Casey Darr

UX Designer


Chico State mobile app in the Google Play Store

Research and Design for the Chico State Mobile App

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.

Problem

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.

Research

To ensure the app met student expectations, I conducted in-depth user research, which included:

  • Field Study - My UX student assistant and I conducted informal interviews with 51 students, asking what they would want in a Chico State mobile app. If the conversation allowed, we delved deeper into their responses.
  • Focus Groups - Early in the design process, I facilitated focus group studies to gauge student perceptions and refine our direction based on feedback.
  • Unmoderated Usability Test - Based on a thorough review of the mobile app draft, I designed an unmoderated usability test focused on key items to ensure the first version of the app was error-free and aligned with user needs.
bar chart representation of student interview data

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.

Casey presenting research to internal stakeholders

I presented my findings from each of my three user research studies to internal stakeholders.

designs in Figma

Design Process

  • Prototyping - I created interactive prototypes and design templates, which were iterated upon with feedback from focus groups and project stakeholders.
  • Collaboration - I worked closely with the design team at University Communications to get designer feedback and ensure that the app was on-brand. This collaboration helped produce a more polished product, especially for the launch screens and app store screens.
  • Usability Testing - I designed and conducted an unmoderated usability test to evaluate problem areas identified through expert review. I incorporated the System Usability Scale (SUS) into the study as a quantitative benchmark against which future iterations of the app could be tested.
  • Platform Integration - I worked with the ModoLab platform to bring the app to life, ensuring that design elements integrated seamlessly with the technical requirements.

What was the SUS score for the mobile app draft? 86

Challenges

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.

Collaboration

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.

Solution

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.

Impact

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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