Redesign of the CA program
Client
Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand (CAANZ)
Role
Senior UX/Visual Designer
The challenge
To redesign the CA program to deliver greater relevance and choice while maintaining the high standards and rigour of education.
The process
Program design specification
Recommendations from a 2017 strategic review of the program formed the basis of the new program requirements. The first task I was involved with was helping to develop these into a program design specification.
My role included carrying out research, participating in workshops, visualising findings and decisions, and creating communication material for stakeholders.
Visuals I created as part of the program design specification
A video I designed and animated as a communication piece for the board and other stakeholders.
Consultation
This material was used during the consultation phase with industry stakeholders and users, and feedback from this fed into further iterations of the program specifications.
Scope of work
The program was to be fully redesigned. This includes 80+ hours of learning content for each of the 9 subjects. In addition the systems were getting fully redesigned. This included new systems for the learning management system (LMS), SIS enrollment system, support, online exams and practical experience portal. A mammoth task. My focus was the UI and UX of the learning related content, supporting other areas as needed.
Wireframes
Early wireframes were useful to visualise the structure of the program. It helped with gathering feedback and requirements, and provided a starting point for iterative development.
A selection of wireframes that I created in Figma.
Prototypes
Once the LMS was evaluated and procured, prototyping on the system could begin. This allowed the testing of ideas while learning the capabilities and limitations of the system.
Some early prototypes I created for testing purposes and also used as part of the accreditation process.
Iteration
Designs would be communicated to various teams or tested on with users. A lots of iterations and problem solving with the team to reach the final design.
UI design
Creating a consistent UI experience across different systems is always a challenge. In this project there are multiple systems, each with limited flexibility. A solution to help with this was to inject a global navigation bar to unify the systems
Global navigation to unify the different systems.
Design system
A styleguide and design system was created for the new program. This was something I developed in consultation with the CA marketing team.
It was important to create a unique and modern style that was also versatile. It needed to work across multiple systems and able to be understood by a wide range of vendors that were creating content for the program.
In addition to the styleguide, I created implementation guidelines and code snippets for key components.
Samples from the design system
The visual style I created for the program - using simple shapes to communicate abstract concepts.
Template design
With so much content to develop, it was important to create versatile templates for the learning content. My role was to liase with learning designers to design templates for each content type. Once they were tested and confirmed I oversaw the build and implementation of these templates.
While they needed to be easy to implement, usability and aligning with the learning objectives was also a large focus.
I liased with learning designers to design templates for each content type. Once they were tested and confirmed I oversaw the build and implementation of these templates.
Examples of html templates for overview pages and practice questions.
The outcome
The new CA Program launched on schedule and was ready for the first cohorts on Term 3 (June) 2021. I am proud to be have been part of a redesign that met its key goals of delivering more relevance and choice for candidates.
More information about the program
