The problem
In-person interactions and student-life opportunities on college campuses were at an all time low during and following the pandemic.
Hanover's 2024 National Admitted Student Survey revealed an increase in desire for social connection and a rich on-campus experience in the pandemic's aftermath, but higher education institutions were struggling to prevent declines in student involvement and retention.
As a former student who was a freshman at the University of Michigan when the pandemic hit, I experienced this decline in campus involvement first hand. I wanted to address the needs of my fellow students as college life became increasingly digitalized.
I hoped to rekindle campus involvement post pandemic for higher education institutions by encouraging students to explore their interests and meet likeminded people through a highly personalized digital platform, improving the efficiency and success of connecting students on campus.
How the problem is currently being addressed
How are our competitors helping and hindering users?
Maize pages is the University of Michigan's current website for student organizations, and Festifall is the club fair held on campus every fall. I compared their strengths and weaknesses to help me understand what resources are already available to students and what features are working or failing, better preparing me for user interviews and highlighting what to mimic or avoid in my own product.
Who is the target audience using these resources?
After surveying over 100 University of Michigan students of varying age, grade level, transfer status, hometown, and area of study on their use of Maize Pages and Festifall, we found that the majority of users are
Students new to campus (freshmen, transfer, or first-year graduate students)
Students seeking community (out-of-state students with fewer prior connections)
Students looking to further develop an interest or discover a new one
What are their pain points when using these resources?
"I want to explore new clubs, but I can't seem to find them unless I already know their name. Scrolling through them alphabetically is tiresome and overwhelming."
Newly addressing the problem
What do students want, and why?
Insight
Students want to make friends and find community through extracurriculars.
Insight
Students want to develop skills in an environment that aids growth and consistency.
How might we lower the barriers that are preventing students from exploring their interests on campus and increase the success rate of matching students to organizations and communities that really suit them?
Solution
A highly personalized digital platform that specifically emphasizes the importance of community, improving the efficiency and success of connecting students to each other and their interests.
Product goals
Goal
Give students methods to stay on track, determine if an organization suits their goals, or develop their own organization.
Product features
Feature
Join clubs directly on the platform, view upcoming events and who's attending, and read community reviews.
Feature
Save favorite clubs, follow a club schedule, gather club information to see if it's a right fit, or list their own organization.
Information architecture
Understanding user's mental models through card sorting
We wanted to better understand how users conceptualize, group, and label ideas so that users can find information where they expect it to be. To develop our information architecture we used OptimalSort, conducting a closed card sort with 4 main categories and 22 topics.
Ambiguity
The categories and topics with the least card sorting agreement amongst test users highlighted the need for clearer word choices and greater information hierarchy.
Word choice: Users were unclear on how to distinguish between the intended purposes of words like events, schedule, and upcoming and list, register, and apply
Hierarchy: With a wide range of filter options, users were unclear on how narrower filter categories were nested into broader categories
Sitemap
Iteration 1: MVP
We wanted our initial iteration of the sitemap to be focused on eliminating all features and pages that were not directly necessary for meeting product goals.
Flows for usability testing
Find clubs that you are interested in
Apply to a club that interests you
Register your own club
View your profile
See favorited clubs
Wireframing
Mobile-first wireframing
Because the website is mainly used on a college campus where desktops and laptops are often already in use, the majority of users were accessing it from a desktop.
However, due to certain features being more beneficial when available on the go and the global trend of mobile devices surpassing desktops in terms of internet usage, especially among the age group of our user case, we wanted to make sure that all product features would work on the smallest screen.
Visual Identity
Developing the brand concept
Our brand concept reflects the website's starting point at the University of Michigan without being so directly affiliated as to limit itself from potential use at other universities going forward. We chose to mimic Michigan's colors but steer clear of any similarity to its logo, instead using sans-serif typography for a more flexible design.
The name directly alludes to the website's purpose for higher chances of virality across campus.
Testing the MVP prototype
Conducting usability tests
We conducted moderated usability tests using a test plan of 5 main tasks on 12 total participants, with 6 being from the target user group.
Preview of desktop prototype used in usability testing
10/12 participants were able to complete all tasks without support, which seemed great at first. However, upon reviewing the test recordings, I found that users often clicked on multiple wrong options before finding the right one.
How can we revise the flow to help users be successful on the first try?
Priority revisions based on usability test results
We based our revisions on the wrong items that were often clicked instead of the correct item and analyzed what made the correct items less desirable. We found that we needed to
Updating features + addressing user needs: high fidelity mobile design
Get personalized recommendations
Prompt: Choose your interests and let MClubs take care of the rest
An interest prompt was added as an alternative to a login page for greater frictionless entry and personalization
Home page: Get club recommendations based on your selections and what's trending, what's new, and more
Favoriting was added to the home page as an alternative to being required to click on a club
Extensively customize your experience to fit your needs
Quick filters: Use to narrow down your search with one touch - and sort your results by popularity, alphabetically, and more
"All" was added to both quick and regular filter options as an alternative to the "see all clubs" button
Filters menu: For more specific results, use the filters menu to access 193 customization options, including categories, time commitment, and favorites
Filter categories became clickable for narrower categories as an alternative to scrolling through 193 filters
Club page: Select a club to find out if it's right for you - here you can gather important info about dates, dues, and leadership, read reviews from other members, apply, and save it to your favorites tab all in one place
Reviews were added for greater community outreach and interest-matching
Connect with others and join a community
Schedule: Review any upcoming meetings for the clubs you join under the schedule tab and see who else is attending, RSVP, or access the club's page
A schedule of upcoming meetings and attendees was added for greater organization and social connection
Build your own community in this centralized platform where all of your needs are in one place
Listings: If you lead a club or are looking to start one, post and manage your listing under the profile tab - you have the option to edit a current listing or start a new one
A shorter listing form was added with an always visible "publish" button as an alternative to a laborious form that deters students from listing
Updating features + addressing user needs: high fidelity web design
Use the events page to peruse upcoming events for all clubs that may help you decide what clubs are right for you. Use the "List Your Club" button for easy access to promoting your own club.
An events tabs was added for greater community outreach and interest-matching, and language was shifted from "register" to "list" to distinguish between listing a club and applying to one
What's next
Developing direct social networking capability
Enhancing community features
Community is at the core of why students want to get involved on campus and is what sets MClubs apart from its counterpart Maize Pages.
What I learned
Teamwork
Bias
Being a student myself at the time of this project, I held many biases about what the user experience should be. I learned that my experience in a particular user base does not reflect the total pool, and I must rely on evidence that research provides to make meaningful insights.
