Global User Research: The Future of NetAcad
Cisco Networking Academy is the online platform the provides course content and course management tools to instructors who teach networking concepts. Simultaneously with the immediate redesign of the user interface, seen here, I supported the design leader of the CSR group as she led an effort to engage in deep user experience research with a wide selection of our users.
Previous research efforts had not included global audiences, nor had they engaged in deep, ethnographic techniques. Methods we used in this project included: ethnographic interviews, focus groups, ethnographic observations, and participatory research methods such as co-creation, design workshops, and group brainstorming.
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We visited multiple locations in the US and Europe, as well as speaking via teleconference with yet more students, instructors, and administrators in Canada and Central America. We chose locations based on the currently installed user base, as well as priority in Cisco’s future strategy for NetAcad.
Until we conducted our research, both marketing and education messaging were aimed almost exclusively at the challenges US students face. By expanding the research to include the two other primary research groups, as well as rest of the world, we uncovered some significant differences in the challenges faced by students and instructors in various regions across the globe.
Until we conducted our research, both marketing and education messaging were aimed almost exclusively at the challenges US students face. By expanding the research to include the two other primary research groups, as well as rest of the world, we uncovered some significant differences in the challenges faced by students and instructors in various regions across the globe.