Group Project (Feb. 2022 - May 2022)

VisiTour Offers an Immersive Campus Visit Experience for Prospective Students

Overview

In the United States, it is common for universities to hold events for prospective students so that they can learn more about the school and program before they commit to it. But due to circumstances around the pandemic, financial reasons, or other health-related issues, students may or may not be able to tour their campus of choice during the campus tour season. This can heavily impact the decision-making process.

We want to provide a platform that allows all prospective students to fully experience the campus environment without any time and space constraints. This is why VisiTour was born.

VisiTour is a platform aiming to create an immersive and interactive experience for prospective university students to virtually view details about their university of choice from the comfort of their homes.

My role in this project is UX/UI designer.

Timeline

User Experience Research

> Questionnaire

A 3-section survey (https://forms.gle/rW49N31irB637rHD6) was designed to identify the actual needs of our users, where different sections had various focuses. During the design process, I made sure that our questions were on track, that is, unbiased, non-baiting, and not too complicated to answer.

> Section 1. Important Factors and Facilities

In this section, we wanted to know which factors (academic support, location, etc.) and facilities prospective students care about the most when deciding which university to attend. We also asked if they had previous campus visiting experience before making the decision.

> Section 2. Visiting Experience

This section aimed to understand how the respondents thought about their previous campus visiting experience. Any details about why they gave the rating would benefit future analysis.

> Section 3. Final Thoughts

Section 3 is designated for anything not mentioned but respondents would like to explain more. This section was also used to recruit volunteers for further interviews.

Findings:

> Important Factors: Majors and Minors, Feedback from Others, Dorms and Housing, Alumni Network, Diversity, Religious Buildings

> Important Facilities: Academic Buildings (classroom, library, labs, etc.)

> Additional Needs: More 1:1 interactions with current students; A better way to understand the university vibe

> Interviews

To have a comprehensive result, interviewees from different backgrounds were recruited, including current students, student tour guides, and campus ambassadors.

Findings:

> Social Elements:

Connecting with current students to get an idea of what the university was like

Felt more open and less prone to bias from the university

> Time Zone Differences:

Current event times work great for students in the US but can be extremely restrictive for those outside

> Keywords:

Quality, Connection, Tailored

Prototype Building & Usability Test

> Competitive Analysis

There are many products on the market targeting campus tours, and we selected nine best-known ones for competitive analysis.

Findings:

Although some products have high-tech technology as backing, they don't actually focus on what users really want BUT just show off their skills.

Ideation and Construction

> Site Map

A site map is the backbone of a product. Four main sections, campus life, tours, classes, and network, were determined based on the keywords (Quality, Connection, and Tailored) derived from the research data. This is the integration of user research and also the starting point of our final product.

> Wireframes

Based on the site map, I start to build wireframes. I brainstormed with my co-workers and visualized the solution that everyone agrees on with sketches. After that, I used Figma to make those sketches digitalization. Specifications were added to the file to enable non-design members to understand each feature more smoothly.

I also scheduled multiple design review meetings with both UX researchers in the group to align all aspects of the requirements. After the meeting, I revised the wireframes based on the feedback.

> Usability Testings and Modifications

The Lo-fi wireframes were used for usability testing (4 participants via Zoom), from where I was able to receive valuable feedback and make improvements according to it. The testing results also helped us determine the priorities of different features.

Popular Features:

> Connect with students

> Day as a Jumbo

> 360 view of buildings

> Curated to their program

> Live and recorded classes

Areas for improvement:

> Updating language to be clearer

> More focus on the 360-tour and less on info already on Tufts’ website

> More interaction with the map