Redesign the Canapply website to assist students interested in pursuing their studies in Canada
CanApply
The challenge for this project was redesign a existing website, making it more user friendly for all the student that are looking to study abroad.
The Challenge
Figma
UX
UI
Field covered
Tools Used
For this project we had the opportunity to work with a business called CANAPPLY, a tech company located in Canada that is focused on remove the hurdles of international student requirement, both for colleges and universities. This is intended to help student that are looking to study abroad in Canada.
Introduction
Research
Stakeholder Interview
The first interview that we conduct this time was with the stakeholder, here we were able to confirm our doubt or assumption that we find in the researches done previously such us the focus point of the company that is the A.I. From the interview wit the stakeholder we discover:
The focus of the company is to create a A.I. platform where the student can have a quick access to information, this will facilitate the process of application;
We understood who are their main competitors (Study Portals; Apply Board);
The company’s main challenge regard the way the student want to interact with the chat-bot and A.I.
Research
Competive/Brand Analysis
Research
User Interviews
We were then ready to dive into the user interviews. We got 5 interview in total and while we interview people it seems that the problem was becoming every time more clear. Specially we are looking to understand what the user is expecting to find in a website to help them in their scholarship and what can make their application easier.
We also asked the user to interact for few minutes with the website so we can get some insight useful for the website improvement:
“I believe the support system articulately in navigating the application process, visa requirements, accommodation, and cultural adjustments”;
“I trust the chat-bot only for general question, but not anything specific”;
“I would prefer to interact with a human instead A.I.. If I have a human consultant, he would take into consideration your character.”
Affinity Dyagram
Define
Problem Statement
Analyzing the interview we are now ready to define the problem, we done this creating 3 Problem Statement that later we unify in one:
“Students who are motivated to study abroad NEED TO FIND A WAY TO be guided through the entire process BECAUSE they don’t have enough time and expertise to choose the right study program”
Define
User Persona
Define
User Journey
Define
Site Map/User Flow
Ideation/Prototype /Testing
Wireframes
We are finally starting the ideation part of this project where we have to brainstorm. To do this we use a tool called Crazy-8 where each of us sketch a feature or a page of the website in different way.
After that we confronted all our ideas and choose what was more appropriate, even mixing some of those ideas to create a new one. Finally we have an idea how the web-pages will look and we start drawing to create a low-fi prototype with pen and paper.
At this point the pages are ready and we proceeded with the User Testing. Here we had the possibility to learn what is not working in it and where some feature need to be change to be more understandable to the user.
At this stage we could see:
The page are not very clear and many time the user got stuck or lost inside the page. Making the pages more understandable and clear will be a priority in the Mid-fi screens;
We also notice how confusing was the section that will allow user to choose the option to talk with a human expert or just find the university by comparison.
The building of the Mid-fi was fast as we had already an idea on how it will look. In this we made some change thanks to the preview testing with the users.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes
After completing the Mid-fi prototype was time to test again.
This time the pages looks a bit more clear and we were more confident on the testing, still we got some issues with some pages, for example:
Some user got overwhelmed with the pages where students can compere the different university;
Instead of a classic list with check-marks we opted to keep just the pages with the list of university and college, here is also possible see the different feature each school offers to the student with more information that the user can find important.
Ideation/Prototype /Testing
Style-Tile
First thing we done was conducting some visual research, looking to our competitors, concentrating our focus on colors and page structure.
Here we noticed that our competitors are using mostly vivid colors to call attention and make the website more appealing. Also was good the use of dark colors to contrast this vibrant colors.
We start deciding what kind of attribute give to the brand.
MoodBoard
Style-Tile
Ideation/Prototype /Testing
High-Fidelity Prototype
Conclusion
Key Learning/What’s Next
Key Learning
During the progress of this project we developed the skills of displaying empathy towards users and conducting a comprehensive competitive analysis to enhance the current website design and to improve the user journey and experience, creating a more reliable interaction with the A.I.
Through this process, we gained proficiency in utilizing various tools such as Affinity Diagram, Style-Tile, Figma and more.
What’s Next
With the final testing of our prototype we understood that there is still some job to do to get at the end result so we will:
Creating a mobile-responsive webpage
Conducting a usability and desirability test
Feature and design pages (based on the final test result)
Showcase the product to stakeholders
A big thank goes to my colleagues that worked with me in this project:
Bahare and Taarikah