Overview
My Role(s)
User Research
Ideation
Prototyping
Front-end Development (Dashboard)
Timeline
February 2022 - April 2022 (13 Weeks)
Team Size
3
Background
This project was created as part of my course in Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction, where students form a team to develop a working application that addresses a real-world problem through user-centered research and design methods.
Problem
College students struggle to balance their schoolwork while committing to the application process for jobs/internships
As college students ourselves, we’ve experience and noticed how our peers have had difficulties managing our time effectively during the academic year to complete the process for jobs/internships. We defined the job “application process” as the entire journey, from start to end, until students respond to employment offers. This journey may include document preparation (resume, cover letter, LinkedIn), searching for job postings, and completing interviews, among other things.
The challenge for students to fulfill the job application process can be attributed to a few things. For one, students prioritize their academic goals, which consequently result in less time and energy to devote to the job application process. And ultimately, securing a job offer. With those things in mind, students tend to lose motivation during the job application process, especially if the are unfamiliar with it. Students new to the process can feel lost on what steps they need to take to get started, or at the very least may not be sure on how to complete said steps.
Solution
A web browser extension that encourages and notifies students daily to complete curated job-related tasks based on their schedule
So, why a browser extension or an app? Well, we wanted our product to be something that can be used daily. As such, we wanted to integrate ourselves into a place where students consistently access and a place where students go to apply for jobs. An extension seemed like the best option, as it fits that criteria.
Research
To kick off our research, we first did a bit of competitor analysis to see if there were a service or app that resolved a problem such as ours.
Existing Solutions
The competition does not:
Guide users on getting a job
Motivate users to follow through with job applications
Generate curated tasks based on user needs
Help users balance their schoolwork
We found two applications, Huntr and Google Calendar, that only offer a partial solution to the problem.
User Interviews
For our user interviews, we wanted to target college students who were actively searching for job opportunities and having trouble balancing their school workload with the job application process. As such, we conducted 3 semi-structured interviews, respectively, of students who fit that criteria while keeping in mind these research questions:
What struggles do you have when applying to internships when school is in session?
To what extent do you find reminders helpful in helping you achieve your goals?
What keeps you motivated to continue applying to internships?
Affinity Diagram
Ideation
Main Insight
ALL of our interviewees found staying motivated to be a challenge.
Our affinity diagram shows that each interviewee remains motivated in different ways. A user need we discovered from that was customization options. Students should be able to choose the items that keep them motivated.
Major Insights + Needs
User Insights
User Needs
Guidance regarding where to start and next steps
Resources to help users throughout their application process
Personas
Afterward, we crafted personas to get a better sense of the types of student who may use our product.
User Requirements + Use Cases
Discovered user requirements to create use case diagrams from Volere Shells
We proceeded to brainstorm how our users will interact with our product and what their requirements would be from our user insights and needs.
Volere Shell
Use Case Diagram
Storyboard
Afterward, we crafted personas to get a better sense of the types of student who may use our product.
User flows + Tasks
3 key user flows made from use cases that highlight human-computer interactivity
When thinking of what major use cases best showcase how BalanceBudddy would be used, we identified 3 that we could then develop into features. Moreover, the steps (or tasks) involved, and the progression of said steps with regard to our user and our product.
Use Case #1: User Sets Up An Account
When a BalanceBuddy user creates an account, they have the option of uploading motivational media to be displayed on their customizable motivation board. They then will be prompted by the system if they want to provide access to their digital calendar. Whether it is uploading motivational media or providing calendar access, the user will be informed that they will have the opportunity to adjust those settings at a later time. After all of that, the user will be directed to an assessment to gauge where they are in terms of the job application process. And finally, the user will go to the dashboard.
Use Case #2: Receiving Task Notification and Do Task
Use Case #3: Utilizing Resources to Do Task
At times, when the user gets stuck on how to fulfill a task, the system will always display recommended resources to help them get to the next task in the form of links.
Prototype & Evaluation
Approaching the prototyping phase began with creating low-fidelity wireframes from our userflows.
Low-Fidelity (Wireflows)
Wireflow #1: Receiving Task Notification & Do Task
Wireflow #2: Giving Calendar Access for Curated Reminders
Wireflow #3: User Sets Up An Account
Mid-Fidelity
After that, we hopped into making a mid-fidelity version of our product. I was responsible for the dashboard, one of my teammates did the sign-in portion of BalanceBuddy, and the other did the extension pop-ups.
Sign Up Process | Motivation + Calendar Access
Sign Up Process | Assessment
Dashboard
Extension Pop-ups
As shown in the user flows earlier, sign-up brings the user to enter their credentials, upload motivation, provide calendar access, and complete the BalanceBuddy Assessment as the final step. After that, the user is taken to the dashboard where they can access their job-related tasks, progression roadmap of said tasks, and their personal motivation board.
High-Fidelity
Soon after, we made a high-fidelity prototype!
High-Fidelity Prototype | Evaluation
Unfortunately, we were unable to execute our evaluation due to time limitations. And we had to quickly get started on our working prototype. For that reason, we settled on doing a survey largely with open-ended questions.
Survey
Key Questions:
What academic factors do you believe are related to your ability or inability to find an internship/job?
What demographic factors do you believe are related to your ability or inability to find an internship/job?
What social factors do you believe are related to your ability or inability to find an internship/job?
What methods do you use to help yourself move forward when you feel lost or stuck?
What else should BalanceBuddy take into consideration? Why?
We then asked for feedback regarding the user assessment questions, which could be observed in our mid & high-fidelity prototypes, from our interviewees!
Survey Results & Insights:
Knowledge gained from coursework was the biggest factor that participants felt help them get a job opportunity
Participants largely felt lost and stuck when they got rejection offers and/or when they had no experience with the job application process
Going to other people, whether that be in the form of a panel, the career center, or friends, are methods our participants used to help them not feel lost
Implementation
Working Prototype
Built a working prototype that implemented BalanceBuddy's core features.
For the working prototype, we mainly divided the work between what each person worked on in the mid and high-fidelity prototypes. I did the front-end for the dashboard, while my other 2 teammates did the front-end for the sign-up pages and the back-end for the extension, respectively.
Developmental Environment
Front-end: React.js, Bootstrap,
Material UIBack-end: Express.js, Axios
Version Control: GitHub
Database Development: MongoDB
Working Prototype | Evaluation
Key Questions:
To what extent are the assessment questions representative of the users?
Does giving users' resources, increase the likelihood of users completing their tasks?
Does giving users motivation increase the likelihood of users completing their tasks?
Participant Criteria:
Age 18-22
All genders
General computer/browser experience
1:1 ratio of international students vs National US students
Actively looking for a job/internship or wants to start looking for one
Good balance between
Students who are stressed and have a lot of school work at the time
Students who are more relaxed and don’t have a lot of other work
Development of Tasks:
Task 1 - Take a brief assessment, so the system can cater your experience to you
Task 2 - Complete the given task within thirty minutes
Reflection
This had to be the most thorough and completed project I had a hand in creating. And it was an enjoyable experience. The biggest downside would have to be the time constraints we were under, which made some aspects not as fleshed out and realized as we would have liked. For instance, the high-fidelity dashboard I created took a lot of time as my group and I ideated how it should be.
More Testing: Creation took precedence over evaluation. And while we did craft clear plans for that portion of the project, we did not get the opportunity to do thorough testing as we would have liked. And between the high-fidelity and working prototypes, it became more of a sprint to the finish-line. I'd say we did the best we could under the circumstance. Given more time, we would be able to fix other issues with our product and do things at a reasonable pace.
User Settings: Not every student is the same, so to further personalize the user need for curated job-related reminders, we would have designed and implemented that option for the user. Moreover, we would ideate on what else should be included on the settings page.
