Gradebook Import Scores
Project Overview: This is one of the major components of the gradebook. Most instructors have more than one source of scores and they want the students to be able to see their scores in one place.
Goal: To allow instructors to import scores from excel or csv to Aplia online gradebook.
My Role: User experience designer
Company: Aplia
Year: September 2008 – November 2008
Discovery – Understanding Users Needs
Since this is a part of the bigger project (main gradebook), in addition to background instructor researches, I did an analysis on the actual gradebook spreadsheet itself. The goal was to understand the common format and instructors’ expectation when dealing with online gradebook from course management systems.
The major finding was that instructors want their students to “know how they are doing.” This means any exams, quizzes, homework should be presented to students immediately once available. The problem is the scores cannot be posted on the school’s board because of the privacy rules. An online, password-protected interface is ideal to present this information.
The other main concern about student’s grades was accuracy. When too much automation is involved, mistake can occur without being noticed.
Design
After analyzing the users task flow, I realized the major tasks would be uploading the file, record matching and correcting, and then selecting the scores column to be added to the gradebook. With that thought, I went through a number of sketches to see what would be a good interaction in this scenario.
I decided to use accordion model because the process is so complex it should be broken down into smaller steps. This model allows users to know the number of steps required to finish the process and where they are in the flow.
These two images present the first two steps of the import process. Note that users are always able to cancel the process or go back to the previous steps at anytime. Also, when it comes to form submission buttons like “Continue” and “Cancel”, the primary decision will always be made prominent than the other (Cancel) one. This case we used bold for primary action. Using a button for the main action and link for Cancel works as well. The key is to be consistent throughout the site.
Ideally, interfaces shouldn’t require help text. But in this case we provided help because users need to be much more careful when dealing with scores. The help dialog is non-modal and draggable so users can read the text while interacting with the main page. Also, since we know nobody like to read the instructions, any help text needs to be short and precise.
The above images shows the third step of the process and its printer-friendly version. This is a very important step as it presents mismatched records between the uploaded file and the online gradebook. Originally, we planned to allow the user to correct the mistake from this screen. But with the resource we had for this project, we decided to implement this feature as a future improvement and went with a simple report that allows user to easily correct the listing in the csv file.
The last step of the import process allows user to select columns to import. Since the instructor usually does not upload many columns at a time (average between 1-3), it is proper to provide just a simple interaction. In this case, I used the “Add another row” pattern, which is similar to Gmail attachment feature.
Implementation
The early prototype went through light user testing and the feedback was good. I collaborated with the engineer and QA throughout the development process and the entire project took approximately 3 months from beginning to launch.
What I’ve Learned
This is one of the first projects where convenience is not the first priority. As I mentioned, when dealing with grades, error prevention is the key. And the designer needs to keep in mind that providing loads of instructions was not a good option since it will confuse users. Also, I have to be honest that I was not a big fan of “wizard”-type interface because, in my opinion, it’s an indication that the process has too many steps. Wizard interface, however, was not a problem when users are aware of the number of steps and know where they are in the process.