U-M Campus Navigation
Type
UX Research
Role
UX Researcher
Joan Suh, Meera Agrawal, Bernie Velasquez, Kristen Huang
Team
Duration / Year
9 weeks, 2023
For a school project, our team partook in a 9-week process of UX research, providing solution suggestions for the University of Michigan's campus wayfinding app and analyzing how students currently navigate their way through campus.
Tools: Figma, Google Workspace, Miro
The Problem
UofM students require an effective navigating platform to alleviate difficulties in locating essential resources, such as classes, support facilities, and/or dining options. As these difficulties may result in a negative impact on their overall campus experience,
‘UM would like to create a campus wayfinding app to help students’.
Our Challenge
My team of 4 UX Researchers aimed to evaluate the following:
How students currently get around campus
Primary platforms/tools students frequently use
Students' navigation pain points
Our goal is to provide recommendations for a comprehensive campus wayfinding app that consolidates information from various existing apps.
Research Question
What are the biggest challenges that students face in finding what they need (e.g., classes, services, food) on campus?
The Process
Interview Guide
The first step of our research process was coming up with a recruiting plan. To collect relevant data, we designed a set of inclusion/exclusion criteria first to make sure we interviewed the right people.
Inclusion Criteria
Exclusion Criteria
We used mapping as an interview activity to help students express and communicate their campus experiences more effectively. By having them draw and describe their chosen routes, we aimed to uncover their mental maps of campus and gather insights about their navigation experiences, including any challenges or notable features.
Example Interview Questions
“Can you tell me about your first time/memory navigating through campus?”
“If you had to travel to a new building on campus that you have never been to before, how would you go about getting there?”
User Interviews & Coding Qualitative Data
After creating the interview guide, each team member recruited and interviewed 3 students who matched our inclusion criteria to gather information. We then coded our interviews using “I” statements to identify the relevant and valuable information related to our research question.
Affinity Diagramming
By combining our user interview data (n=12), which included "I" statements and direct quotes, we organized the information into categories related to our research question (ex. Current Campus Navigation Situation, Struggles of Navigating Through Campus, Tools to Navigate Through Campus, etc.) We then used a Miro board to visually represent our findings.
Key Findings
Students primarily use walking and riding buses as their main forms of transportation
Google Maps and Apple Maps are the preferred navigation platforms
Students frequently rely on well-known campus landmarks to orient themselves and determine their location
Many students are dissatisfied with the usability of the campus bus app
Survey Design & Analysis
To validate our current findings and gather more quantitative data, we designed a survey aimed at a broader student population. Employing inclusion/exclusion criteria again, we screened out individuals who would not be helpful in answering our research questions. Then, we created visualizations with the data we collected from 17 students:
High preference shown for the potential virtual directory feature
Students are likely to use navigating platforms very often when campus is generally confusing / finding classrooms / finding correct building entrance…
Students tend to use classroom buildings as landmarks when difficult to find classrooms
Students who use walking as their primary form of transportation mainly use Apple Maps and Google Maps
Interview Data Validation
The Deliverables
Personas
Alex represents first-year students, is notably inexperienced with campus navigation and expresses strong disapproval of the current Michigan Bus platform. Also shows the sentiment of many students who find the navigation app perplexing and inefficient.
Emily, a third-year undergraduate student, typifies those who may not require a navigating app for general campus navigation but instead seek it for locating specific classrooms within buildings and securing parking spots before classes. It aligns with our findings on students' frustrations with current navigation apps.
Journey Map
Then I created a journey map that complements the second persona, Emily, delving into the distinct stages of her journey and focusing on the challenges she faces in locating specific classrooms and parking spots. It addresses her unique needs throughout this process and illustrates how the proposed solutions could enhance her overall experience and effectively fulfill her goals.
The Reflection
Lessons ☁️
This was my first UX Research class, and it was a great opportunity to learn all the different steps of UX Research. I got to really dive into the process and picked up a bunch of skills like interviewing, creating affinity mapping, and designing surveys during this 9-week project.
Challenges ⛈️
One of the notable challenges we encountered was the limited timeframe and the fast-paced nature of each project phase. And when crafting user interview questions for the first time, it was challenging to double-check if we were correctly avoiding leading questions and potential biases.
Improvements ☀️
Given the chance to revisit this project under more favorable time conditions, I would prioritize dedicating additional time to prototype the actual development. I believe that a well-crafted prototype would significantly enrich our final recommendations, providing a more compelling solution for a new campus navigation app.