Designing Education Access
Creating supportive and motivating learning for rehabilitation.
Project Summary
My Role(s)
UX Designer
UX Researcher
Tools
Figma
FigJam
Zoom
Miro
Methods
Agile Scrum
Desk Research
SME and Proxy Interviews
User Journey mapping
Competitive Analysis
Flow mapping
Affinity Mapping
Personas
Sketching
Iterative Prototyping
Goals
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Create a learning management platform that supports incarcerated students in accessing education and community resources.
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Reduce recidivism by sustaining motivation and building trust through thoughtful design.
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Provide multiple ways to process information (video, audio, text) to meet diverse learner needs.
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Simplify navigation and layouts to accommodate limited access, literacy challenges, and different learning styles.
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Build motivational features such as gamification, progress tracking, and short, achievable lessons.
The Process​​
Determine goals
Conduct research
Analyze data
Provide solutions
I joined the project as it transitioned into the research phase, beginning with discussions with teammates who had worked directly with Flikshop. These conversations helped me understand the project’s background, goals, and constraints. Because consistent client communication was not always possible, we relied heavily on desk research and expert interviews to establish a foundation. We studied popular platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and Duolingo to identify effective patterns, while recognizing that our users’ environment required features that prioritized motivation, clarity, and ease of use.
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Working with subject matter experts, we defined objectives and surfaced the unique challenges of delivering education in correctional facilities. Our team conducted expert interviews, desk research, and proxy user testing to identify core learner needs around clarity, motivation, and accessibility. From these insights, I mapped product flows, developed personas, and designed iterative prototypes. Each sprint built on the previous one, culminating in a high-fidelity prototype that demonstrated the end-to-end student course experience.
Phase 1: Research
To ground our design in real-world needs, we conducted expert interviews with LMS designers, educators working in correctional facilities, and practitioners supporting formerly incarcerated individuals. These conversations were paired with desk research on popular platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and Duolingo to identify best practices. Together, these insights highlighted three critical design areas:
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Features that simplify the learning experience,
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Motivational structures to keep students engaged, and
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Clear communication methods that accommodate different learning styles.
Features
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Enable user feedback throughout the learning process
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Keep content layouts simple and intuitive
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Use video trailers as an effective format to introduce courses
These insights directly informed the creation of user personas, which captured the distinct needs and motivations of our target learners.
Motivation
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Create a sense of independence for learners
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Provide progressive congratulatory messages
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Keep lessons short and achievable
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Be transparent about course time requirements
Communication
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Prioritize simplified, intuitive language
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Offer multiple methods for processing information (audio, video, reading)
Phase 2: Personas and Product Structure
Using insights from expert interviews, we created a product structure to better understand how incarcerated students might engage with the LMS. Our goal was to capture the end-to-end journey, from onboarding and course discovery to learning progression and completion and identify where motivation and clarity needed to be reinforced.
Personas
From our research, we developed two primary personas that represented distinct learner motivations and challenges. One persona highlighted proactive students who wanted control and efficiency, while the other captured more passive learners who required reassurance and simplicity. These personas became reference points throughout the design process, ensuring our solutions addressed both proactive and passive learning styles.
Personas representing two learner types: John, a motivated student seeking tech literacy, and Michael, a younger resident searching for discipline and direction.
Personas representing two learner types: John, a motivated student seeking tech literacy, and Michael, a younger resident searching for discipline and direction.
Product Structure
The resulting product flows mapped each stage of the experience, showing how users onboard, search, preview, select, and complete courses. These diagrams highlighted the critical interactions across the platform and became a blueprint for designing intuitive navigation, motivational checkpoints, and accessible content formats. View the full product structure in Figma
Flow diagram illustrating how students search, preview, select, and complete courses in the LMS.
Phase 3: Sketching & Concept Development
Each team member produced early sketches exploring navigation, video lessons, student interests, and instructor profiles. We then used the “Art Museum” critique process to review and vote on concepts, allowing us to merge the strongest ideas into a cohesive direction. The sketches below are what I produced for the exercise.
 Welcome & Lesson Plan SelectionOnboarding screen that helps students choose subjects of interest and set their education level to personalize their learning path. |  About the Course PageCourse overview page featuring instructor bios, course details, and related classes to build trust and credibility. |  Lesson Video PageLesson page with a video player, chronological playlist, note-taking section, and bookmarking features for continued learning. |
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 Course DashboardMain dashboard showing progress tracking, course content, and expandable sections for subject assistance and additional resources. |
Building on our sketches, we developed a high-fidelity prototype that demonstrated the complete student journey, from sign-up and onboarding through course completion. Proxy users and subject matter experts tested the design, providing feedback on navigation, motivational structures, and content presentation.
Phase 4: Prototyping & Refinement
High-fidelity Prototype
Feedback Results
What Worked Well
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Simple, open layout was easy to navigate
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Gamification features helped sustain motivation
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Flexibility of choosing self-paced or scheduled paths was well-received
Areas for Improvement
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Course difficulty levels needed clearer indicators
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Testimonials should feel more authentic and relatable
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Flikshop Bucks concept required better explanation of earning and usage
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Students wanted more visibility into instructor experience and background
Additional Takeaways
Given the scope of the LMS, the team chose to focus on the student sign-up and course experience. Future opportunities include designing the admin experience and integrating Flikshop Bucks more directly with Flikshop’s broader services.
Testing revealed which features best supported motivation and clarity, and which areas needed refinement for incarcerated learners.