Find postgraduate teacher training

Background

Department mission: Meet the demand for newly qualified teachers in English state schools.

Key challenges for the department:

• Increasing class sizes
• Teachers leaving the profession
• Lack of data about teacher enrollment
• Complicated admissions process to teacher training

My contribution

• With the help of the user research team, identified the key pain points of teacher training candidates
• Contributed in research activities like stakeholder interviews and focus groups
• Helped the exploration of teacher training by creating user journey maps and service maps
• Conceptualised various solutions through site maps, navigation flow diagrams and Lo-Fi prototypes
• Designed Hi-Fi functional prototypes in code
• Created scenarios and tasks for usability testing and carried the tests

User research

Audience : Fresh graduates and career changers aspiring to become a teacher.

Goals : Find and apply to a teacher training course in the interested subject, fits the financial circumstances and is easily commutable to.

Motivation : Build a fulfilling career that touches lives of the future generations.

Pain points : Complex jargon in the ecosystem. Complicated and lengthy application process for teacher training.

User journey map

Based on the research findings, I created a detailed user journey map to visualize the end-to-end experience of aspiring teachers searching for and applying to teacher training programs. The journey map highlighted key activities, pain points, and emotional states across different stages of the process.

Key insights from the journey mapping exercise:

• Candidates struggled with understanding complex educational terminology and jargon
• The application process was lengthy and complicated with multiple steps
• Financial considerations were a major factor in program selection
• Location and commute time significantly impacted program choices
• Career changers needed clear information about qualification requirements and pathways

The journey map helped align stakeholders around candidate pain points and opportunities for improving the search and application experience.

User flow diagram

I developed detailed user flow diagrams to map out the step-by-step process of how aspiring teachers would search for and apply to training programs. The flows helped identify opportunities to simplify the journey and provide better guidance.

Lo-Fi prototypes

Initial low-fidelity wireframes were created to explore different approaches to the course search and application interface. These prototypes focused on core workflows like finding suitable programs, understanding eligibility, and completing applications.

Final design

The final interface design prioritized clarity and guidance through:

• Simple search filters for location, subject and training type
• Clear explanations of teaching qualifications and requirements

Usability testing

We conducted usability testing sessions with prospective teacher training candidates to validate the design solutions and ensure they effectively addressed user needs and pain points.