The User Experience (UX) Research Capstone project presents students with an opportunity to demonstrate their competence through an individual project. Students propose, plan, and conduct ethnographic research that delivers actionable insights to stakeholders in a professional, ethical, and timely manner.
Highlights From Recent Capstones
Rylie Stevens
For my capstone, I focused on a small local marketing company in Boise, ID, to research and explore new ways to positively impact the lives of employees within the company’s culture. Rather than aiming for broad generalizations, I sought to find depth and context within the company to identify patterns and pain points that directly inform workplace and design improvements. I led unstructured and semi-structured interviews, facilitated card sorts, dedicated time to research, and conducted field visits to the office to maximize my data in relation to the specific marketing company and the well-being of its employees. Through my research, I identified key themes related to the importance of color, office design, the culture and attitude a company holds towards mental health, and the influences these have on workplace resilience within the company. My participants emphasized the importance of noise pollution attributed to open floor plans and how that negatively impacts them. I discovered patterns that correlate to open floor plans negatively impact women more than men. This results in more work absences from women due to the stress of noise pollution and the inability to focus. The office itself has white walls, which are perceived as cold and negatively bright when the sun shines on the walls. The internal support within a company is vital for employees who typically seek emotional support and well-being from outside sources. Based on my research, I presented qualitative conclusions and practical, incremental improvements that could be made over time, aimed at improving the psychosocial well-being of the employees.
Sofia Sanchez-Chapman
Connect with Sofia Sanchez-Chapman
My capstone served to develop a firm understanding of the highlights, pain points, and opportunities for further development for the web services provided to students enrolled or interested in Boise State Online programs. My stakeholders were interested in assessing student and recent graduates’ perception of different program website pages and elements, with a concentration on what language and interaction points resonated with them. To address these concerns, I remotely equipped a mixed methods, ethnographic approach of integrating user tests within semi-structured user interviews via Zoom. This approach allowed me to observe typical user journeys throughout the target site pages while gaining a deeper understanding of students’ perspectives so that my subsequent insights cured more than surface level design hiccups, unveiling user needs and rectifying persistent issues. I presented my findings by utilizing research visualization techniques, qualitative data analysis, and client communication skills that I learned from the certificate program. My recommendations are currently being rolled out across online program websites, including the program from which I graduated. I hope that its impact may help prospective students find their academic path here, just as I had.
Yung Thuy-Dung Stiffler
Connect with Yung Thuy-Dung Stiffler
For my capstone, I researched employee leave programs at two state agencies. I identified features of leave programs that were valued by employees, and how the agencies differed in the options they offered. I created a grid comparing leave programs at these agencies with 14 additional organizations to get a broader perspective. Next, I completed in-depth interviews with 12 employees, both professional and classified, as well as the human resource directors at both agencies. To generalize, I surveyed 36 additional employees. Besides identifying key features of leave programs desired by employees, I found that greater flexibility leads to higher motivation and higher retention. Work-day mood maps show the motivation of staff with rigid schedules declines after the lunch hour, and half are looking for new employment opportunities. In contrast, the motivation of professionals with flexible schedules remains high, and 75% plan to stay in their current job. My project will impact policies at both local agencies. Special Update: Yung’s capstone project was selected as a “lightning talk” for the Boise State Spring 2020 Undergraduate Research Showcase, view it here.
More Capstone Projects
Check out more alumni projects in the User Experience Research Certificate Program.