A tool for college applications
Role
UX/Product designer
Team
Caroline Padilla (Self)
Aaron Argyle
Tools
Figma, Miro
Timeline
3 months
Problem
Parents find the college application process difficult
Parents are often overwhelmed by the vast amount of resources available online and feel they lack the personalized tools needed to effectively support their children. As a result, they are frustrated and ill-equipped to guide their child through the college admission process.
Solution
Provide personalized resources and guidance in one place
Our proposed solution is to keep college preparation materials in one place to educate parents and help them stay organized
College prep in one place
View student progress
Personalized mentoring services
Stakeholder Interview
Limited functionalities are keeping users from the platform
Transizion created CollegeRize to replace mentoring services via phone, email, Zoom, and Slack. However, the increasing demands of the growing company posed a challenge for CollegeRize, which was missing key functionalities.
Tranzision’s goal was to transform CollegeRize into a robust and versatile platform that would meet the growing demands of their diverse clientele.
Competitive + SWOT Analysis
Competitors lack the ability to monitor student progress
Our team conducted research by posing as potential parents on our competitors' platforms to simulate the experience of using competitors' tools and gain a better understanding of their features and limitations.
What are they doing better?
Parents are able to store documents and essays for review
Students are able to meet with their mentor on the platform
Have student data, such as grades, test scores, and GPA
Where do we have opportunities?
Collect student data during onboarding to help customize suggested services and match with suitable mentor(s)
Provide a general pricing matrix
Provide an ability to request services or meetings with mentors
Provide a more intuitive way for parents/guardians to monitor student progress
User Interviews
Parents want to be informed and guided through the process
We conducted user interviews with 7 parents of high school students to gain further insight into their experiences. I created an affinity map of our user interview data to find trends in the responses:
Most of parents expressed feeling overwhelmed by the college application process
80% of parents utilized an online platform provided by their student's high school, but found these resources lacking
Most parents were unfamiliar with financial aid options and the test scores necessary for their child to gain admission to their preferred colleges.
Parents want to be informed about their child's progress, but are hesitant to add more pressure to their child's already stressful experience.
Goals and Objective
What we aimed to do
Project Objective
Create an effective and intuitive way for parents to register, get onboarded, monitor their student's progress, communicate with mentors and purchase additional products.
User Goals
Keep themselves and their students organized with deadlines for college-related tasks
Monitor their student's progress without constantly nagging them
Browse through services and purchase those that would benefit their child's college journey
Receive advice and resources on increasing their child's chances of getting into their preferred college
Narrow down potential colleges either by receiving personalized college recommendations along with the likelihood of acceptance
Business Goals
Provide a robust platform for the business
Enhance the functionality and usability of the platform
Provide secure way for parents to make purchases
"There are so many moving parts. Where are those scores? Did you take this yet? Where is the communication you got about those scores?"
Jen S., Parent of a college and high school student
Ideating
Parent feedback into product features
Prior to diving into the design, I considered potential features that could be incorporated into our platform based on the feedback we received from our interviewees.
User Flows
Shaping the redesigned parent experience
Due to the lack of content on the existing platform and the absence of any prior models for the new features, my team and I had to establish the information architecture and create user flows. I designed user flows for three key goals:
Dashboard
Designing for easy scanning
The first iteration of the design included everything but the kitchen sink. We wanted the dashboard to be a hub of information for parents, and included a widget for each section.
However, during user testing, we found the layout did the opposite of what we intended and participants had difficulty comprehending the contents of the page. To address this, I added visual aids—pictures, icons, and color—to aid with scanning. Additionally, the dashboard was split into distinct sections, only showing the most important information.
Academic Progress
Making data comprehensible and engaging
The existing design did not meet the parents' need of being able to view more of their student's progress. Parents wanted to access to this information without bothering their student or the mentor.
The first iteration included a progress indicator and goals, opportunity to sell more hours, and leave reviews for a service. After user testing, I realized most students only have one service at a time. This prompted me to rethink the original layout.
In the final iteration, I expanded on the feedback from the mentor and reimagined the work log from the existing design. I also included the Academic Profile section to provide a comprehensive understanding of their child's academic performance.
Services
Creating a sense of trust
The Services page did not initially exist, but was important to develop as it is a key revenue-generating aspect. The primary goal was to provide parents with an improved means of purchasing services on the platform.
To accomplish this, I began by identifying the essential tasks that parents should be able to complete on this page. As part of this process, I consulted several app stores for inspiration on how to design an effective layout.
However, user feedback revealed that the design came across as overly commercial. In response, I placed the large banner regarding referrals lower on the page to reduce pressure on the user. I also introduced vibrant colors and engaging visual elements to create a more inviting and enjoyable user experience.
Final Design
Mockups
We conducted user interviews with five lacrosse coaches who were actively using the platform to manage their teams. Below are key takeaways from our discussions:
Impact
Next Steps
While this design is still in the development phase, it has been handed to the engineering team for implementation. Our primary KPIs for this project are boosting the number of parents on the platform who are engaging with their child's mentor, and increasing clientele as the business expands its reach.
Other Projects
LacrosseLab
View Case Study
Streami
View Case Study
