Best Design Beavers
Capstone Project
UX/UI Inclusive Design Competition
Capstone Project Overview
Our project aims to improve the websites of three clients for underrepresented groups through research-backed design to create an inclusive user experience. Through these changes, we hope to enable underrepresented populations to have an equitable experience to the mainstream users. In addition, we want to make minor changes to improve the overall user experience.
Why Improve Websites for Underrepresented Groups?
Websites can often be unintentionally difficult to use or navigate, especially for people from demographics whom were not considered in the website's original design. By improving the user experience for underserved populations, we will give more users the ability to effectively use the site; in turn, this leads to a larger user base, happier users, improved accessibility, a more equitable user experience, more revenue, and a website that is higher in quality and more impactful.
Project Specifics
Our project involves designing new layouts for three distinct websites: REAP, Groome, and OSU. For REAP's website, we focused on improving the user experience for non-english speakers and ethnic minorities. For the OSU website, we focused on improving the website for non-English speaking first-gen students. Lastly, for Groome, we focused on improving the website for study abroad students.
For each project, there are four stages: research, ideation, testing, and evaluation. In the research phase, we research traits specific to our target audiences (eg, study abroad students for Groome) and have individuals from these audiences participate in surveys, interviews, and tests which help us better understand their needs in regards to improving our target website. In the ideation phase, we use the information gained in the research phase to create a mockup website with the relevant design improvements. Finally, in the testing stage, we have users from the target audience test our new site and compare it to the original before creating a report which evaluates the effectiveness of our changes in the evaluation stage.
The Need for Good Design:
Centering the User
Better design allows users to fully utilize a product. Lots of products have complex setups that make them difficult to use and navigate. This is because developers and companies often fail to consider their audience during the software development process and fail to realize what users expect and need from their product. That is why centering the user in design is crucial for creating quality products. Everyone thinks differently, so a better design needs to accommodate people with different backgrounds and cognitive styles. Otherwise, experiences and populations can get marginalized and be limited in their ability to fully utilize the product.
An inclusive design framework allows us to design with accommodations in mind. The goal of inclusive design is focused on providing an equally accessible experience for all users regardless of age, ethnicity, language, disabilities, etc. For our project, we will primarily focus on first generation college students, BIPOC populations, and students studying abroad because these underrepresented groups have historically been marginalized in mainstream markets.
Why is BDB the best?
We're just dam good.
Best Design Beavers has applied a variety of UX research techniques and frameworks to center the user in our work. We adapt the inclusive design framework used by GenderMag and InclusiveMag to redesign websites to support underserved populations while still offering a unified experience for all users. In doing so, we design for a more equitable user experience.
Our team uses a combination of UX techniques from both academia and industry. Our REAP and OSU Website projects are research-oriented while Groome reflects industry UX roadmaps and audits. Our range of projects illustrates BDB's adaptability to different types of UX projects and our ability to understand the importance of making tradeoffs.
Ultimately, BDB aims to address the needs of marginalized and underserved voices within the mainstream. We strongly believe that good design is inclusive, meaning that non-mainstream users should not have to rely on a separate platform to have a good experience. Over the course of this capstone project, BDB has produced research-backed and user-centered deliverables with informed design decisions. In doing so, BDB demonstrates what "inclusive design" means.
Thank you for checking out our capstone project!
If you would like to learn more or reach out with questions, please feel free to contact any of us via email.
