User-Centered Design of e-Learning User Interfaces: A Survey of the Practices

Designing an effective user interface (UI) of e-Learning system that has excellent usability is a crucial activity in e-Learning development. Nowadays, user-centered design (UCD) is a popular method used for developing the user interfaces of e-Learning systems and modules. This systematic literature review offers a helicopter view of the state-of-the-art applications of UCD for designing the UI of e-Learning systems. This study reviewed 17 works of literature from 2015 until early 2020 to identify how research in the development of e-Learning system applied UCD and its impacts on the usability of the developed systems. This study found that many e-Learning system development projects applied UCD differently in terms of methods and user involvement. The most popular methods integrated with the UCD are questionnaires, interviews, high-fidelity prototyping, and usability testing. The study also found that some of the projects that used UCD with involving the users in multiple phases produced a design with good usability. Furthermore, this study suggests that both learners and subject matter experts should be involved in the design process of e-Learning system to acquire both excellent UI and effective learning process.