Overview

ROLE
Product Designer & UX Researcher

SKILLS
User Interviews, User Research, UI Design, Prototyping

TEAM
Tammy Ding, Khoi Nguyen, Sashwat Nayak

TIMELINE
October 2022 - January 2023

The University of California, San Diego, in partnership with the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), seeks to create a more accessible and efficient mobile application for students and faculty to utilize throughout their time at the university. The app centralizes various tools that allow users to access information about their schedules, events, maps, COVID-19 screenings, and more.

The problem

The UC San Diego Mobile Application acts as the central hub of all student information on a mobile device. For students, navigating this application can be daunting and feel overwhelming, especially for new students.

Low discoverability due to its primary organization method which requires “zombie scrolling” on one central page.
Inefficient notifications of log out limits awareness the number of features the user has access to, often making it difficult for users to find the information they are searching for.
Based on our user research, we found that the app could be more cohesive, display and sort information more efficiently, and utilize better signifiers for an overall enhanced user experience.

There is an opportunity to create a more efficient, cohesive application where students are able to access information about the different functionalities and systems that the university has to offer. Our team believes that the user interface should be intuitive to maximize functionality. By increasing the comprehensibility of the UCSD app and its features, we can help the user navigate with more ease, efficiency, and less confusion.

opportunities

We interviewed undergraduate and graduate students at UC San Diego via Google Forms and in person/task-based interviews, which allowed our team to identify pain points they experience while using the university’s application.

User Research

Survey Findings

52%

only used the application for COVID-19 related purposes (i.e. scanning and uploading school mandated COVID-19 tests).

89%

reported experiencing navigation issues while attempting to find resources during task-based interviews.

66%

struggled to identify app features without assistance from our team (post-interview)

Improve access to university related information across the student body?
Alleviate confusion surrounding the current application’s functionalities?
Make the UCSD Mobile Application more intuitive and efficient?

How might we:

We analyzed and compared successful and unsuccessful user interfaces of similar applications to better understand what makes an intuitive and efficient interface.

Competitive Analysis

iOS Settings: We observed the the iOS setting page when considering a page layout for out profiles page. Our team noted its components, navigation, user page, and buttons.

UCLA Student App: Here, we primarily analyzed the landing page and its components. We took note of its use of its customizability and integration of an apps page.

Stanford Student App: Our team analyzed the composition of the information and health cards, observed the interactive and lucrative profile page, as well as took note of its news and events section.

Design process

Low level prototype & ideation

MID Level Prototype/experimentation

High fidelity frames

Solutions & Functionalities

Settings, Maps, and Navigation Page: Plan your route and find your classes and other buildings on campus. Save and manage your favorite locations and page settings.

Customizable cards: Allow users to customize their home screen to their desired layout for easy access to the information most important to them.

Apps Page: Customize the hub of your most used, school-related, third-party apps for quick access (i.e. Canvas, Pronto, Triton2Go).

Profile Page: Manage and edit your profile, overall app settings, and access your student ID and information about your college, student status, and more.

Click to use!

final Prototype

Style guide

Looking back on how I approached and involved myself in this project, I would have done a few things differently:

Review & Reflection

During the research stage, I would diversify the interview pool to UC San Diego faculty, as they also utilize the application for specific purposes. Interviewing faculty and staff may have led to different design choices and/or functionalities.

If I had more time, I also would have liked going into more detail when it comes to adding more functionality in the interactive prototype.

In retrospect, the design of the homepage lacks descriptions on the cards and uses vague visuals that could lead to an unclear message about each cards’ purpose. Instead, I could experiment with the placement of the imaging and create descriptions for the four lower cards to alleviate confusion.

This project marks my first every UX/UI Design and Research project! I am super grateful for the opportunity to work with such an amazing team and lucky to have been selected by the ACM Board to work on such a meaningful project! As I move forward in my career, I look forward to refining my skill and finding new ways to create and problem solve!

UCSD mobile app redesign