing reports.

3. Task Diagrams & Scenarios

• Task Diagrams: Outlined task diagrams to represent user interactions.

• Scenarios: Devised scenarios from the perspective of our developed personas to showcase practical applications of the system.

4. Customer Journey Mapping

• Customer Journey Map: Created a comprehensive map tracing the steps users take to fulfill their objectives. This visualization identified pain points and areas for enhancement within the user experience.

5. User Experience Questionnaire

• UX Questionnaire: Used to gauge users' overall satisfaction and perception of the product, allowing us to glean actionable insights for refinement and improvement.

Tools used

• Interview recording device: For conducting and documenting user interviews

• Figma: Making personas, Visualizing the user journey, Making deliverables

• Miro: For digitizing affinity diagram and analyzing it.

Outcome

The research provided valuable insights into user needs and preferences, laying a solid foundation for future iterations and enhancements of Turnitin. The personas, task diagrams, and customer journey map effectively highlighted key areas for improvement.

Key Results:

• Identified common themes and pain points through affinity diagram analysis.

• Developed detailed personas to represent different user groups.

• Created a customer journey map to visualize and enhance user interactions.

• Provided actionable recommendations for improving Turnitin’s user experience.

Visuals

Reflection

This project emphasized the importance of user-centered research in improving product usability. Conducting comprehensive user research and creating visual representations like personas and journey maps provided deep insights into user needs and behaviors. The experience enhanced my skills in user research, data analysis, and collaborative teamwork.