Insperity blog
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300,000 Chinese students studied in the U.S in 2014 and this number is still increasing over the past four decades.
Due to the complexity of the application process, applicants tend to hire a consultant to develop an application strategy. But the service requires an average of $20,000 (equivalent to 1/3 of average Chinese family's income) for a limited-time consulting service.
With such pricey services established, it is clear that Chinese applicants continue to struggle with the intricacies of the college application process.
Applications found it difficult to decide on colleges because of the disorganized information. But when reaching out to an application strategist, applicants found it difficult to build trust upon him or her without enough understanding of his or her ability.
Overwhelming and Disorganized Information Makes It Difficult to Decide on Colleges
By conducting user interviews, I formed a solid understanding of how an applicant selects target colleges. Applicants 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, applicants find it difficult to build trust upon him or her. The lack of confidence in the proposed strategy causes hesitation.
Below shows the steps an applicant take to apply to a U.S. college. User pain points are marked in red.
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.
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.
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
Storage admins can now set up their infrastructure directly within the AWS console. No more third-party applications needed.
Developers can now view and manage all the data operations and security-related tasks in a single console. No more switching among storage services.
