MajorPush App
Helping to connect college freshman to upperclassmen in their degree of interest
Choosing a degree can be a difficult decision for first year students. Many believe that choosing a particular degree will confine them to one career forever, however studies indicate that 50% of college graduates pursue careers not even related to their degree.*
If students were encouraged to explore their interests they may be more likely to select a major they are passionate about. Pairing first-year students with a peer mentor could help them discover their interests with support, guidance, and resources on campus. In turn, strong student connections will lead to better academic performance, student involvement, and higher retention rates needed for a successful educational institution.
The Problem
The student disconnect in choosing a college major.
The Solution
MajorPush: an app that would allow students to choose a major, choose a mentor, and find out if their chosen degree aligns with their career goals.
Research
Diverge
I began my research with rapid mind-mapping and storyboard exercises to uncover important ideas and connections between the mentor, mentee, and institution.
Throughout these exercises, I discovered a considerable amount of similarities between the 3 standpoints, leading me to my conclusion: The mentor and institution hold just as much importance in the analysis and process of how to solve this problem.
Interviewing: Discovered Themes
Guidance
The relationship is a mutually beneficial peer-to-peer mentorship.
Experience
Long-term connections develop between students and school.
Reputation
High academic performance benefit both the student and college’s status.
Persona Development
I discovered the need for more than one user for this app.
There’s the mentee, a younger college student seeking guidance. The student wants to feel fulfilled in major and make connections.
A mentor, an older student looking to help. The mentor wants to practice leadership skills and build experience.
And the institution, as a stakeholder, looking to gather data to help with student retention. They want to see better student performance and create stronger ties with alumni.
Experience Mapping
Creating an experience map allowed me to identify behavior, motivations, needs, and pain points. It also showed the individual journeys of the mentor, mentee, and stakeholder.
Phase One
The first phase of the MajorPush journey map illustrates the pre-activity phase, or the user’s goals. The mentor wants to improve their leadership and communication skills. The mentee needs guidance to excel academically, socially and professionally. The director is looking to improve student performance and retention rates.
Phase Two
The second phase shows the activity phase which consists of three parts: Commitment, Communication, and Scheduling. Here, the interconnected journeys of all 3 users highlight important touch points along the way.
Phase Three
The third phase is post-activity, or the following up, between all parties. Mentor connects mentee with job leads and donates money to the program as an alumni. The mentee valued their experience and wants to give back as a mentor the next year. The administration is able to track data and behavioral patterns of students and work to better improve the program.
User Flows
I created user flows to help define the app usage for all users. It states the requirements and limitations and illustrates the interactions between users.
Here, I was able to better visualize and develop security measures to establish trust between the user and the application.
In order for a student to sign up for the app, they would need to provide an official school email address.
Early Lo-Fi Prototypes
Early prototypes were low fidelity sketches to visualize what the initial user flow would be. For early stage testing, I employed the POP app to bring my paper prototype to life.
Second round prototypes were medium fidelity, mocked up in Sketch, and tested in InVision.
Usability Testing
First round of usability testing was focused on communication and scheduling within MajorPush. I recruited about 5 students mentors and mentees to participate in the recorded test.
Key Tasks
Mentee Point of View
Sign up and create an account
Search for a mentor
What do they filter by, and why?
Select a mentor and contact them
What form of communication do they use?
Schedule a meeting with a mentor
Mentor Point of View
Find your current mentees and contact one of them
What form of communication do they use?
Accept or decline a requested meeting.
Next Steps
The next phase of MajorPush will consist of ongoing usability testing and refinement based on user feedback and stakeholder input.
Stay tuned!