Integrate
Connecting new students on campus.
Strategies
Time
Tools
Type
User Research, Visual Design, UIUX
Two weeks (2020)
Sketch, Illustrator, Photoshop
Design Challenge
Connecting new students on campus.
The Prompt
To strengthen the school community your school wants to create an experience that allows older students to connect with new students to help them adjust. Consider the sign up process and how mentors and mentees can connect with each other through on-campus experiences.
Pinpointing the Problem
In order to find out potential issues a student might run into while using this app, I sent out a survey to college students to pinpoint areas to focus on to find a solution.
Research
I sent out a survey to college students and there were 43 responses, here are some questions that I asked and the answers that I received:
Research Summary
When reading through the answers as to what created the jump from agreeing to meet up once to not agreeing to meet up multiple times, I found that the responses could be categorized into 4 main groups. Common reasons users were hesitant to continue meeting up included:
- Safety Concerns
- Might not have common interests “awkward meeting”
- Hassle to make plans, misaligned schedules
- Don’t feel inclined to
Solution
I mapped out possible features to solve the common issues outlined by the survey responses. My main goals were to:
- Reduce selection bias while maintaining compatibility and choice
- Ensure user proactivity from both ends
- Ensure user safety
Design
I created a user-flow to better understand where each button lead to starting from the on-boarding screens to the pairing system to each individual’s profile.
Screens
I made several sketches laying out the screens and then designed low-fidelity screens to map out the buttons. The two main sections were the sign up process (profile making and matching process) and home screens.
Personal Info
The initial screens gather personal information and the issue of safety is addressed through requiring your student ID and logging in through the school’s portal. Personal information is also gathered to ensure the individual’s identity as an active student.
Set-up
The set-up screens address the issue of compatibility, allowing the user to represent their personality and match schedules. It maintains an unbiased selection process as the profile picture and name is hidden while matching and solely focuses on the user’s common interests.
Matching
Users are provided with five compatible mentors based on common interests and similar availability. Users are allowed to select one to maintain personal choice and connect with their mentor. The mentor can choose to accept or decline the mentee’s request.
Home Screen
Home screens are focused on solving the issue of maintaining proactivity between each pairing. Integrate makes it efficient for users to see events that are happening on campus as well as the date and locations.
Rewards
A reward system is included to offer an incentive to meet up to ensure proactivity from both the mentor and mentee. Both users must check off the activity to receive the points. The users must complete the achievement before a certain date or else the reward expires. Once the team receives points for finishing an event, an achievement can be unlocked and exchanged for a prize.
