iClicker Integrations

Improving instructor roster and gradebook management by integrating iClicker with learning management systems

My role

UX Designer

Team

  • 1 Product Manager
  • 1 UX Designer (me)
  • 1 UX Researcher
  • 2 Developers

Completed

2020 (v1) - 2021 (v2)

Background

Most instructors use a learning management system (LMS) as their main source of classroom management.

iClicker offered an integration so that instructors could send grades from iClicker to their LMS gradebook.

Summary

Problem

iClicker’s existing LMS gradebook integration had a confusing setup process and lacked roster integration functionality.

Process

  • Understanding existing setup and UX opportunities
  • Mapping out user flow for roster integration
  • Documenting edge-cases and error states
  • User testing

Solution

  • Improved the integration setup experience
  • Added functionality for roster integration
  • Added support for troubleshooting errors

Outcomes

During user testing, instructors completed the new setup with ease. They were also excited about new roster functionality and troubleshooting support.

Keep reading for the details

Problem

iClicker’s existing LMS gradebook integration had a confusing setup process and lacked roster integration functionality.

Why was this a problem?

Students did not receive credit for iClicker activities in the LMS gradebook if setup was not completed correctly.

A confusing setup process resulted in high error rates, and there was little guidance in the product to help instructors and students resolve these issues.

Without roster integration, instructors struggled to know if their iClicker roster matched their LMS roster.

The LMS roster was the source of truth, and instructors wanted the integration to pull roster data from their LMS into iClicker. Otherwise, instructors had to manually cross-reference the two.

How might we...

Leverage new integration technologies to improve the setup experience and add roster functionality?
Help instructors and students better troubleshoot any errors that occur during roster and grade syncs?

Process

Understanding the existing setup flow and opportunities for improvement

After joining the project, I met with the team to learn about previous tech constraints to the setup flow, and how advancements to iClicker’s third-party integration technology created opportunities for UX improvements.

Previous tech constraint

New tech capability

Couldn’t detect which LMS or integration type users were configured for.

✅

Can detect which LMS and integration type users are configured for. 

Opportunity

Personalize instructions to add clarity

Couldn't complete the setup in iClicker. Users had to go back and forth between iClicker and their LMS.

✅

Can complete setup directly in iClicker without going to LMS.

Opportunity

Create a seamless experience and reduce number of steps

Creating user flows to map out new roster sync functionality

At this stage, I focused on identifying what information users would need once the sync was complete. This led us to explore designs for a summarized report, so that users could review any action items and next steps.

Documenting technical edge-cases to account for in design

Throughout design exploration, we kept running into edge cases. To address this challenge, the Product Manager, Lead Developer, and I collaborated to create documentation around every plausible edge case we could think of. This helped us organize the edge cases into 3 main scenarios that we accounted for in the final design.

User testing the new setup and roster sync flows

Research goals

  • Validate designs and catch any usability issues
  • Learn more about roster sync use cases

Method

Usability tests with instructor users (Tests conducted by our user researcher)

I helped create our research plan by documenting research goals and questions.

Insight

In the first version of designs, all action items in the sync report were treated as an error which felt falsely alarming to instructors.

This included scenarios where students from the LMS roster still need to enroll in iClicker. However instructors viewed this as an opportunity to invite students, rather than as an error.

Outcome

We updated the visual treatment of the action items to feel more neutral, reserving the error treatment for technical errors. We also updated the copy in the student email to make it feel more like an invite to the course.

Final design solution

Initiating setup

As an instructor, I need to know how to set up the integration so that I can use the roster and grade sync functionality.

We made improvements to the integration setting by letting users know which LMS they are specifically configured for (which we were able to pull from the back-end) and the different capabilities of the integration.

Completing setup

As an instructor I need to indicate which LMS course to connect to, so that iClicker knows which roster and gradebook to sync with.

Using roster sync to invite students to iClicker

As an instructor, I need students to join my iClicker course so that they are able to participate in iClicker activities during class.

iClicker detects which students from the LMS roster are not in iClicker yet. Instructors can send a pre-created email to these students so that they are notified to join the course.

Using roster sync to keep iClicker up-to-date

As an instructor, I need to know if there are students in my iClicker course who do not match my LMS roster so that I can take action to resolve any discrepancies.

When running a roster sync, iClicker detects which students in iClicker are no longer in the LMS roster. Instructors can bulk remove any students to easily update their iClicker roster.

Outcomes

Project impact

  • During user testing, instructors completed the new setup with ease and were excited about roster functionality and troubleshooting support.
  • Adding roster functionality made iClicker more competitive when pursuing contracts with universities.

Personal reflections

  • I learned about the importance of flexibility when designing for variable situations, and the value of documenting edge cases up-front.
  • To measure the success of the feature, I would be curious to know if support calls related to integrations and the number of courses with sync errors decreased.
allielozdesign@gmail.com
© Allie Lozinak 2023