NTU Creative Spark

Equipping students, graduates and entrepreneurs with essential creative and digital skills. A collaboration with NTU to create a user-centric, accessible education web experience.

background

We were tasked with helping to take a very basic rudementary set of course materials and transforming it into the very first online course at NTU, available to UK and European students.

my role

Due to my experience working for numerous Universities, I was noted as being incredibly valuable to this project and from the outset I used my experience and knowledge to improve the intended user flows and overall visuals of the site with students in mind.

The project ran for a number of months and was in collaboration with a European university and the British Council so there were numerous stakeholders in the project. All working towards a seamless, accessible online course that was both functional and engaging whilst being trackable for the Universities and British Council.

The process looked a little something like this:

Research & Analysis: We conducted rigorous research of the intended user flows, looking at existing elearning platforms and sites to ensure we could intertwine the intended course collateral and the NTU brand with a successful web experience. This included possible technical shortfalls, pain points and opportunities for branded interactions.

Information Architecture: After designing the layout for the site, we developed a heirarchy approach that meant we could ensure course content fit into the parameters of the site and that we could design any extra necessary elements such as box outs, drop downs etc.

Wireframing & Prototyping: Designing all necessary elements in conjunction with the information on module contents we had left us with a full prototype of the site ready to discuss with the client and developers.

Usability Testing: We conducted usability tests with a diverse group of users to validate the design and identify areas for improvement. Based on the feedback, we made necessary adjustments to the prototype and discussed these with the developers.

Visual Design & Style Guide: We developed a cohesive visual language, including color schemes, typography, and iconography that sat alongside the existing NTU brand that has such strength and recognition. We still wanted the Creative Spark site to have its own elements and signature features though so this was a key part of the design journey for NTU and myself.

We had some great feedback about this project and specifically my involvement:

"We thought it was really important to work with a team that understood our offer as a University. They were really great at working at such a fast pace, giving us feedback throughout. The quality and the way they portrayed our subject matter was amazing." - NTU Project Team Lead