Digital University
Problem: How to grow cyber competency in the US Air Force
Role: Design Workshop Facilitation, Interaction Design, Usability Testing, UI Design
Result:
2100% increase in accounts since launch
(3,000 initial accounts Q3 2020, up to 68,000 by Q3 2023 – more than 20% of total AF)
Digital University started with a 1-day mini sprint, led by our Chief Design Strategist, to learn more about the problem and ideate solutions. During that event, the problem grew to include educating Air Force members on the cyber careers ecosystem that already existed. I and one other designer went to Kessel Run to lead a 2-day, in-person workshop to refine solutions ideas and form a design strategy.
Coach Me Kyle, one of the six personas generated, and the primary user we worked to serve during the MVP stage
Task analysis of how Kyle might go about setting preferences for job titles
Early, conceptual screen flow done using Balsamiq
First Iteration
I chose to work in Axure for interaction design, due to its robust prototyping capabilities, which would pay off during usability testing.
Spotlight on a location within the AF innovation ecosystem. Jobs staffed at this location are on the left, with an explanation of the job on the right, along with how close the user is to possessing the requisite skills.
Course search results showing time to complete and what programs each course might count toward.
Highlighting a program (series of courses toward an objective) and what courses it comprises. KSA Tree is a map of sorts, showing how to navigate requirements for various job descriptions.
Usability Testing Round 1
Takeaways:
The persistent newsfeed was confusing and not seen as useful by all participants. The expectation was that it would only display information relevant to the current page.
Opportunities modal was confusing because it listed jobs that were staffed at certain installations but which may not be available at the time – it was intended more to inform users of what was out there and to indicate their interest in particular roles so they could start working toward someday obtaining them.
It would be helpful to have an interstitial page with some kind of psychological reward upon completion of a course.
The biggest takeaway though, was that we were on the right track and this seemed to be something Air Force members were hungry for.
Airman/Developer testing an early concept for learning paths.
Contractor/Developer testing an early concept for exploring the Air Force’s digital innovation ecosystem.
Airman/Developer testing one of the three iterations of the homepage concept.
Second Iteration
Introduced onboarding process for new users to indicate interests and current skills. Forum was also added per our learnings during the design workshop – users want to learn from their peers, so we provided a way for talented users to stand out. This was particularly important in a military setting (vs civilian) where information about the projects being worked on often needs to be protected.
Part of the onboarding process. After the user inputs their skills and experience, they are presented with potential job paths and Air Force organizations that work in that space.
Learning page – showing what the user is enrolled in and what courses they might want to enroll in, based on their current settings.
Example Forum page. User can start a new thread, search topics or filter by topics they follow based on their current settings.
Usability Testing Round 2
Takeaways:
With the addition of the Onboarding process, users were curious about what happened to the information they entered and how they could view/edit it, which led me to flesh out the user profile section for the next iteration.
Two participants found it less useful to be able to access random classes than to get on a defined learning path. We decided for the next iteration to remove that option and only suggest courses to them based on their skills and interests.
The KSA Tree was confusing to most participants, though that was mostly due to its just being a placeholder with no indication of what a KSA Tree is. The high-resolution iteration that followed this made it much clearer and it was decided that we’d keep it in.
SSgt/Developer sharing his thoughts on the onboarding process.
MSgt/Cybersecurity testing the learning pathway.
2LT/UX Designer testing the learning pathway.
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