Design Check-in

Design 1

Tasks:

1. Share basic information with other users
2. College forum
3. Find others who have similar interests
4. Speak candidly without fear of repercussion from colleges / Final Verification

Main idea: This design focuses on the perspective of users who are current college students. This is a mobile app that allows users to create/edit personal information, participate in a forum about colleges, find other users with similar interests, and accept requests from other users. For each task, the user can gain an overview with ease.

Task Completion:

Share basic information with other users

• Click on the “Me” button/tab on the bottom to go to the basic information page
• Contains basic information such as name, school, and interests that the user can edit
• User can choose to upload a profile picture

College forum

• Click on the “Forum” button/tab on the bottom to go to the college forum page
• Page consists of a search bar, a “post” action, and forum displays
• Can swipe up for more posts
• Can click on the post stub to see more information or respond

Find others who have similar interests

• Click on the “Matches” button/tab on the bottom to go to the similar interests page
• Displays simplified profiles of prospective students who the user might be interested in
• Each profile displays profile picture, name, and the reason why the profile appears here - common interests.
• Can click on the profile for more information or actions

Speak candidly without fear of repercussion from colleges / Final verification

• Click on the “Requests” button/tab on the bottom to go to the requests page
• Contains requests from prospective students
• Each request appears in the form of a brief profile, along with a reason for the request or a short question
• The user can choose to accept the request for private conversation, reply with answer to a short question or ask for more information, or deny the request.

Design 2: Connection-Centered Design

Tasks:

1. Find other users with similar interests to you
2. Speak candidly without fear of repercussion from colleges
3. Sharing basic information with other users
4. Final verification

Main Idea: This design centers the interpersonal aspect of the College Connect platform. The opening page contains a list of potential connections (for applicant users, a list of college students from their selected schools; for college users, a list of applicants interested in their school). From this page, the user can navigate to the personal profile of each connection, and start conversations via text or video chat. Users have full control of the information listed on their personal profile.

Task Completion:

Find other users with similar interests to you

• The list of potential connections on the opening page highlights overlapping interests.
• Users can navigate to the personal profiles of their potential connections.
• Users see the other interests they have listed and read a short bio that the user wrote about themself.
• This will provide a comfortable and anonymous means by which users can look for other users with similar interests, and chose to connect with them if they are interested.

Speak candidly without fear of repercussion from colleges

• The text and video chat features of the platform will enable comfortable and candid conversation about user questions.
• Because the platform itself is independent of colleges and all connections are formed between users directly, users will be able to have discussions without concern for what college administratiors or admissions officers might think.
• Modeled after common interpersonal communication apps, this design will cultivate a relaxed environment for discussion.

Sharing basic information with other users

• The personal profile feature will allow users to share information, as they choose, with potential connections.
• The basic information sections (school, hometown, activities) will provide necessary information for finding potential connections.
• The open-ended bio section will allow users to provide whatever other information they believe would be useful or interesting.
• Users can share additional information as they feel comfortable using the chat features.

Final verification

• By developing connections on the platform throughout the college search and decision process, applicant users will be able to discuss their final concerns with current students.
• These students can act as a resource throughout the process, and provide genuine, experience-based feedback on their time at the college and any questions that an applicant may have.

Design 3: Search-Centered Design

Tasks:

1. College Forums
2. Rank Schools
3. Find others who have similar interests
4. Final Verification

Main idea: This design focuses on the perspective of high school users and heavily relies on search-based task completion. This website allows users to: search for and read college forums, search and rank colleges, find current college students with similar interests, and send requests to college students. Each task is simple to complete, and switching between tasks is intuitive.

Task Completion:

College Forum

• Click on the dropdown nav bar at the top right of the screen
• Select the ‘Forums’ option
• User simply enters the name of a college to find forums to read

Rank Schools

• Click on the dropdown nav bar at the top right of the screen
• Select the “My Rankings” option
• Search for a college and enter ranking
• User can see their current rankings
• They can choose how many/which of their top ranked colleges to see

Find others who have similar interests

• Click on the dropdown nav bar at the top right of the screen
• Select the “Find Students” option
• User enters name of college of interest
• User selects their interests from a list of interests with the option to add/remove interests
• After all interests are filled, they can finally search for students

Final verification

• Click on the dropdown nav bar at the top right of the screen
• Select the “Find Students” option
• User enters name of college of interest
• A list of student profiles who are willing to connect with high school students appears
• The user is then allowed to send the college a student a message and request to connect