iMentor

Nikita Redij
iMentor
iMentor
HelpingyoubetteracclimatizewiththeiSchoolcommunity
Jan 15’ – Mar 15’
Nikita Redij
iMentor
Jan 15’ – Mar 15’
ProblemStatement
TheUniversityofWashington'sMasterofScienceinInformationManagement(MSIM)degreeprogramdevelopsleaderswiththeskillstomanageinformation
systemsthatmeettheneedsoforganizationsofalltypesandsizes.TheMSIMcurriculumbuildsfoundationalskillsacrossthebreadthoftheinformation
managementfield,andprovidesopportunitiesforspecializationsinavarietyofareas,includingdatascienceandanalytics,informationassuranceandsecurity,
informationarchitectureandorganization,userexperience,andinformationmanagementandconsulting.
Starting2014,studentsgettochoosetheirpathofstudyinthefivementionedareasallowingthemtofocusintheirareaofprofessionalinterest.Althoughthe
websitecontainsvariousresourcestoinformabouttheprogram,studentswanttoknowabouttheprogramfromthecurrentstudents.Informationaboutthe
currentstudentsisnotavailableonthewebsite.ThereisnoplatformfortheincomingcohorttoconnectwithTheInformationSchool,itsfacultyandstudentsbefore
beginningtheiracademicyear.
ProposedDesignSolution
iMentorisawebsitedesignedtoaddresstheproblemfacedbytheincomingMSIMstudents.Itisaone-stopguideforstudentswhowanttoknowmoreaboutthe
course,classesandcareeropportunitiesattheUniversityofWashingtonInformationSchool.Ithasthefollowingfeatures:
✶Gettoknowaboutthecourse
✶Connectwithanexistingstudent
✶Accessinformationabouthousingoptions
✶AssisttheincomingstudentstogettheirstudentlifestartedatUWiSchool
✶Givesanopportunitytonetworkwithprofessionals
Nikita Redij
iMentor
Jan 15’ – Mar 15’
Ideation
Weincorporatedthetechniqueofideaspacingwhilebrainstorming,whichinvolvedtheteamcomingupwithideasthatwerebasedonthesametheme.Although
theyweredistinctinnatureandfunction,theyalignedwithourproblemstatement.
ContextualInquiry
IconductedasurveyamongthecurrentstudentswhostartedtheirMasterofScienceinInformationManagementdegreeinAutumn2014.Questionsrangedfrom
theirbackgroundtothehelptheyreceievedpriorcomingtotheUniversityofWashingtonandwhethertheyfacedanyproblemcommunicatingwiththefacultyand
students.Moreover,Iwascontactedbyfewstudentsintheincomingcohortwhohadquestionsaboutthecoursestructureandmostimportantly,the
specializations.TheywantedtoknowaboutthecareeropportunitiesatTheInformationSchoolandoutsideofUW.
Further,inputsfromtheMSIMAcademicAdviser,JasonBoydhelpedmegetanideaoftheareasthatstudentsfacedifficutiesin.InterviewswiththeMSIMProgram
Chair,HazelTaylorhelpedmegainafreshperspective.JasonBoydmentions,"Ourstudentsarefromdifferentpartsoftheworldandcomefromdiverse
backgrounds.Forthem,adaptingtoacompletelyneweducationsystemiscomplexandsometimeschallenging.Wehavealwaysencouragedstudentstotalktothe
currentstudentsandgettoknowtheirschool.OftenIgetemailsfromstudentsenquiringaboutspecializationstopursueanditsscope,theclassstructureandsoon.
Itwouldbeamazingifwecouldfacillitatecommunicationbetweenthemandourcurrentstudents."
Iaskedthecurrentstudentsinthesurveyaboutthetimetheyconnectedwithacurrentstudentthroughvariousmeanslikesocialmedia,personalcontactsand
referralsfromafacultyorstaff.Itwasobservedthatmoststudentscontactedfaculty,stafforastudentonconfirmingtheadmit.Subsequently,theyreceivedtheir
Nikita Redij
iMentor
Jan 15’ – Mar 15’
UWNetIDandcouldaccessthewebsite'MyPlan'tolookforcourses.Onenquiringabouttheirchoiceofspecialization,morethan50%confrimthattheyplanned
theircareerpathpriortothestartoftheprogram.
Nikita Redij
iMentor
Jan 15’ – Mar 15’
PersonaCreation
Afterconductinguserresearch,Icreatedapseudo-persona,AdeleGrey,aprospectivestudentatTheInformationSchool,UniversityofWashington.Ithelpedme
understandthetargetaudience'sgoalsandexpectations.Moreover,constructingapersonaassistedmeinmappingtheprojectscopeandfunctionality.Itprovided
meaninsightoftheaudiencebackground,behaviorandvalues.
Nikita Redij
iMentor
Jan 15’ – Mar 15’
UserFlow
Nikita Redij
iMentor
Jan 15’ – Mar 15’
SiteStructureMap
Wireframes
Afterthepaperprototyping,observationsregardingthewaystudentsnavigateonthewebsiteweremade.Thefollowingchangeswereincorporatedinthedesignof
lowfidelitywireframes:
✶'AdvancedSearch'optionwasprovided
✶Thecurrentpagenumberwasdisplayed
✶CoursetagsontheiMentorprofilepage
✶DifferenticonsforfavoritecoursesunderCoursetags
✶Displayofbreadcrumbstoconveynavigationinformation
Nikita Redij
iMentor
Jan 15’ – Mar 15’
Nikita Redij
iMentor
Jan 15’ – Mar 15’
Nikita Redij
iMentor
Jan 15’ – Mar 15’
Nikita Redij
iMentor
Jan 15’ – Mar 15’
Nikita Redij
iMentor
Jan 15’ – Mar 15’
FutureScope
TheprojectiscurrentlybeingdevelopedincollaborationwithiConnectprogramattheUniversityofWashingtonInformationSchoolwiththeobjectiveofbuildinga
closely-knitiSchoolcommunity.PlantohaveasimilarsetupforprospectiveandcurrentgraduatestudentspursuingMastersinLibraryScience(MLIS)isanticipatedin
future.
Difficulties
Throughouttheproject,studentprivacyandinformationsecuritywasamajorconcern.Theapplicationdisplaysinformationsuchassubjectstaken,previouswork
experience,linkstopersonalwebsiteandsocialnetworkingsitesandcontactinformationintheformofpersonalandUWemailaddress.Withanefforttoeliminate
therisksassociatedwithprivacyandinformationsecurity,thedesignwasiteratedtoincludeaUWnetidauthorization.UsershadtosigninusingtheirUWnetidand
passwordtoaccessthementorinformationandtheircontactdetails.Moreover,mentorswouldreceivean‘RequesttoConnect’uponwhichtheycouldchooseto
becomeamenteetoparticularusers.
DataRedundancywasanotherconcernthattheMSIMAdvisorexpressed.Storingtherecordsofstudentswhohavegraduatedfromtheprogrammorethan2yrs.
agoclutteredthewebsiteandincreasedprocessingtime.Moreover,relevantdataofrecentandcurrentstudentswouldbedifficulttoaccessbetweentheplethora
ofarchaicrecords.Thedesignsolutionwasmodifiedtoincluderecordsofstudentswhohavegraduatedayearagoandthecurrentstudents.