A one-app solution for all your study abroad needs

I designed a mobile solution that empowers students to accelerate their decision-making process on target colleges and to formulate the best application strategy.

My role & my team

I am the sole UX/UI Designer working with 1 PM, and 5 developers

Challenge

300k Chinese students, who have studied in the U.S in 2014, were forced to hire expensive college consultants due to the complexity of the application process. It's in urgent need to develop an affordable solution to provide information and clear guidance about the colleges in the U.S. and the application process.

Goal

To deliver an all-in-one platform for sharing college information and strategies about building a strong college application

Identifying the problem

2-week user research allowed me to identify the key problem, which is that students found it difficult to decide on colleges because of the disorganized information. But when reaching out to an application consultant, students found it difficult to build trust without enough understanding of the strategist's ability.

Difficult to make decisions due to overwhelming and disorganized information

By conducting 23 user interviews, I formed a solid understanding of how students select target colleges. Students were mostly struggling with numerous resources, which made them more confused and distracted. They are looking for a simple system that delivers required school information.

A lack of trust in the consultant makes it hard to apply application strategy with confidence

Without enough understanding of the consultant, students find it difficult to build trust with the consultant. The lack of confidence in the proposed strategy causes hesitation.

Building a streamlined process

To create a better way to select target colleges, I first identified the required information for the decision-making process, then organized the information in a way that is easy to navigate and digest.

Identifying the required information for the decision-making process

Research revealed that applicants initiate a list of target colleges based on college rankings and locations, then finalize the list based on academic resources and expenses. Some of the applicants are also interested in seeing application information and admission information prior to the application process. I further prioritized the information and organized them into screens.

Identifying the required information for the decision-making process

Translate information into design

Through sketch, wireframes, and prototypes, I created all the interfaces and presented it to the team for discussion.

Sketch

Wireframe

Prototype

Iterating on design

5 user testing sessions revealed that students liked the information architecture and the amount of information the application provides, but they did not like the design, noting too many visual distractions.