Designing for risk with an iterative approach to creating a balanced college list on RaiseMe
How we designed a sensitive feature for the education industry with an iterative development approach.
One of our priorities last year was to look at how we can provide high school students with information and experiences that can best support and guide them in their discovery and application process of their best-fit colleges.
RaiseMe is focused on empowering all students to discover and realize their college ambitions. So through our explorations and tests, we wanted to learn how we can help a student decide which colleges they plan to apply to in order to set them up for success in the next steps of their educational journey.
As part of this process, we looked at how a student’s likelihood of acceptance may influence their actions without being the primary factor for determining fit. Just because a student has a likely chance of getting into a particular college does not mean it is the right fit.
To do this we needed to start by putting something out there; a foundation to build from.
Starting with what we understand
Current student behavior
A lot of students do not consider or understand the importance of having a balanced list; a mix of colleges they plan to apply to that include: colleges they are more likely to get into, are a good match for getting into, and that may be harder for them to get into. Yet based on a survey we conducted*, students are finding out their chances of acceptance and it is a factor they think about when looking at colleges.
The college perspective
There are many factors that can go into a student’s likelihood of being accepted and some cannot be measured by data. Colleges are concerned about how presenting students with this information will influence their decisions. Research indicates that over half of students are either; over-matched and in over their heads resulting in limited college options, or under-matched and could attend more rigorous institutions.
What is already out there
There are several products out there that show a student their likelihood based on a range of factors; for example, GPA and standardized test scores, classes, and activities taken in high school.
The opportunity we see in using a student's likelihood of acceptance to encourage them in creating a balanced list while also evaluating other considerations like financial fit, location, interests, and more.
Designing for versions
There are always some unknowns, including how a new feature will impact its users. With risk there also comes learnings that informs what is next. We already knew that students were very interested in seeing their likelihood of acceptance. Additionally, we’re able to indicate “likelihood” based on many factors beyond what others may be able to do because we have more complete student portfolios. But we felt we could not get an honest response to how this information would influence a list of colleges they plan to apply to without building something in the product.
The first launch
We gathered more information, understandings, and we considered a variety of approaches.
It became clear that with our initial launch we needed to see if adding information about a student's likelihood would significantly decrease the number of colleges they follow.
So we built something that seems quite simple — and as a result, college follows did not decrease or significantly change.
The second launch
Once we felt comfortable that students did not have concerns about seeing their likelihood of being accepted to the colleges they follow, we looked at the next step for a student after discovering and following colleges. We built a more focused college list experience, on both desktop and iOS.
We looked at several iterations and ideas for how and what insights to present. Explorations included building on the existing list versus different user experiences for a new page with more data.
Based on scope and available data the second launch focuses on managing and building a balanced list by indicating which colleges a students plans to apply too while also allowing for a bit more comparison between colleges, all on the same page. This encourages a process of creating a list which is based on a variety of factors that may make a college the right fit for a student.
Early Results
Before launch, we could see that students on RaiseMe follow more colleges they are more likely to get into. We hoped to see lists become more balanced; 2–4 Safety, 3–5 Target, and 1–3 Reach colleges.
In just a few weeks of launch, we already see an increase in the percentage of Target and Reach colleges in students’ list!
Designing is never finished
We are still gathering data on the impact of the most recent launch, but our plans for iterating do not stop here. Design explorations continue around how we can provide more support in helping students find and discover the best-fit colleges they plan to apply too.
