I led the research and design efforts as part of the team. I simplified the app discovery user experience for mobile and crafted the MVP.

BACKGROUND

With the COVID-19 pandemic, and universities adopting a hybrid or fully remote model, there has been a decrease in enrollment and a reluctance to return to campus as the university experience has been significantly impacted. More than 1,000 universities in the US plan to bring students back to campus in some form [5]. Research shows that while many students question the need for returning at all, one of the main reasons students prefer to return is that they find value in the amenities and activities of a traditional college experience. In this project, we seek to understand how the students' university experience has been impacted as a result of COVID-19 and the hesitations they face in going to campus.

GOAL

The goal of this project was to give students a sense of confidence in using campus spaces by allowing them to make more informed decisions about moving around in their physical space.

Overall, the research informed the final design and proved to have increased the confidence level of students visiting sanitized spaces within the campus from 25% to 91%.

MARKET RESEARCH

From competitive research, we found that while products are being developed to help students socialize and attend events virtually, there are not many products that focus on facilitating students in moving around safely in their physical campus space and focused on that pain point. We also looked at what existing measures were recommended by CDC and are being taken by universities to secure campus spaces such as reducing class capacity, reservations for study rooms, grab and go (food), COVID Testing Centers on campus, etc.

USER RESEARCH

Conducted survey with 1,000 students to understand how their experience had been impacted and what would help them feel confident in going to campus. From our survey results, we found that lack of social life (79%) and inability to fully use campus facilities (97%) were the most impacted aspects of the university experience.

Discovered that 60% of the students would feel comfortable moving around campus if proper sanitization and safety measures were enforced and if they were more informed of their surroundings and had knowledge of things like campus cases, number of people in certain areas, etc.

USER PAIN POINTS

• Hindered social life

• Inability to attend and mingle during on-campus events

• Discomfort to go to the campus and use facilities

• Uncertainty about the implementation of safety policies