Challenge
As students at the University of Michigan, we always need to search for the ideal place to get our studying done but may not always feel sure what places can fill our study purposes. UMScout is the solution I came up with to connect students at the University of Michigan to various study spaces across the campus. How can I detail the suitability of spaces for different study activities and preferences as well as make the space searching process less time-consuming?
Outcome
Based on the insights and uncovered needs identified from research, I created UMScout, a mobile app that provides filters and detailed information to help students find places that fit different study activities and preferences. In this way, the mobile app can help students decide whether the study space is ideal before getting there.
Filter the space
Know the inside
Reserve space
Record the life
Reflection
UMScout was a course-based individual project. It not only gave me exposure to varieties of design methods like persona development, QOC, and Wizard of Oz, but also provided me a real practice to understand how to apply them to inspire and validate/invalidate my design decisions. Besides, as a first-year student of UMich myself, I was pretty confident about understanding the target user and framing the problem from the outset. But I neglected the perspective of the UMich staff and the students who are already familiar with the campus — until its significance rose when I started to evaluate the product’s acquisition and retention steps with AARRR metrics. From this experience, I was aware of the importance of involving different stakeholders during the design process.