This project elaborates on my journey of identifying and solving a problem on the Blackboard platform to enhance its usability. This was a course work project.

Introduction

Let me start by introducing myself to give you some context on why I worked on this case study.

I'm a graduate student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, specializing in Human-Computer Interaction. Here at UMBC, our classes can be synchronous, asynchronous, or a mix of both, also known as hybrid. To keep everything organized and connected, we use a Learning Management System called Blackboard.

So, What can a student do on Blackboard?

Now, let’s look at Blackboard from a student's perspective. As a student, here’s what you can do on Blackboard:

• Upload assignments

• Check course materials

• Check grades

• View class schedules

To give you a better idea, I’ve attached a screenshot of the tool's landing page where all the major functionalities are listed.

Why this Project?

This project was part of our System Structure Analysis class with Dr. Sidas. He divided the class into teams of five, and I was in Team 1 along with four other classmates. Instead of giving us a specific problem to solve, Dr. Sidas asked each team to identify an issue on the Blackboard platform.

Everyone in our team came up with different problem statements. After discussing and evaluating each idea, we agreed to focus on streamlining the access to class registration in Blackboard. This was a problem we all felt needed attention and would greatly benefit students.

The Problem we Identified

Right now, students use myUMBC (a different website from blackboard) for class search and registration, but once enrolled, they switch to Blackboard for course details, assignments, and updates. This back-and-forth can be inefficient and confusing. Our team decided to tackle this issue:

<aside> 📌 How can we streamline the process so students can check course information and enroll in classes directly within Blackboard?

</aside>

Current flow