Problem
Users of online training classes were not receiving credit after finishing the course because they were closing the browser tab instead of clicking a link in the navigation bar to submit their grades.
Aside from confusing user controls, the content manager where the courses were uploaded was unable to keep track of user’s progress hence the need for a link built into the course that submitted all the progress at once.
The original label on the navigation bar is “Exit”. My objective was to discover how to help users mark their courses as complete.
Legacy navigation bar with “Exit” link.
Follow up from usability testing
During usability testing, I found out that “Exit” in the navigation bar and the red “X” from the browser window were conflicting with each other. Users were using the controls in the browser window to close a lesson after getting passing grades for all their activities. This meant that their grades weren’t getting submitted to their report and their courses were marked as incomplete.
At this point, I knew I need to do further testing to find out what would be the appropriate label to communicate to users what to do after passing their activities and ensuring their grades were submitted.
A/B testing
I asked my team to help me brainstorm other variations of this label after reviewing the results of the usability testing.
Internal brainstorm in preparation for A/B testing
Findings
Here is the prototype I used during testing and the other labels I substituted “EXIT” with:
I spoke with 9 users and presented them with medium-fidelity, paper prototypes. I wrote a script to make sure my language was consistent, conversational and non-leading. I also used this opportunity to train another teammate on how to be a facilitator.
From the 8 options, users selected “Submit Results”
Results and final design
From the 8 options, users selected “Submit Results” and the most clear call to action. Relabeling was not the only change implemented to ensure the success of this new label. Audio instructions during the introduction of each online class were edited to explain what “Submit Results” means to user’s grades. Also, audio instructions were added after users would pass all class activities to remind them to “Submit Results”.
