Preston Wolfe

Project Overview

The Product

The purpose of this group project is to create a peer-to-peer support app for UTD students based on what users need help with.

The Problem

From interviews and focus groups it appears that a majority of students have an issue with finding resources available to them and navigating/selecting required classes.

The Goal

Create a mobile prototype of an application that could help students by pairing them with other students and creating a place for Q&A.

My Role

As a group we are all working together making suggestions on how to create this app, so far we have individually completed research and compiled our findings. We are now in our development stage and working on features that will set us apart from competitors that students currently use (Reddit, Discord, UTD app).

User Research
Wire framing
Low Fi Prototype
High Fi Prototype

Empathy Map and Research

This is my submission for an Empathy map, these conclusions and questions were answered from group research from articles as well as observations made in public areas on campus.

Focus Group

Based on a video recording of a focus group my professor conducted for this specific project, my group noted that a lot of students spoke about the troubles they had when taking a class and making the decision to drop a class or the struggles of not knowing what to expect in a class. They also talked a bit about how they manage their time and stress currently, how they make friends at UTD, and what they think would make the app useful to them.

After listening to their responses we decided as a group it would be a good idea to focus on a feature that would connect students with others and help them with questions they could ask one on one with a more experienced student. We also wanted to focus on privacy and how we could give users the option to ask questions anonymously.

Collaberation as a Group

This is a user journey in our “happy path” that explores the process of logging in and finding someone who could answer a question for a new or confused student.

While we walked through the user path, my suggestions were that we needed users to fill out information about themselves and their affiliation with the school. This serves as a baseline for what could be suggested to the user when looking for someone to talk to. I also added the “suggested peers” screen that would recommend certain profiles that maybe have a similar major or more experience in a certain area on campus. Lastly, I suggested we add a simple toggle feature at the top of most screens or all screens that allow users to easily switch or check if they are posting anonymously.

Observational Research

When observing students at UTD's Student Union building and the surrounding areas, we found that 52% of students in the area sat alone, usually while reading, eating, or otherwise just waiting.

Because the Student Union building is a hub for social activity on the UTD campus, it is safe to assume that in other areas the number of students sitting or waiting alone is higher.

Of the students that sat alone, a large majority of them were using technology of some kind, usually a phone, laptop, or tablet of some kind.

Through this observation, we know that technology supported by Pear is readily available to many, if not most, students.

Insights

The first year is always the hardest for students and they struggle tofindtheir place academically andsocially.

Students are not aware of the established resources that could helpthemsucceed in college.

Students would really benefit from receiving mentorship from agraduatedstudent or even a senior.

Students crave connections with their peers although they are not always sure about how to go about it.

Peers who are going through the same program are often the best emotional support for students.

Survey Results

Overall all the features were all rated highly
(over 95% of features were rated over 7 out of 10 )
The highest rated feature was the privacy toggle
The lowest rated feature was rating peer mentors after students interactions
Students value trending chats and events feature

Takeaway

Impact

This application could have a good impact on UTD students, however, the main challenge would be offering something that would be better than the currently used apps by students. I think the fact alone that it would be centered for the school you attend, post anonymously, and open up connections with other students would be enough of a reason to have a solid base user group.

What I Learned

So far I’m learning a lot about working in a group for a creative project where everyone wants their ideas to be represented or involved and how to make others feel included and valued.