Canvas LMS | Anatomy
Audience
Second-Year Medical Students
Responsibilities
Needs Analysis, Instructional Design, eLearning Development, Visual Design
Tools Used
Canvas LMS
Canva
Basic HTML
Project Overview
A course director at a medical university requested my assistance in redesigning the Canvas LMS course page for an anatomy module that runs parallel to another second-year medical student module. Over time, continuous updates had led to a cluttered and inconsistent structure, making navigation difficult for students and maintenance challenging for faculty. Since this module was housed under a larger, recently updated umbrella module, maintaining visual and functional consistency was essential.
Development
The primary goal was to enhance navigation and organization while ensuring long-term manageability for the course director. Through discussions about content hierarchy and user needs, I implemented a structured design using banners, buttons, and a refined layout. These improvements streamlined content delivery, provided clear visual cues, and aligned with the broader course structure.
Organization
Before
The original course page relied on a mix of headers and paragraphs to introduce linked materials. While previous updates had added tabs for categorization, years of revisions had caused some tabs to break, leading to disorganized content and ineffective navigation. The lack of clear structure made it difficult for students to locate key materials and for faculty to manage updates.
After
To create a more structured and intuitive layout, I categorized and labeled course information using a combination of banners, buttons, and reorganized sections. After assessing the hierarchy of course materials, I introduced a clearer framework that aligned with the design of the umbrella module, ensuring consistency across the curriculum.
Navigation
Navigation depended heavily on tabs created using HTML coding, many of which were no longer functional due to previous edits. With everything presented as hyperlinked text, there were no clear visual indicators to differentiate sections or highlight key resources, making it challenging for students to find essential course materials quickly.
Tabs
I reduced the number of tabs and implemented Canva-designed banners with icons at the top of each section. These banners provided visual confirmation of the section’s purpose, aiding both students in navigation and faculty in page maintenance. This refinement made it easier to locate specific content without relying on broken or outdated tab functions.
Buttons
To highlight frequently referenced documents, I designed custom buttons using Canva with relevant stock photos as background images, serving as intuitive visual markers. These buttons were placed prominently at the top of the homepage for easy access.
Weekly Content
I created clean, simple buttons for weekly course content that remained accessible at both the top and bottom of the page, ensuring students could navigate efficiently from any section. By mirroring the navigation style of other modules, the redesigned course provided a familiar and cohesive experience for learners.
Review
The iterative review process with the course director was efficient, requiring only a couple of refinements. The initial draft helped clarify key needs, allowing for a focused revision phase. After adjustments, the director was highly satisfied with the simplified navigation and the long-term ease of maintenance. Before publishing the final version, I provided guidance on how to update links within the redesigned layout, ensuring the course could be maintained without compromising the improved structure.
This project successfully transformed the anatomy module page into a user-friendly, well-organized learning environment. By improving accessibility, visual clarity, and long-term usability, the redesign created a seamless experience for medical students while empowering faculty with a sustainable, easy-to-maintain course structure.