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Lauren Xie
UX Research and Design Intern
Santa Clara University - 2021
For this internship, my team and I were tasked with starting the redesign of Santa Clara University's English Department website.
Before jumping into redesigning the English Department website, we first had to assess the website's current interface: how it looks, what kind of content is presented, the site flow, etc. To do that, I conducted heuristic markups where I imagined myself as 4 different users, each with their own purposes and goals as they use the English website. To do heuristic markups, I used my handy iPad to annotate many different pages, as seen below, from the website that I predicted the 4 potential users would view. By imitating potential users, I was able to enhance my design thinking, empathy, and insight-generating skills, for not only the following tasks for the website redesign but also for design
work in the future.
Double click on the images to see the full and enlarged version!
Following our analysis of the current English Department website, the next step was to start the process of redesigning the English website; however, before going straight into redesigning, my team and I started working on the framework, like wireframes, content design, and task flows. I worked on task flows, so I mapped out how the SCU English Department website should be experienced. For example, if a user is supposed to find information about jobs or careers related to English, the site should have a path from a work/careers page mapping to different opportunities, like internships or on-campus jobs related to the English department. Creating the task flows helped me better my contextual logic and human-centered thinking as I tried thinking both as a designer and a user for the most logical and best flow of tasks.
Double click on the images for the full and enlarged versions!
The final design task I created during this internship was a prototype for the landing page, professional minor page, and academic programs page. When creating this prototype, I had to keep both the client, the SCU English Department, and the users in mind. I had to create prototypes that aligned with what the English Department wanted but also in a way that is attractive and user-friendly for users. The prototypes also had to follow the SCU design system, which is also the design guidelines for all SCU websites. This means that if I wanted to display something like quotes or text, it has to be displayed according to the design system.
Visit my prototypes by clicking the button below! I used Figma, so you can view the prototypes in Figma, but don't worry, you don't need an account.
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