Enhancing the user onboarding of teachers within an educational tool for practicing communication skills.

Abstract

To contribute to the limited research in user onboarding systems, this study investigated constructs for redesigning an onboarding system that guides first-time users in an online educational tool, called TrainTool. To investigate this, the onboarding as-is (version A, an interactive walk-through) has been compared with a revised onboarding system (version B, instructional videos within the tool). The main constructs of this study to measure the effectiveness of the onboarding manners were User Engagement and Cognitive Load. Based on the insights from the literature research, the revised onboarding should increase user engagement by increasing the feeling of autonomy, and by making use of multimedia, the cognitive load should be reduced. To compare the onboarding versions, a between-subjects study was conducted. This study used mixed methods. The time spent doing the onboarding, the clarity of the instructions, and the confidence after completing the onboarding were measured quantitatively. Besides, already existing quantitative scales were used: NASA-TLX to measure mental workload and UES-SF to measure user engagement. Qualitative data have been collected through semi-structured interviews. While no significant difference was found in the main constructs (User Engagement and Mental Workload) between the onboarding versions, the results indicate that based on the following aspects, the revised onboarding is advised: to let people feel more successful in completing the onboarding and to increase the perceived usability. In addition, the qualitative results suggest a higher preference for onboarding videos instead of an interactive walk-through with written instructions. Companies implementing onboarding systems as well as future research could take these results into account.