The Feedback Lab
Instructional Design
User Research
UX/UI Design
ADDIE Model
Corporate learning application designed to help new managers build skills in giving actionable, effective feedback.
The Feedback Lab offers self-paced training modules, interactive role-play scenarios, and real-time practice opportunities to foster a culture of continuous, reflective feedback within an organization. The learning platform is delivered as a mobile app to encourage a culture of frequent feedback, offering a flexible, informal alternative to traditional corporate training.
Process
I used the ADDIE model to inform the steps of my process while pulling from various theories and frameworks to inform the design, including Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning, Cognitivism, Constructivism, and Situated learning.
Overview
Modules
Learners are introduced to foundational content on giving actionable feedback in the workplace through short modules.
Practice Lab
Users practice giving feedback through role-play scenarios with a chatbot trained on the module content and organizational data.
Two levels: (1) targeted but less detailed scenarios; and (2) open-ended and more detailed scenarios.
Both levels provide the user with immediate feedback following the scenario completion.
Feedback Hub
Central location to give and receive feedback to employees across the organization.
Reflect
Users complete reflection prompts based on their feedback activity.
Reflections serve as a way for users to self-assess their learning over time.
Learning Objectives
Learners will be able to provide specific, timely, and actionable written feedback to their colleagues on performance from interactions and written or visual content.
Learners will be able to reflect on and identify instances where feedback affects their own performance and the performance of others.
Learners will be able to differentiate feedback to meet individual employee needs and goals.
User Research-Based Design
Findings from Focus Groups
I conducted a focus group with new and experienced managers working in a corporate setting to inform the format and features of the learning experience.
Participants shared the need for two-way, conversational feedback and a culture of informal, ongoing dialogue. This directly informed the design of features where users engage in back-and-forth feedback exchanges (Practice Lab and Feedback Hub).
Managers highlighted the importance of shared expectations when giving and receiving feedback. This led to the integration of job descriptions, organizational values, and task time estimates within the app so managers can align feedback with clearly defined roles and performance standards.
“I despise watching informational videos or reading long manuals. The most I learn is when someone comes to me with a specific problem and I learn by doing.”
Focus Group Participant
Refinements After Usability Testing
Findings from Usability Testing
After building mockups of the app in Figma, I had users complete various tasks to test usability and content understanding.
Usability testing revealed there were text heavy and unclear sections due to the format as well as some challenges with navigation. In response to this data I made the following adjustments:
Reduced text or broke it up into smaller paragraphs where possible. For example, in the above phone mockup on the left, the two speech bubbles help to differentiate example quotes versus text describing the characteristic.
Chunked the structure of the modules to reduce cognitive load and increase engagement. I aimed to quickly deliver this content to the user in order to move into application-based practice.
Relocated search functionality to increase clarity in user navigation.
Final Design
The following images demonstrate several user flows across the app.
