Discovery research showed that the format of the content in the current toolkit is confusing and overwhelming for users, due to a lack of clear signposting and visual formats. So in Alpha, we explored how we could use visual cues to help users contextualise information and understand where they are in the user journey.
What we did
We spoke with the head of design in DfE and the 'Early years child development training' team to investigate how we could introduce DfE design patterns to help with this.
We then explored different ways we could use visual elements to organise content into different groups so that users can quickly digest information and understand where they are in the user journey.
With incorporating new colours we made sure that they cater for people with visual access needs. The colours we've chosen all pass WCAG AA guidelines for colour contrast.
With incorporating images, we made sure to avoid adding ones for unnecessary decoration. So we've added images to help users better understand content. For example, showing a preview of a resource a user can download, so they know what they're getting before committing to downloading it.
What we found
In usability testing, users liked the way resources were presented in thumbnails. They found thumbnails a useful way to see an overview of each resource, without having to commit to downloading/using them.
As a team we also ran a crit session with DfE designers outside our team, to gather and discuss feedback on the designs. We found that using visuals/colours to draw attention to important information could help users digest information a lot quicker.
What we want to investigate
As a team, we also did a cognitive run through to investigate how we can make the design more accessible for users with a variety of access needs, which we will explore further in beta.