UX Designer
As a design lead for the Chico State Mobile App project, I played a pivotal role in the content and design strategy. This included understanding the goals of the Division of IT, leading user research, creating prototypes, and ensuring a user-centered design approach throughout the process.
The Division of IT at Chico State sought to develop a mobile app that would improve student engagement and simplify access to key resources on campus. However, the app needed to reflect student needs and align with the university's brand while being intuitive and easy to use. The challenge was ensuring the design would meet these criteria while also supporting scalability for future features.
To ensure the app met student expectations, I conducted in-depth user research, which included:
Events, student center integration, and resources were the top priorities for students. As a result, events are a featured item on the current students index of the mobile app.
I presented my findings from each of my three user research studies to internal stakeholders.
A significant challenge arose during the testing phase with Android users, as coordinating access to the beta app was difficult. To overcome this, I had to create workarounds and remain flexible with user testing instructions to ensure smooth participation.
Throughout the project, I worked closely with a student assistant to support various aspects of the process. Together, we performed research, conducted UX analysis, created designs, and tested assumptions. This collaboration was essential to ensure thorough research and design validation, helping us stay aligned with user needs and project goals.
The resulting design emphasized ease of use, simplicity, and alignment with student needs, ensuring that key features were both accessible and intuitive. The app's interface was designed to evolve, with phase 1 focusing on foundational features that could be expanded in future iterations.
Phase 1 of the app successfully grounded the project in student feedback and aligned with Chico State’s brand. The final product was a usable, scalable solution that met student expectations and was ready for future growth. The project also ensured a smooth handoff to the app maintenance team for continued evolution.
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