Google Design Challenge
Duration: 1 week
Tools: Adobe XD, Adobe Photoshop, Miro
A challenge done for the Google 2021 Summer Internship Process. We were given 2 prompts, and the chosen one is briefed below:
Your school is gearing up to welcome a new incoming class and would like to help them adjust to campus life. Design an experience that allows new students to ask questions about the school life, and experienced students to share answers and advice. Consider the needs of a student who has questions and the experience for a student who would like to give advice.
Goals for the research
To identify issues faced by incoming students when researching their university
To learn about what upperclassmen wish they knew/had when they were 1st years
Problem Discovery + Initial Research
The initial research consisted of dividing incoming students and current students to understand their situations and concerns. Once those have been addressed, the next step was to draw connections and see what are the key points to solve this issue.
Interviews with incoming students
1. How did you find information about the university?
2. Was it easy to find information?
3. What did you wish universities talk more about?
4. Did you talk to any current students before joining? If so, what was the conversation like?
Interviews 3rd year students
1. Where did you find information when being an incoming student?
2. As a freshman how did u navigate around campus?
3. What was your biggest change coming to campus?
4. What have you learned from being online this past year?
5. Who did you talk to as a freshman?
6. Was it easy talking to current students? Were there any specific questions you wanted to know? Were they properly answered?
7. How would you help an incoming student/what advice would you give them?
The following diagram are questions that 8 incoming students for the fall semester had about the university. This is has been broken into 5 categories.
The following diagram are questions that 8 incoming students for the fall semester had about the university. This is has been broken into 5 categories.
A diagram demonstrating the results of 3/7 survey questions posed to current 3rd year students. A lot of students struggled during their first year and wished they could have gone back in time to enjoy every moment.
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"It was hard to make friends in the beginning and as the second semester started, I felt as if everyone already established their friends and it was too late - it's NEVER too late."
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"I lived in a single bedroom in freshman year and found it hard to make friends. However, the organization I joined - made me confident and I met my closest friends there."
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"My computer became my classroom and a vessel of my life. It is where I watched TV, talk to friends and family, AND did classes there. It was definitely difficult for a while."
This Mind Map was created from the concluding question - what advice they would give incoming students. This helped me create the solutions and break down the app's key features.
Secondary Research
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Facebook
Adding posts “about me” on class group pages
Finding potential roommates
Selling books
Advertising events
Lost and found platform
Subletting opportunities
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Youtube
Dorm tours
Academic help
Influencers
Food meal prep
College acceptance videos
Uploading for assignments in class
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Reddit
Anonymous questions
Anonymous answers
Homework help
Discussion-based platform
Advice/recommendation from upperclassmen
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Instagram
Q/A on stories
University live stream
Connecting with people
Group chats
Keeping up to date with university events
What have I learned from both primary and secondary research?
Students want transparency
Some are shy to reach out
Some are figuring out who they are where they belong
when given the opportunity, they can be unique and successful
Students want to learn more about the campus culture, in addition to the resource
Prototyping + Testing
From the research conducted, I was able to identify 4 different categories to simplify this issue of students locating resources around campus.
Home Page
New updates on the calendar so students do not miss out on any engaging events hosted by the organizations on campus. This would also include new posts made by upperclassmen from the blog section of this application.
Groups
This section contains groups of all students in the particular semester's class so they can solve problems together and help each other out when in need.
Q&A Board
When conducting research, I discovered that students have little questions that they are curious about but feel as if they are trivial to ask someone. This part of the section will allow you to post anonymous questions you have so you are more confident.
Blog
Incoming students face the issue of navigating around campus and what are interesting spots to study/spend time with friends. This is the place where upperclassmen upload photos and share tips and tricks on their preferences in a variety of categories ranging from studying areas, organizational tips, etc.
After user testing, I implement feedback such as change around the vocabulary choices I made. The icons were redesigned, however structure-wise everything worked well.
Reflection
As a visual communication student, this was my first UX project and I am glad that I participated in this challenge. The user testing helped me gain more understanding on the issues my sketches had. This project gave me an opportunity to build up conversational and interviewing skills.
Thank you for taking the time to look through my solution to the 2021 Google Design Challenge!