Ungrade

Our team undertook a full redesign of the platform, focusing on creating a more intuitive and user-friendly experience. The new design aimed to provide students with clearer insights into their competencies, making it easier for them to track their progress and make informed decisions on course selection and prepare for their future job occupation.

Service

UX design, Web application, Design system

Sector

Education Technology


Year

2024


Dashboard screen above the fold— slide before and after

01 Context

01 Context

Overview of Ungrade

Many college students struggle to gauge their skill development and career readiness.

To address this gap, Stanford Professor Daniel Martin founded Arete Science and developed Ungrade, a platform that enables students to track and measure their progress in real time, receive personalized feedback, and focus on the skills essential for their career paths.

Problem Space Identified Before the Redesign

Several critical issues with the Ungrade platform were discovered through comprehensive research, described in detail further below.


Key issues included:

  • Navigation difficulty and an unintuitive design


  • Outdated visuals and graphics that cluttered the interface


  • The core functionality—helping students assess competencies relative to job roles—was not functional

Several critical issues with the Ungrade platform were discovered through comprehensive research, described in detail further below.


Key issues included:

  • Navigation difficulty and an unintuitive design


  • Outdated visuals and graphics that cluttered the interface


  • The core functionality—helping students assess competencies relative to job roles—was not functional

Project Constraints

Our redesign had to work within the assessment framework established by Professor Martin’s research, which included Tier Assessments based on the Department of Labor’s Competency Model and psychometric IPIP assessments to test course-based skills.

Our limitations required us to maintain usability without altering the core research structure.

Our redesign had to work within the assessment framework established by Professor Martin’s research, which included Tier Assessments based on the Department of Labor’s Competency Model and psychometric IPIP assessments to test course-based skills.

Our limitations required us to maintain usability without altering the core research structure.

My Role on the Team

  • One of four UX Designers


  • Contributed to the team’s full desktop redesign, and continued solo on the mobile design per client request


  • Focused on uncovering pain points through a platform audit, usability testing, and creating low and high fidelity designs for the dashboard, assessment, and occupational map pages

02 Process

02 Process

Secondary and Market Research

Our research identified RateMyProfessors as a key competitor but highlighted its limitations in offering only subjective reviews without career-aligned insights.

Our research identified RateMyProfessors as a key competitor but highlighted its limitations in offering only subjective reviews without career-aligned insights.

Research Insight 1: Lack of Skill-Based Assessments

RateMyProfessors does not provide any framework for measuring or tracking skills acquired through coursework.

Students receive no insights into specific competencies or skill sets they are building.

RateMyProfessors does not provide any framework for measuring or tracking skills acquired through coursework.

Students receive no insights into specific competencies or skill sets they are building.

Research Insight 2: Limited Feedback Quality

RateMyProfessors reviews primarily focus on factors such as workload, grading difficulty, or professor personality, but provide little insight into the actual relevance or quality of course content.

RateMyProfessors reviews primarily focus on factors such as workload, grading difficulty, or professor personality, but provide little insight into the actual relevance or quality of course content.

Research Insight 3: No Personalized Recommendations

Research Insight 3: No Personalized Recommendations

RateMyProfessors does not offer data-driven insights. Students must sift through reviews without guidance on which courses might be most valuable for their unique academic and career objectives.

RateMyProfessors does not offer data-driven insights. Students must sift through reviews without guidance on which courses might be most valuable for their unique academic and career objectives.

Audit of the Ungrade Platform Before Redesign

Audit of the Ungrade Platform Before Redesign

The initial version of Ungrade was largely non-functional, difficult to navigate, and presented numerous usability issues. To uncover the most prominent problems, we conducted a thorough audit from our perspective.

The initial version of Ungrade was largely non-functional, difficult to navigate, and presented numerous usability issues. To uncover the most prominent problems, we conducted a thorough audit from our perspective.

Audit Issue 1: Lack of Clear Onboarding

Lack of Clear Onboarding

Audit Issue 2: Overwhelming and Unclear Graphics

Overwhelming Graphics

Audit Insight 3: Excessive Use of “Competencies”

Excessive Use of “Competencies”

Audit Insight 4: No Flow between Actionable Items

No Flow between Actionable Items

Audit Insight 5: Nonsensical Assessment Questions

Nonsensical Assessment Questions

Audit Insight 6: Unclear Data Visualization

Unclear Data Visualization

Audit Insight 7: Inefficient Course Addition Process

Inefficient Course Addition Process

Audit Insight 8: Disconnect between Skills and Map

Disconnect between Skills and Map

User Testing on the Platform Before Redesign

Baseline usability tests with potential users validated many of the issues our team initially identified. Sessions provided a deeper perspective on users, without the context we had, would interact.

Baseline usability tests with potential users validated many of the issues our team initially identified. Sessions provided a deeper perspective on users, without the context we had, would interact.

“I was expecting to see something that would guide me through its functionality, but was left completely lost.”

“I was expecting to see something that would guide me through its functionality, but was left completely lost.”

Discovering Solutions

Discovering Solutions

Possible solutions were brought up after brainstorming new workflows, adjusting the current user flow, and sketching ideas.

Possible solutions were brought up after brainstorming new workflows, adjusting the current user flow, and sketching ideas.

Present new users with onboarding process

Updated onboarding process

Add an introduction page to each assessment

Assessment introduction pages

Competencies combined in course assessment

Combining assessments

Different states show users’ progress on dashboard

Clear progress markers

Course entry process simplified with bulk-entry

Simplified course entry

Overhaul of the occupational map section

Overhaul of occupational mapping

The Onboarding Flow

Onboarding the user guides them through the Ungrade features to provide essential context.

Onboarding the user guides them through the Ungrade features to provide essential context.

Adding Semester Courses

A student would only have to enter their courses enrolled one time— at the start of the semester.

A student would only have to enter their courses enrolled one time— at the start of the semester.

Dashboard Assessments

Tier Assessments separate foundational skills into three tiers. Competency tests were combined into course assessments for ease of tracking what skills apply to certain courses, and to cut down on the amount of tests.

Tier Assessments separate foundational skills into three tiers. Competency tests were combined into course assessments for ease of tracking what skills apply to certain courses, and to cut down on the amount of tests.

Matching Occupations

The occupational map section faced a complete overhaul, breaking down job related competencies in a way that was easier to understand— and for the user to see how their skills measure up.

The occupational map section faced a complete overhaul, breaking down job related competencies in a way that was easier to understand— and for the user to see how their skills measure up.

Evaulation Data

Students are able to see how their pre and post scores compare, and can view different filtering options such as yearly progress or by semester.

Students are able to see how their pre and post scores compare, and can view different filtering options such as yearly progress or by semester.

Plan for Future Courses

Users can search for courses and view the skills they'd gain by taking the course.


They can also compare courses side by side.

Users can search for courses and view the skills they'd gain by taking the course.


They can also compare courses side by side.

03 Results

03 Results

The Final Design

The final design introduced enhancements to improve user experience, simplify navigation, and create a clear path for students to track their skill development in relation to possible career paths.

A key improvement involved consolidating competency assessments by grouping competencies within course-based evaluations, significantly reducing the number of required assessments and allowing students to see direct links between coursework and skill development.

Impact and Next Steps

Our redesign of the Ungrade platform showed significant improvements in our final round of usability testing, where users found the platform more intuitive and easier to navigate.

The team resolved core usability challenges for the student use case and established a cohesive design approach, ensuring consistency across the platform. This student-centered foundation positions Ungrade for future expansion to support professors, university administrators, and recruiters as additional use cases are developed.


I continued working with Daniel, completing the mobile breakpoint design for the platform as well as their marketing-focused landing page.

Our redesign of the Ungrade platform showed significant improvements in our final round of usability testing, where users found the platform more intuitive and easier to navigate.

The team resolved core usability challenges for the student use case and established a cohesive design approach, ensuring consistency across the platform. This student-centered foundation positions Ungrade for future expansion to support professors, university administrators, and recruiters as additional use cases are developed.


I continued working with Daniel, completing the mobile breakpoint design for the platform as well as their marketing-focused landing page.