Exploratory User Research for a Small Start-Up
Exploratory User Research for a Small Start-Up from Heather S. Roth
Exploratory User Research for a Small Start-Up

For my master's thesis in applied anthropology I conducted an exploratory user study to generate a foundational understanding of educators of American Indian students in higher education. The research was designed to assist Fire & Associates, a small start-up that provides resources to educators of American Indian students. Findings focused on understanding these educators as the primary user group for the Fire & Associates website. Deliverables included content and design recommendations for the website as well as suggestions for further research such as heuristic analyses and usability testing. Although I have included some samples here, please follow the link to a WordPress site I created about the research and major insights.

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This diagram represents a Community of Practice, or CoP. The concept was first made popular by Etienne Wenger and Jean Lave. I used it in my thesis to illustrate how educators of American Indian students in higher education should be imagined as a CoP. The dashed blue borders represent the fluid nature of a CoP. As one enters the periphery and takes part in more shared sociocultural practices, then one can move closer toward the core. The solid black spiral indicates a potential trajectory an educator could take as she navigates the CoP during her teaching career. The black triangles represent possible points where an educator could exist in the CoP at any given time.
This executive summary is taken out of the Client Report I presented to Fire & Associates at the end of data collection and analysis. It contains a brief project overview and major findings from the research.
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I created the following wireframe to represent the welcome page of one participant's class on Moodle. This wireframe was presented in both the Client Report and the thesis as a tool to assess best practices in creating courses within popular learning management systems (LMSs).
I have created a WordPress site that provides information about my master's thesis. There you can learn about the study, major insights, and relevant resources. Visit the website here: https://exploringeducatorneeds.wordpress.com/
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Exploratory User Research for a Small Start-Up

For my master's thesis in applied anthropology I conducted an exploratory user study to generate a foundational understanding of educators of American Indian students in higher education. The research was designed to assist Fire & Associates, a small start-up that provides resources to educators of American Indian students. Findings focused on understanding these educators as the primary user group for the Fire & Associates website. Deliverables included content and design recommendations for the website as well as suggestions for further research such as heuristic analyses and usability testing. Although I have included some samples here, please follow the link to a WordPress site I created about the research and major insights.

View Website
Heather S. Roth
Design Anthropologist | UX Researcher Irving, TX