MyEDU

Problem: Picking a school or program to pursue can be a daunting experience for many prospective students as they need to consider many aspects before they decide to pick a program. MyEDU was created in order to try to address the gaps that exist in the process so students could make informed decisions without being overwhelmed with information and could easily keep track of their applications for their studies in Canada.

‍Goal: Lessen the barriers to education and streamline the process of finding a program for tertiary education by taking into account the needs of the users.

Role: Lead UX designer, Researcher

Tools: Adobe XD, Photoshop, Zoom, Calendly, Google Sheets, Miro.

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Process?

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How did I Empathize with my users and define the problems?

I conducted an initial user research survey with 16 participants by using google forms to learn more about who the prospective students that are considering pursuing higher education are and what were their thoughts on the process of finding & applying for a program. Then I used those findings and created user stories and personas.

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It was discovered that (pain points)

• It was time-consuming to look for an ideal program as the text is lengthy, and it is hard to find key informations.
• users were not sure if the program was still open
• users were concerned about the cost and how they could fund their studies.
• It was hard to keep track of their applications (different platforms for each province or type of school)

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To further dive into this, i created the following:

• User Journey Maps
• competitor analysis

From the competitor analysis, it was discovered that the direct competitors such as Ontario “Universities’s Info”, “Colleges and Institutes Canada” doesn’t indicate whether the program is still accepting applications. The filter was often not working as intended, and it took time to even find the search option. Apart from that, there wasn’t a way to look for information on both college and university programs from across Canada in one platform as they each had their own sites based on its province.

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Turning challenges into opportunities

In order to come up with possible solutions, I did the “Crazy Eight” and “How Might We’ exercises to brainstorm ways I could approach and address these issues identified.

How might we allow users to search for programmes from different levels of study?

• Create a search function with an advanced filter where users could look for programs across the country regardless of the level of study or province. It could also be used to refine the search options further to find their ideal program.

How might we make key information quick to find?

• Deliver key information in an easy-to-understand format by using iconography and sidebars. It simplifies lengthy information and saves user's time.

‍How might we enable users to track their applications in one place?

• Create a dashboard where users could link their college and universities applications to be tracked and provide overviews of it. With the help of the dashboard, users can be reminded of deadlines and webinars.

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 To help me visualise my ideas I created:

• Site maps, user flows
• Scaffolds, wireframes

I used a sitemap and the user flow diagram to help me map out the architecture and the necessary pages needed for the platform. To plan the sections needed on a page, I first made paper scaffolds, and then I proceeded to create paper & digital wireframes with XD to visualise my concept.

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What did I do to bring my ideas to life?

With the help of Adobe XD, I moved on to create a low-fi Prototype. I connected all the screens to complete a user flow as well as other pages so users could navigate to learn more about the platform.

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Testing

How did I test my product?

In order to assess if MyEDU is effectively meeting the needs of my users, I conducted a remote moderated usability study over Zoom, where five users were tasked with prompts as they interacted with the prototype. The goal of the study was to find out if the main user flow, which is to find a program and track an application is easy for users to complete and whether my proposed solutions works.

What did I discover from my usability study?

After Analyzing and synthesizing the data with a google sheet, I created an Affinity map with notes on Miro to help me identify and group key observations in a more logical and digestible manner. Which allowed me to uncover themes and key insights that were ranked based on Priorities

 The Priorized insights

From Low-li

 Priority 0 

1. During the linking process, users were confused by how to get to the account dashboard, an insight is: include an additional button to the dashboard below the instruction.
   

2. Users do not know whether the program is in-person or online, an insight is: Add a section that states the mode of delivery of the program.
3. In the program’s page, there is no indication of how much time it takes for a user to read the page, an insight is: Add the reading duration needed to aid users for greater accessibility.

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Iterate,Mockup, Prototype and test again

I redesigned the platform with my insights, conduct another round of user testing with 5 users with a high Fi prototype.

Round 2 Hi fi insights

 Priority 0 

1. In the search process, there isn’t a to search by the desired qualifications, an insight is: Include “Level of study” as one of the filter options when searching for a program
   

2. Some sections of the page are lengthy with information that not all users would need to read every time, an insight is: Add a “Read more” button to expand the content if needed.

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Takeaways

What I learned

• It was my first time conducting a remote moderated usability study because I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try a different method. Through that, I was able to gain valuable insights as the participants had a chance to think out loud while they interacted and completed the tasks.
• I shouldn’t get attached to my design or layouts if it could potentially affect the users. Not every user would like to see a detailed page so it was important to give users the option to expand the page only if they wish to learn more.

What could be done next?

• A detailed tracking page for each application in the dashboard. Currently, the platform only provides a high-level overview of the applications, as most users wanted a simple overview. It could be further explored what key information a user would like in a detailed page to improve their user experience.

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