Improving the international student experience

Category

UX Case Study

Year

2024

Improving the international student experience

Category

UX Case Study

Year

2024

Improving the international student experience

Category

UX Case Study

Year

2024

About this Project

We wanted to help every international Humber College student transition smoothly to Canada.

More information

We started this project with the intention of redesigning our College Campus Compass app. However, after conducting our research, we identified a much bigger problem faced by Humber College students. Every year, many students leave their home countries and move to Canada to pursue higher education. We wanted to reduce the friction and challenges these students face during this transition period.

About this Project

We wanted to help every international Humber College student transition smoothly to Canada.

More information

We started this project with the intention of redesigning our College Campus Compass app. However, after conducting our research, we identified a much bigger problem faced by Humber College students. Every year, many students leave their home countries and move to Canada to pursue higher education. We wanted to reduce the friction and challenges these students face during this transition period.

About this Project

We wanted to help every international Humber College student transition smoothly to Canada.

More information

We started this project with the intention of redesigning our College Campus Compass app. However, after conducting our research, we identified a much bigger problem faced by Humber College students. Every year, many students leave their home countries and move to Canada to pursue higher education. We wanted to reduce the friction and challenges these students face during this transition period.

My Goal

Research and understand all the struggles and issues that international students face when coming to Canada for the first time, and try to address them by providing a reasonable solution.

Softwares Used

Figma

Photoshop

My Role

UX Designer

My Goal

Research and understand all the struggles and issues that international students face when coming to Canada for the first time, and try to address them by providing a reasonable solution.

Softwares Used

Figma

Photoshop

My Role

UX Designer

My Goal

Research and understand all the struggles and issues that international students face when coming to Canada for the first time, and try to address them by providing a reasonable solution.

Software Used

Figma

Photoshop

My Role

UX Designer

Design Process

Research

Define

Design

Test

Re-design

Design Process

Research

Define

Design

Test

Re-design

Design Process

Research

Define

Design

Test

Re-design

Research

Research

Research

Research Type

  • In-person interviews

  • Online forms

  • In-person Interview

No. of Participants

  • 5 in-person Interviews

  • 7 online form

  • In-person Interview

Research Type

  • In-person interviews

  • Online forms

  • In-person Interview

No. of Participants

  • 5 in-person Interviews

  • 7 online form

  • In-person Interview

Research Type

  • In-person interviews

  • Online forms

  • In-person Interview

No. of Participants

  • 5 in-person Interviews

  • 7 online form

  • In-person Interview

What we found

1

Only 20% of students found the Humber application process to be easy.

2

Few students requested some kind of chatbot or 24*7 help desk to answer their queries.

3

Some students have around 4-5 different Humber applications installed in their phone. (Been there! Done that!)

4

Half of our interviewees had difficulties with transportation.

5

Few students had difficulties in receiving information through email.

6

Students had difficulty in navigating through the college campus as the college campus was huge.

What we found

1

Only 20% of students found the Humber application process to be easy.

2

Few students requested some kind of chatbot or 24*7 help desk to answer their queries.

3

Some students have around 4-5 different Humber applications installed in their phone. (Been there! Done that!)

4

Half of our interviewees had difficulties with transportation.

5

Few students had difficulties in receiving information through email.

6

Students had difficulty in navigating through the college campus as the college campus was huge.

What we found

1

Only 20% of students found the Humber application process to be easy.

2

Few students requested some kind of chatbot or 24*7 help desk to answer their queries.

3

Some students have around 4-5 different Humber applications installed in their phone. (Been there! Done that!)

4

Half of our interviewees had difficulties with transportation.

5

Few students had difficulties in receiving information through email.

6

Students had difficulty in navigating through the college campus as the college campus was huge.

Some users said

"To start off with, leaving home and family behind was a little tough. Another thing is fitting into the lifestyle and the new culture might be difficult sometimes!"

"To start off with, leaving home and family behind was a little tough. Another thing is fitting into the lifestyle and the new culture might be difficult sometimes!"

“I found it difficult to figure out the weather, jobs and the culture was so different!”

“I found it difficult to figure out the weather, jobs and the culture was so different!”

“International students in the beginning are really shy and come from very different backgrounds, if someone could communicate better with them and make them feel comfortable then maybe being away from home and having to face a set of extremely new challenges alone in a new country could get a bit easier.”

“International students in the beginning are really shy and come from very different backgrounds, if someone could communicate better with them and make them feel comfortable then maybe being away from home and having to face a set of extremely new challenges alone in a new country could get a bit easier.”

“Tbh, didn't really get as much of guidance or information on academic or any other field as much as i had expected for an institution so huge, the only support yet has been previously passed out students or just students who are in the same boat, trying to make their way through academic sessions.”

“Tbh, didn't really get as much of guidance or information on academic or any other field as much as i had expected for an institution so huge, the only support yet has been previously passed out students or just students who are in the same boat, trying to make their way through academic sessions.”

“An active Chatbot which is available for 24*7 to resolve all queries would be helpful.”

“An active Chatbot which is available for 24*7 to resolve all queries would be helpful.”

Analysis & Ideation

Analysis & Ideation

Click and expand to view more

Understanding the Problem Statement

In order to get a better understanding of the problem statement, I came with a User story when the main character goes through all the common student struggles one after the other.

Understanding the Problem Statement

In order to get a better understanding of the problem statement, I came with a User story when the main character goes through all the common student struggles one after the other.

Understanding the Problem Statement

In order to get a better understanding of the problem statement, I came with a User story when the main character goes through all the common student struggles one after the other.

Empathy Map

We went on to create an Empathy map for this project based on the research we did. We took Stella as an example and created this empathy map based on her user persona.

Empathy Map

We went on to create an Empathy map for this project based on the research we did. We took Stella as an example and created this empathy map based on her user persona.

Empathy Map

We went on to create an Empathy map for this project based on the research we did. We took Stella as an example and created this empathy map based on her user persona.

User Persona

We came up with a user persona was very simple and upto the point.

User Persona

We came up with a user persona was very simple and upto the point.

User Persona

We came up with a user persona was very simple and upto the point.

Fonts & Colors

Display Font

Bricolage Grotesk

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Extrabold. Bold. Semi-bold.

Body Font

Manrope

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Regular. Medium. Bold.

Display Font

Bricolage Grotesk

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Extrabold. Bold. Semi-bold.

Body Font

Manrope

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Regular. Medium. Bold.

#C8102E

#F9F3EE

#3E3E3E

#1C1C1C

#FFFFFF

#C8102E

#F9F3EE

#3E3E3E

#1C1C1C

#FFFFFF

Wireframes

Wireframes

First draft

Hi-Fi Wireframes

Final concepy

Home Screen

1

Student ID

One big problem for Humber College students was that they had to download separate third-party applications to access their ID cards. So, we thought of eliminating this requirement completely and making the ID accessible within the same application.

2

Progress tracker

Whenever a student comes to a new country, there are a set of things they are supposed to get done without fail. Students usually face a lack of information while getting these things done. This is where this app can help all these students keep track of all these things and also educate them more about the respective topics.

3

Education content

We also thought of including a section with educational content like videos, blogs, etc., specifically for students regarding Canada. For example, this section could contain information on navigating public transportation in Canada, including its etiquette, or tips on preparing for the country's diverse weather conditions.

Connection page

1

Discover new friends

Students can also find and collaborate with new friends in this application. They don’t have to rely on external services like LinkedIn or Facebook and spend hours searching for the right type of contact.

2

Filters

Students can filter the type of contact that they want to create. They can filter connections according to country, course, campus, etc

Campus Map

1

Easy navigation through campus

For those students who have difficulty navigating the college campus, this maps page can help them locate classrooms and other areas easily.

2

Location list

Students can also access the list view to select a specific place they want to visit.

Events

1

Event list

Students can also access a list of all upcoming events and seminars conducted by Humber College. These seminars are very useful for students, providing a lot of relevant information. This feature allows students to keep track of all events and register for the ones they're interested in.

2

Month wise view

Students can switch between different months to check all the upcoming events.

3

Never miss any event

Students can register themselves to certain events so that they don’t miss out on anything.

Home

Home