ConnectingU — A UX case study
The problem we set out to solve
How might we help university students dealing with the impacts of social isolation expand their social network in the academic environment?
Context
Our project was completed for the INF1602: Fundamentals of UX Design course, in collaboration with the University of Toronto Innovation Hub, a student-led initiative that researches strategies for improving campus experience. We selected the subdomain “Isolation and social distancing” from the “Fostering connectedness” domain from the Innovation Hub’s 5 Domains of Innovation as our problem space.
At a glance
My role(s):
- Conducted primary and secondary research & analysis
- Contributed to creating artefacts like persona, as-is, to-be scenarios, etc.
- Contributed to the low and mid-fi wireframes and prototype creation
- Conducted usability testing and analysis.
- Lead the ideation working studio where we brainstormed and narrowed down to selected ideas and their implementation
Total duration
6 weeks, 3 Sprints
Design thinking process
IBM activation journey
Skills developed
- UX Skills: Story telling, design thinking, Problem solving, UX Research, Prototyping
- Non UX Skills: Leadership, Project management, Critical and creative thinking, presentation skills
Team members
Adam Joaquin, Jahnavi Seth (Me), Lu Liu, Sarah Silverwood, Qiyao Li
TL;DR? ConnectingU in a Flash
Have some time? Take a look at our design process in detail 🧐
Sprint 1: Research and Analysis
Understanding users
Secondary research
Helped understand the problem space and explore related products which might tackle parts of the problem space. We explored apps like Meetup, Lichi, etc
Learnings
- These apps fail to address users’ hesitation to meet a complete stranger and the social anxiety that comes with it.
- Some users feel unsafe considering the fact that the people might be not legit.
Primary/user research
Conducted to understand user’s experiences, specific pain points and needs. Used two research methods which complemented each other to get the highest quality data.
Survey analysis and highlights
- 11/29 respondents of our survey were Undergrad 4th year and above students.
- 18 people are part of 1 or more group projects.
- Maximum respondents just communicate with less than 5 people regularly.
Interview analysis and highlights
We conducted interviews with 5 university students, highlighted some notable quotes, and created an affinity diagram using the data collected from the interview.
Based on our findings post research analysis, we created our persona to help us empathise more with our users and understand their obstacles, needs and desires to better cater our solution to them.
Meet Cassie the Commuter
Let’s take a look at a day in Cassie’s life. Cassie’s on-Campus Dilemma
Exploring Cassie’s needs
Cassie needs a way to…
Let’s take a look at a day in Cassie’s life with ConnectingU
Sprint 2: Ideation
Churning cool ideas
Crazy 8 ideation and Prioritization grid
Based on Cassie’s needs statements, we conducted ideation using the Crazy 8 ideation method. We generated over 20+ ideas which we clustered together based on the broad themes. Post-ideation, we conducted dot voting and voted on the ideas based on their impact and feasibility.
Selected ideas
Out of our idea lot, we narrowed down to focus on two main ideas for the purpose of this project to keep the scope manageable.
- 🚃 Travel buddy finder
- Commuters can match and travel with peers who have the same or overlapping commuting routes or schedules
- Make use of time to connect with and even create a deep relationship with peers
- Fill out travel timetables and routes to match or group peers together
- Chat with matches and explore the potential to travel together physically.
Enable location tracking to find each other in the appointed location.
2. 📍 Proximity meet-up
- Students on campus can explore and reach out to peers who are available for the similar/related activity around the same time
- Make use of time to connect with and even create a deep relationship with peers
- Chat with matches and explore the potential to meet up
- Enable location tracking to find each other in the appointed location.
Sprint 3: Design and Evaluation
Make, Test, Change, Repeat
Low fidelity prototype
We created rapid low fidelity prototypes to test our solution in its early stages and get user feedback in order to iterate.
Think aloud sessions were conducted with participants to gauge their understanding of the prototype.
We iterated based on the feedback from lean evaluation and accommodated them in the medium-fidelity prototype we created.
- Update status flow
- Feedback
- “It would be cool if our pin on the map changed once we update our status.”
- If I didn’t feel like talking to anyone, why would I use the app?
- Changes
- Similar to the upcoming storyboards, we have added contextual icons for the user pin as well as others nearby.
- Our in-person comfort bar was misunderstood so we edited the wording
2. Proximity connection
- Feedback
- “What does the profile look like?”
- “It would be cool to see more about the person on the map than just an icon.”
- “Can I learn more about them while I’m chatting?”
- Changes
- Show what the Profile card looks like
- Add supporting contextual icons to the map
- Button to explore profile during chat
3. Travel Buddies
- Feedback
- “Can I put a location as well in my reminder? I feel like that would then cover everything.”
- Changes
- We added the location feature for the fourth screen.
Evaluation round 2 on Mid-fi prototypes
We did a second round of testing with the mid-fi prototype we created, with three more representative users to check whether our design decisions were able to address the gaps in our initial design and achieve user goals.
4 out of the 5 participants gave positive feedback on our prototype, and stated they would recommend the app to others.
Next steps and learnings
What would we do next and how to do it better
1. Prototype revisions
Based on our feedback, there are a number of screens that we need to revise such as the home page, the ‘find a travel buddy’ page and the comfort slide bar.
2. Iterative Testing
We would conduct more usability testing especially the home page. Have two options between the current map version and the profile card scroll to determine what the home page should be.
3. Exploring new user groups/personas
Research new user groups to explore the potential expansion of the app.
4. Integration with existing UofT services
One of our ideas that we decided not to pursue for MVP was event planning for vacant classrooms. The app “Sync Search” helps UofT students find vacant rooms to study in. Integrate “Sync Search” so that U of T students can connect with peers and plan events that align with their interests.
Lessons learned
- You are not the user.
- Prioritize and act accordingly
- Sometimes problem space might pivot
- Different perspectives matter
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