Reslife Redesign
Revamping the current residential life website that creates a better user experience for students looking to apply for on-campus housing.
/UX Research /UX Design /User Testing
My Role
Lead Designer and User Researcher
Team
Emily Isaacson
Jiwon Suh
Bohan Shan
Bryan Fang
Timeline: 3 months
Project Overview
Background
ResLife, the name of the Department of Resident Life at the University of Maryland, College Park, is frequently accessed by students seeking information on campus housing, including pricing, amenities, locations, and important dates.
Context
At the University of Maryland, sophomores, juniors, and seniors have countless options for on-campus housing. While freshmen are assigned to their dorm rooms, older students have the opportunity to choose not only the building they want to live in but also the specific room.
However, information about on-campus housing opportunities is dispersed across the university websites, making it difficult for students to make informed decisions about their living situations. Our research aims to find a better way to provide housing information to sophomores, juniors, and seniors at the University of Maryland.
The Solution: An Interactive Map
The Process
Research: Knowing our Users
We created three different personas to represent our potential user base, each embodying unique characteristics, needs, and goals.
User Personas
Rylie
Major: Education
Year: Junior
A former commuter, she wants to experience campus life in the upcoming year. She is unfamiliar with the housing application process. Rylie also has a service dog that stays by her side, making it important for her to get a single room.
Nadia
Major: Math
Year: Sophomore
Nadia is looking for a housing option that will house her and her four friends. She’s also a swimmer, so living close to Eppley Recreation Center will be a major convenience.
Jerome
Major: Biology
Year: Sophomore
Jerome wants to live close to the dining hall. As a international student, he doesn’t know anyone who attended UMD before him, so isn’t familiar with the housing process.
Data Collection: Interviews
We interviewed ten students representing our personas, asking them to complete tasks on the current ResLife website. Observing their actions, we noted difficulties, particularly with tasks like “Search for a dorm closest to South Campus Diner,” leading to varied responses and some reliance on external sources like Reddit for information.
Among our interviewees, eight had lived on campus for at least a year and experienced the upperclassmen housing selection process, while two were newcomers viewing the website with fresh eyes. We then analyzed the data to create an affinity diagram, grouping similar responses.
Ideation: Brainstorming Solutions
We began writing down various ideas that we thought would be the best solution to tackle this problem.
The team came to a consus that the best approach would be to design an interactive map that contains pins where users can click on to learn more about the dormitary.
Prototyping: Mid-Fidelity
We began writing down various ideas that we thought would be the best solution to tackle this problem.
User Testing
When we first conducted user research, we asked our interviewee to perform a task on the current website. The interviewees were asked to “Find out how much it costs to live in a suite in Harford Hall.” The average time it took was a little less than two minutes.
For this prototype, we asked five testers to conduct two more tasks that are similar to the initial one.
“How much does it cost to live in Washington Hall?”
“Find a two-resident dorm.”
Graphing our data
As you can see, the maximum time it took for a task to be completed was 25 seconds. This represents a significant improvement compared to the nearly two-minute time taken by the first set of participants.
Both tasks are very similar, with a slight difference. The first task took participants longer to complete because the interface was new to them. Once they became familiar with it, they were able to complete Task 2 easily.
User Feedback
We asked the participants for their opinions on the prototype, and the feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive.
Discoverability - All participants completed the task within 30 seconds, demonstrating that the information was easily accessible.
Satisfaction - 80% of the participants gave a satisfaction rating of 5 out of 5, indicating that the majority enjoyed the design's features.
Generalization - Most participants completed Task 2 faster than Task 1, as the tasks are similar, and once they learn how to perform the first task, the second becomes easy.
Final Design
We did receive feedback from testers regarding additional features they wished the prototype had. For example, they suggested adding a building search bar to make it easier to find specific buildings. They also recommended making the map draggable to show more of the campus grounds.
Interactive Map
An interactive campus map displays all dorm buildings with clickable pins. Users can click on pins or select buildings from the list on the right to access more information. Additionally, there's a search bar for finding specific buildings.
Reflection
Project Takeaway
As my first user-centered design project, I initially had little to no knowledge of the UX industry and the work involved. However, I quickly learned and became proficient in using common design tools by regularly practicing and following tutorials through workshops and videos. Additionally, I recognized the significance of effective communication with both my team and the audience. Working collaboratively allowed ideas to flow more easily, and as the saying goes, 'two heads (in this case, five) are better than one.' By incorporating critiques into my design process, I continuously improved my product with each iteration.
Affinity Diagram
Analysis: Uncovering the Issue
After organizing the data into common themes, we analyzed the diagram to obtain a general understand regarding the main issue that our interviewees are facing.
A video guide to walk users through the application process for added convenience.