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Overview
ClassFindr is an edTech startup in the very early stages. Having a great idea is one thing but what ClassFindr's team really wanted to know is who was their target audience and how could they turn their idea into a viable product to pitch to investors.
The result turned out to be a high fidelity prototype that would help streamline the college credit transfer process.
Role
UX/UI Design
User Research
High Level Goals
Research, design and test a mobile first application that connected volunteers to community events in and around Baltimore city
Create a market ready MVP for an Edtech startup
Design a polished and functional tool for college students to ease the college credit transfer process
Research and understand a market in order to best serve users and stakeholders
Design Process
Discovery and Desk Research
Addressing user functions.
Designing and building a user focused product in a market that is somewhat untouched required a lot of research, and a clear plan of attack regarding how and why ClassFindr would function outside of typical constraints.
Landscape Analysis
My first step in the research phase was to understand the market. I conduced a UI landscape analysis.
I wanted to understand what other products were doing, and how they were doing it. Most of the products I looked at where directly afflicted with home schools, rather than a universal database on dashboard.
Remote User Interviews
I then needed to uncover and really dig deeper into college students feelings and experiences around transferring credits, paying attention to their frustrations and ways they have managed to complete graduate requirements. I interviews both current college students as well as post graduates.
How might we streamline the college credit transfer process and allow students to have more control on when and how they graduate?
Working High Level Solution
Create a user centered universal platform that allows students to apply for transfer credits on CassFindr's product.
MVP Feature List
While these interviews generated many insights, two stood out more than others and would support the building out of the MVP:
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Users wanted to be able to everything online in one action and to not be confused like so many students are, about where they need to be and what classes they need to take
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Users had huge pain points surrounding class sizes at their home schools, often delaying the credit timeline for graduation.
User Flows
User research suggested that the ability to search and request transfer credits quickly was a main focus, so this is where I focused my efforts.
I designed a user flow based on "searching and submitting a request"
Low Fidelity Wireframes
Between the wirefames and the final design, main changes were UI kit that was put into place, as well as a full pivot to a web design, rather than a mobile mock up, which was the first thought of the ClassFindr team.
UI Design and Branding
For the tone and voice of ClassFindr, I was shooting for something that was fun, interactive and playful, very far away from what college websites and portals can often look like. This was a product with a more than once target user, so I wanted it to have a little life to it.
Usability Testing
How effectively can students log in, search for classes and submit a transfer request?
I conducted six remote usability tests, asking participants to think out loud as they were going through the prototype.
Usability Testing Insights
After conducting my usability tests, I synthesized the findings. There were quite a few vital user responses that affected the final design for the better.
Designs
Final Designs
Impact
Working on a new product and MVP allowed me to think outside the box and design a product that was user centered. I'm deeply passionate about this topic, and in edTech in general and worked tirelessly to reach a solution that would make an impact.
Nexts steps would be to create an interactive portal that would serve the advisor side of ClassFindr. The next priority would be to create and test a way for advisors to be able to log into ClassFindr and approve or deny student transfer requests.
Designing an efficient product in a near empty market was challenging, so this project forced me to think outside of the box and really challenge myself as a designer. I learned more about how to design features for a user, and how to quickly develop an MVP based on user insights as well as pivot a design and change the course of product build.
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