SMU in Four

Redesigning SMU in Four into student-centered website for student initiatives and success

 

OVERVIEW

Context

SMU-in-Four is a Quality Enhancement Plan that aims to increase first-year student retention and graduation rates within four years by improving the undergraduate learning environment while also reducing equity gaps. SMU-in-Four believes that by prioritizing our three pillars of academic advising, early alerts, and first-year and gateway courses, SMU-in-Four to achieve these goals.

Problem

The existing SMU in Four website was designed primarily to serve as a resource and tool for SMU undergraduate students, aiming to enhance their academic success and facilitate progress toward graduation. Despite this intention, the site is experiencing low visitation rates and minimal utilization among undergraduate students.

Goal

How can we effectively encourage undergraduate students to readily utilize the tools and resources across the three pillars offered on the SMU in Four website, facilitating their success and smooth progression toward graduation?

Project Type

Company Project

Scope

Design Research, Product, UI/UX Design

Team

Sole Product Designer

Duration

12 weeks (Spring 2023)

 
 
 

RESEARCH

Field Survey

To delve deeper into the utilization and effectiveness of tools and resources offered by different SMU departments, I conducted field survey among 100 undergraduate students ranging from different years to gather insights into their engagement levels and experiences with these provided tools and resources at SMU.

Heuristic Review

I systematically analyzed student academic success initiatives at peer institutions within the Texas region through a heuristic inspection conducted at SMU especially focusing on feature-based analysis.

  • SMU in Four to close the gaps found in different SSI websites across the peer universities in Texas

  • SMU in Four to be the all-in-one tools and resources for students to reach their success at SMU

  • Based on the feature-based inspection, the current SMU in Four website lacks the goal behind the initiatives. Also, the website lacks different resources and tools that are available for different years of undergraduate

Interview

I conducted interviews with 15 undergraduate students through field surveys, delving into their perspectives on the current SMU in Four website. This was achieved by shadowing their interactions with the websites and probing them about their experiences, including their pain points, frustrations, successes, and suggestions for improvements.

below is the current website:

 
 

ANALYSIS

Affinity Mapping

After meticulously compiling the data I've gathered, I synthesized our findings into key insights. These insights serve as invaluable guidance in crafting a user story aimed at creating a blueprint tailored to effectively address the user's requirements and goals.

  1. Comprehensive Support for Student Success: The website needs to offer robust support for students to achieve academic success and career goals by providing guidelines, resources, and tools. This includes assistance with GPA improvement, career planning, and access to academic advisors.

  2. Accessible Resources and Guidance: Students require easy access to resources and guidance without navigating through complex systems. This includes clear navigation buttons, advisor availability schedules, and direct links to relevant tools and support services.

  3. Communication and Engagement: The platform should foster communication and engagement by offering features such as FAQs, news and announcements, and directories of staff and professors. These elements facilitate interaction and keep students informed about important updates and opportunities.

User Story

 
 

IDEATION

Feature Ideation

After several discussions with the product manager and developers, I created a concept to organize the calendar page into days, weeks, and months, offering distinct navigation options for each provider's appointment schedule at the clinic.

We explored the possibility of integrating an advanced filtering system, allowing clinics to select multiple providers for seamless appointment booking and providers’ list view for clinical check-in. In addition, we wanted to add features to add, view, and edit appointments within the calendar view.

 

High to Low Priority

After a thorough discussion of the potential features for the AR calendar, taking into account our key insights, our team utilized a prioritization matrix chart to establish a hierarchy from high to low-priority features to build the sitemap.

 
 

DESIGN

Wireframes

I created the wireframes for each in the sitemap and presented them to receive feedback from both CGO, the product manager, and our developers. Upon receiving feedback, I reiterated to improve the teamwork.

Mid-Fidelity

During the mid-fidelity prototype process, I got to interact with the AR training engineers and clinic staff to test the product. This was a process where features were added, deleted, re-arranged, and re-created. We also set our UI system according to the AR marketing system.

 
 

IMPROVEMENT

User Testing

I tested detailed tasks based on users to ensure the usability of our workflows. The goals of usability testing were to understand the flow of the overall app, uncover problems, and navigate to complete tasks.

Testing Result

  • 95% successfully completed the task of switching the calendar view, comparing schedules, and editing appointments.

  • However, 60% of participants failed to locate the providers’ list view.

  • 50% of participants commented that they found the filtering process to be too complicated due to the number of screens to click and exit to filter providers.

Improvements

From user testing sessions, I reviewed the filter system and icons and made the following adjustments:

  • Simplify the steps of the filter system by eliminating the need for multiple screens and an exit button to apply filters

  • Introduce new, intuitive icons that make it effortless for users to find the providers' list view and apply filters

Simplified Filter System

Comprehensive Icons

 

SOLUTION

Undergraduate Resources

Includes a network of campus resources, programs, and services designed to help undergraduate students succeed at SMU

Three Pillars

SMU in Four implements three essential pillars that will direct changes to help students stay on track throughout their early years

Frequently Asked Questions

Compiled a list of frequently asked questions about SMU in Four and organized them for student’s convenience