ONIONTALK

OVERVIEW
a mobile app designed to help improve the course selection process for students at CMU

  • learn human-centered research methods to gain an understanding of the student body

  • develop research protocols, conducted research, redesigned with an intervention

DURATION
1 month

TEAM MEMBERS
Youie Cho, Charmaine Qiu, Mia Tang

ROLE
user research (in person interviews), research analysis, information architecture, visual UI development


IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM

overall, many students at Carnegie Mellon University experience dissatisfaction during the course selection process, specifically with the already existing platforms of CMU’s Student Information Online (SIO) and Stellic Audit

  • expectations of a course vs. reality

    • leads to dropping courses

    • learning experience is not worthwhile if course does not meet student’s needs

    • less trials, less errors in course selection would be better

  • lack of opportunities to share course experiences with other students

    • course syllabus informs, but often cannot characterize the experience of taking a certain course

    • faculty evaluation forms exist for professors, but students do not have a structured platform to share thoughts on professors, course curricula, etc.

    • some students find it uncomfortable to find and reach out to other students for questions about certain courses

  • academic issues

    • students fail to find courses that suit them in terms of difficulty, style of class, etc., which could lead to unsuccessful credit completions for their major or minor

 

this stakeholder map shows the different stakeholders and scenarios that occur during course selection. through this map, we were able to plan our research methods for our next steps.

 

USER RESEARCH

4 research methods were used to better understand the problem and identify leverage points

  1. online survey

  2. in person interview

  3. creative card game

  4. website mock-up experiment

RESEARCH METHODS & TAKEAWAYS

  1. online survey

    • many dropped courses due to unmanageable workload

    • many did not have an accurate expectation of the course from the course syllabus

  2. in-person interview

    • many drop courses but are afraid that they will be listed as “Withdrawal” on their transcripts

    • many do not want to use their “vouchers” because they do not want to waste them

      • students have a limited amount of vouchers they can use to drop their classes even after the course drop deadline

      • vouchers do not leave a record on students’ transcripts

  3. creative card game (how do students feel about their current courses?)

    • most care about their courses and completing them

    • many take challenging courses as long as they think it is worth it

  4. website mock-up experiment (what aspects of a course are students interested in?)

    • most want to hear from other students that have already taken the course they are planning to take

    • most tend to look at all of the information that is provided

 

an affinity map helped us identify issues, themes, and desires by grouping and connecting points that led to common leverage points. as students ourselves, we felt the need for empathy towards other students’ problems and needs.

 

RESEARCH CONCLUSION

  • keep essential information

  • provide awareness of workload

  • tackle emotional aspects — qualitative information, course reviews from other students

  • provide confidence and comfort — anonymity, secure CMU login, empathy

REDEFINING THE OBJECTIVE

to design an informative mobile app that allows students to learn about the contents of CMU courses and anonymously engage in an open discussion platform

view pdf version here


INTERVENTION : OnionTalk

 
  • securely login with CMU ID

  • search course interested

  • gain general information

  • browse more through “More info” or “Discussion Boards”

 
 
  • gain access to all external sources that the university provides

 
 
  • discuss with peers by reading opinions from other students and/or participating and creating own discussion boards

  • an easily accessible social media platform between students only with anonymity

  • professors are able to view, but not participate which encourages a more open and honest discussion

 
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