iOS Application Design
Reinventing U.S. College Application Experience for Chinese Students
Role
Lead UX/UI Designer
Client
Tools
ZLX Inc.
Adobe CC / Marvel
The Initial Problem
Complicated Application Process
A Chinese student aspiring to study in the U.S. faces several challenges (see below chart). Uneven-in-quality information that scatters everywhere makes this process more difficult.
Pricey Strategy Consulting Services
Each student spends on average $20,000 in application consulting (equivalent to 1/3 of average Chinese family income). The 520,000/year strong Chinese application pool creates a huge market served by uneven consulting quality.
We decided to make this experience better, and cheaper.
Insights from User Research
These are included in the below persona.
User Pain Points determined Core Functions
Application Strategy
Connect students with experienced consultants
School Repository
Provide a central location for quality school information
Below, I use the function "School Repository" to demonstrate me thought process.
Decided on What Information is Needed
Data from user interview helped me prioritize needed information into three levels. I then organized them into three screens.
Level 1 - First thing an applicant wants to know
School Ranking
Level 2 - Information for decision-making
School Location, Application Deadline, Popular Majors, Total Expenses
Level 3 - Information for the application process
Detail Information about Admission
Screen 1 to show school ranking
Screen 2 to show high-level school information, admission information, and expense information
Screen 3 to show detail admission information
Reframing The Problem
Sketches
Screen 1 focuses on showing ranking information.
For Screen 2, I focused on exploring a clean organization to display information in groups.
For Screen 3, I adapted the layout from Screen 1 and 2 to keep consistency. Meanwhile, I wanted to make sure users can locate to detail information easily.
Wireframes and App Flows
Wireframes to arrange the app structure.
App flow chart to describe the detailed user experience through the app.
Prototypes, User Testing, and Iterations
I conducted 4 rounds of guerrilla usability testings to verify my design. I then updated the design based on user feedback, which is listed below.
Insights from User Research
5 phone interviews with college applicants allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the actual challenges they are facing.
Challenge 1 - Heterogeneous resources for the same information
Surrounded by numerous school rankings, applicants often found themselves more confused and distracted. They are looking for a simple system that delivers the recapitulative information of the school.
Challenge 2 - Hard to find a suitable application strategy consultant
Surprisingly, the applicants didn't see the pricey service as a problem. Instead, they found it more difficult to find Since an effective application strategy is the key to a successful admission, they are willing to pay
The Refined Problem
The problem
Description
The Refined Problem
Ranking is the #1 key when comparing schools
Along with that, the applicants also want to know if the school offers the desired major, if the living cost is affordable, and if the environment meets his/her expectation.
Acceptance Rate is crucial
Surprisingly, the applicants may not apply for the school that has a higher ranking but a low acceptance rate. It is because of the level of effort they put into application preparation.
Deadlines are often overlooked
These are included in the below persona.
Application Strategy
Connect students with experienced consultants
School Repository
Provide a central location for quality school information
Below, I use the function "School Repository" to demonstrate me thought process.
Data from user interview helped me prioritize needed information into three levels. I then organized them into three screens.
Level 1 - First thing an applicant wants to know
School Ranking
Level 2 - Information for decision-making
School Location, Application Deadline, Popular Majors, Total Expenses
Level 3 - Information for the application process
Detail Information about Admission
Screen 1 to show school ranking
Screen 2 to show high-level school information, admission information, and expense information
Screen 3 to show detail admission information
Sketches
Screen 1 focuses on showing ranking information.
For Screen 2, I focused on exploring a clean organization to display information in groups.
For Screen 3, I adapted the layout from Screen 1 and 2 to keep consistency. Meanwhile, I wanted to make sure users can locate to detail information easily.
Wireframes and App Flows
Wireframes to arrange the app structure.
App flow chart to describe the detailed user experience through the app.
Prototypes, User Testing, and Iterations
I conducted 4 rounds of guerrilla usability testings to verify my design. I then updated the design based on user feedback, which is listed below.
The Product
Color Scheme + Font Families
AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZz
Open Sans
Functional Prototype
Core Function No.1 - Application Strategy
The app connects student
Core Function No.2 - School Repository
The app starts with a comprehensive list of schools (left view), followed with sections of critical application information (middle view). Depends on the levels of detail you need, you may drill down to the next level for more information (right view).
LESSON LEARNED
Persuasion
Since all of the team members are not familiar with user research, at the beginning of the development, I had to constantly remind them the importance of understanding users and the importance of design requirements, I even conducted user research alone. UX designers have a lot of opportunities to work with professional or clients from various areas, but that means there are chances that co-workers or clients are not familiar with UX, which leads to the situation that they don't want to invest time to conduct user research or usability testings. As a UX designer, we don't have to force them to admit the value of doing user research or conducting user testings. Instead, what we need to do is to persuade them to let us do our job.
But, how? Yes, it depends.