Agentic AI is a new area of Drupal development. Like all software developments, it can be made more useful and usable through UX research. Working with Drupal AI expert Jamie Abrahams, I conducted research with University staff to learn about the UX of AI Assistants so I could contribute to making them even better.

Following a successful pilot test, I conducted more UX research of Drupal AI Assistants with University staff. I learned what staff thought and expected from the Assistants and how they interacted with them. Working iteratively, I was able to feed back what I learned between testing rounds to drive continued user-centred improvements.

AI Assistants are an exciting new Drupal development, intended to support and empower content creators and site editors to achieve their tasks. Having designed a UX research approach to test Drupal AI Assistants with University staff, I conducted a pilot test to try out the set-up: planned scenario, tasks and identified UX success indicators.

In September 2024 Drupal unveiled AI Assistants as part of its new Drupal CMS product. Recognising the potential of this new feature to help and support University staff with web-related tasks, I collaborated with Jamie Abrahams, Drupal AI expert to learn how the Assistants worked and to design a UX research approach to test them. 

In summer 2024, Chris O’Neill, Green Digital Design Intern, completed a digital sustainability audit of the UX Service website. He looked at carbon emissions and page weight but also examined usage of the site, with analytics data and user research. We acted on his findings to make the site greener and more user-centred.

I was lucky to be invited to speak at DrupalCon, the annual European conference for Drupal. I delivered several sessions and attended others to learn more about advancements in Drupal.

Drupal is the open-source content management system used to power EdWeb and other important University digital systems. I’ve contributed UX knowledge to Drupal for several years and am involved in shaping Drupal CMS – Drupal’s new low-code product aimed at non-developers.

Since February 2024, we’ve trained more than 90 publishers in content design and have experimented with the ways we upskill University staff in content design techniques, to support them to produce good-quality, compliant online content that meets web visitors’ needs.

UX techniques tend to be more successful the earlier they are applied. Striving for a more proactive UX Service strategy, I have been considering the practicalities of incorporating user-centred approaches at the point of software purchase.

The first UCISA UX in Higher Education conference happened in September 2024. Reflecting on the day, there was much to take in and share, both as a UX practitioner and as lead of the team planning the conference.