My OCADU App
How might we improve the myOCADU App to better suit student use?
Our project goal was to improve student experience with the myOCADU app. We chose OCADU’s digital space as both OCADU's website and app were difficult to navigate. With our daily usage of phones a well-considered app experience was a key touch point between students and their education. We focused on considering features for the app that students would find more useful on the go, to better plan their time at school to overall decrease stress and potential barriers in using facilities and services available.
Brief
MyOCADU App is a redesigned mobile application for OCADU students that encourages interactions and engagement of students with services, education, and community at campus, providing students a better mobile experience of university life.
My role was mainly a data synthesizer and a prototype designer in the team. I was fortunate that I worked the entire process with my team because I learned research strategies, got to interview users, and enjoyed prototyping the mobile app according to our insights.
Project Title: My OCADU Mobile App
Group Members: Vicky Park, Parya Bafti, Jiin Park, Haocheng Zhao
Target audience: OCADU students
Content
Research
* Desk research
* Interviews
* Environmental scanning
* Literature reviews
Data synthesis
* Persona
*Journey Map
* Thematic Coding (Clustering)
Insights and market research
Ideas based on data analysis
Design
* Storyboard
* Prototype
* User Testing
* Improvements
Mind Map
As a group we explored connections between places, services, people and pain points at OCADU.
Pain points were found in student services, and along with our preliminary research about people's phone usage today, we found opportunities to improve them through myOCADU mobile application that currently exists.
We had to have a closer look into why myOCADU app is not successful between users.
Preliminary Research
When we researched about people's familiarity and amount of time spent on digital devices, smartphones,
Millennials were very advanced in smartphone usage. Also, mobile apps were preferable than using web browsers.
My OCADU Main Users
We interviewed formal users & new users, along with shadow exercises to find out the lacking points of the app and expectations. Some of the key points were:
- Graphic interface: Users found the black and white UI less appealing, difficult to navigate options. Oldish.
- Schedule page: Users found the daily class schedule page was useful, but wished to see weekly schedule in a glance, or be able to design their own schedule.
- No communicative system: Students, faculty and alumni interact and communicate through social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram).
- Payment: Users are able to see fines and tuition, but no payment option for them such as student usage of tool loans or library.
- Information for available student services at school, linking mobile services with them such as tool/av loans, shop hours.
Students were missing the opportunity to reach personal goals due to app services that is ignorant to student needs. Students are not provided with easily reachable school services.
Other Apps
Through environmental scanning and literature reviews, we looked into other mobile applications used at other universities, and articles to understand the data behind the designs. We looked at the ratings, reviews to determine the satisfied/unsatisfied points of users.
- Personalized pushed notifications according to persona's needs and interests
- Innovative communication: Chatting, video calling features
- Saved user data: easy login
- User- friendly interface
- Lecture Recording
- Exam Prep, provided materials, quizzes, notes
- Student planners, timetables, calendars
- Student safety: direct calls to campus, security, 911 and more
Data Synthesis
After our researches and interviews with new and former OCADU students, we were able to build our persona, Austin. The '5 bucket clustering method' helped us gauge the students' beliefs, motivations, behaviours, values, and pain points. Also, through the Journey map, we understood the daily routine of their campus life, mobile phone usage. We were able to capture the emotional differences about each usages and flows, and recognize possible moments for useful opportunities for MyOCADU app.
Insights and Ideas
After the research process, we were able to pinpoint exactly where in the user journey and in the app needed improvement.
We managed which features to take out and add, and came up with the most necessary features:
- Easy login for busy OCADU students
- Announcements are not notified to students.
- No way of interaction with other students and professors unless other social platforms.
- No information about student services such as shop hours, tool loans, etc.
- Not compatible with student services. Not easy access, such as loaning tools, prints, etc.
We also went through some market researches.
Mock-up/ Prototyping
My mock-up partner and I started developing our mock-ups, accordingly to our written storyboard.
User Testing
I tested our mock-up using again shadowing exercise with real users for testing a full walk-through of the app. They had to complete the tasks that I provided them.
Task:
- Reserve a camera from AV tool loans. Loan DSLR Canon Rebel TXI from 5:30pm to 8:30pm, and pick up at AV Help Desk.
- Load fund on payable materials account to buy wood material. First look at the prices of different types of wood materials. Load fund and complete transaction.
- To buy the material, add your student ID to your wallet for convenience. Then ‘Click’.
- While working, you got a notification from your classmate in “Identity Materialized” class. Reply her.
- Check out your notification about your announcement from your professor.
- Check out the alert notification about return time.
Critiques on Achievements & Further Improvements
I asked the users what they think about our design decision we made for solving our problems. They were very pleased that we have achieved these problems and they will use the app most frequently at school:
- The lack of information provided student services at OCAD and services that considers the convenience of using OCAD student services. Able to see prices of materials ahead of purchasing instead of having to go the shop to see what materials are available and what the prices are.
- The lack of communication and connection between classmates. Most of the chats are done through Facebook/Instagram, but sometimes they get distracted while having discussions with groups on these chat apps, and some people don't have chat apps for a group project.
- The lack of service on mobile app to make students more engaged with education. Building the connection.
There were some hesitations and places where users were lost while completing the tasks.
- Users were supposed to look at the prices before loading funds, but prices aren't provided.
- Student Life category is important. To be moved up and coloured to be able to seen easily.
Student Life category is moved up, and prices are added to wood shop materials for an easier fund loading.
