Moodlers Monday with Moodle HQ’s Barbara Ramiro

February 19, 2018

If you have been keeping up with our news recently, you will know that over the past few weeks we have been getting to know key members in our Moodle community. We call these weekly interviews ‘Moodlers Monday’.

As well as members of the Moodleverse, Moodlers Monday gives us the opportunity to show off some of our Moodle HQ superstars working behind the scenes. This week we’re doing just that! Get ready to meet our very own Barbara Ramiro is a Senior Web Designer in User Experience at Moodle HQ.

UX, or user experience, is the process of designing a product that is useful, easy to use, and enjoyable to interact with, as fellow Moodle HQ member, Alberto Corado, told us in a previous blog post.

Let’s jump right in to find out more about Barbara and how she works towards our mission of empowering educators to improve our world:

Moodle HQ: Can you please tell us a bit about yourself and your role in Moodle HQ?

Barbara: My name is Barbara and I’ve been working at Moodle HQ for six years. I work in the UX team as a UX designer. I majored in Instructional Systems Technology and worked in the development of computer-based training programs. Aside from my experience in e-learning, I taught college students for almost a decade.

Moodle HQ: Why did you choose to work with Moodle and is it what you expected it to be like?

Barbara: The choice was simple. Rather than teaching or working on the content of courses, I wanted to be involved at the core. Working on the Moodle software would allow me to get my hands on the means to deliver the content, rather than the content itself.

Moodle HQ: Can you share any highlights you have experienced whilst at Moodle HQ?

Barbara: Working on the Moodle Mobile App is always fun and interesting. I like the challenge of having to compromise between screen size and feature set. I also felt privileged to be part of the project setting up the Moodle Users Association website, which allows the community to vote for their favourite projects. And lately, the Course Overview redesign project has made me proud of what we achieved as a team.

Moodle HQ: You are part of the UX team, how have you seen user experience change within Moodle over the years and what do you think has prompted these changes?

Barbara: Changes to improve the experience of all users have been happening for as long as I can remember. The community and partners are an invaluable source of feedback which we use to determine what part of Moodle to improve next. More recently, we started implementing user testing methods to validate our ideas and prototypes.

Moodle HQ: What exciting new things can the Moodle community expect from you and the rest of the UX team?

Barbara: I’m excited for our users to discover the soon-to-be-released new user interface of the Moodle Mobile App. We worked on making it more engaging and aesthetically more appealing. The navigation throughout the content has also been completely rethought.

Moodle HQ: For people who are just starting out with Moodle what handy tips do you have for them to improve their UX experience with the platform?

Barbara: Always make sure that you are using the latest version because we constantly make changes to improve user experience. And please, share your feedback and your thoughts on the Moodle tracker and forums. Also, we are regularly looking for testers to help validate our prototypes, keep an eye for our announcements!

Thank you Barbara for taking the time to talk to us today.

If Barbara has inspired you to get involved with UX work within Moodle please visit the forum.

Or if you would like to read previous Moodlers Monday posts check out: