Alison Work

Digital Media &
User Experience Designer

I am a designer passionate about creating intuitive and engaging content with a strong focus on user experience.

Currently, I work at Michigan State University Extension, where I develop e-learning courses, videos, and other multimedia materials to enhance education and outreach for on-farm produce safety.

I will soon graduate with a Master’s in User Experience (UX) Design from Michigan State University, further strengthening my ability to come up with user-centered design solutions.

RESUME

BACK

E-Learning Design
Case Study

What Would You Harvest?

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VIEW PART ONE

VIEW PART TWO

Overview

This is a multiple part interactive activity designed to educate growers on how to reduce food safety risks in a hydroponics operation.

My Role

I worked with subject matter experts from Michigan State University Extension to gather the learning objectives and target audience for the project. When the script and storyboard were sent to me, I shot footage at a hydroponics operation and edited it using Adobe Premiere.

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I designed graphics in Adobe Illustrator, collected other royalty free graphics, and animated them with Adobe After Effects. I added interactivity using Articulate Storyline 360.

Design Process

RESEARCH

Prior to starting this project, I wasn't familiar with hydroponics. In addition to working with educators, I gathered information by interviewing a food safety coordinator at a hydroponics operation and speaking to workers as I took footage at several other hydroponics operations.

DESIGN

When coming up with the design, I wanted it to be bright and bold, much like a hydroponics operation. I also wanted the navigation to be intuitive, the activities to be straightforward, and I wanted it to work well on a computer with low bandwidth. To accomplish this, I tried several things.

I reduced the resolution of the video so it was easier to download
When possible, I used photos instead of video
I designed the buttons to be large and bright, and made sure they were consistent in size and color
I designed part one and two so the navigation was consistent and users knew what to expect

Reflections

This project has been exciting to make, and I learned a lot during my initial design. While it has been tested with a few educators, it as not yet been tested on the target audience. As this project moves toward the testing and implementation phase, I hope to survey multiple hydroponics growers so I can take note of their pain points and redesign based off of their feedback.