Innovatemap

Innovatemap, located in Indianapolis, IN, is a team of experts in digital product research, branding, marketing, and design. Big ideas always take grit and at Innovatemap, fruitful insights pave the way for innovation. Together, the team offers a collaborative, revolutionary experience.

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Project Overview

The high school to college transition is daunting for many students and this is especially true for students who don't have family members who have gone through the college experience. Without guidance or resources on how to navigate a university environment, first-generation students have an increasingly difficult time adjusting and becoming comfortable with university life, leading to a higher rate of drop outs.

Design Walkthrough

Deliverables

1. A Digital Prototype

Our team created an interactive prototype on Figma of our designed experience. The prototype has three main functions that address three major pain points: person-to-person contact, identifying your group, and biteable content

2. A Research and Design Document

The team delivered a research and design document to our sponsors. This document showcases the research insights we found with respect to the college transition as well as the research behind the doubt and motivation of students when thinking about their education

High-Level Goals

1. Understand the struggles of incoming first-generation college students.

2. Identify where first-generation college students have the most need for a design solution.

3. Design an experience for high school students that gives them confidence when transitioning to university life.

Understanding First-Generation College Students

It is not uncommon for first-generation students to experience feelings of self-doubt, up to the point of considering dropping out of college.

According to the Clay Center for Young and Healthy Minds, ⅓ of first-generation college students drop out in the first three years of college. This is due to facing psychological, academic, financial, and social challenges.

Psychological Challenges

Family conflicts and guilt for leaving their families are the main psychological challenges students go through. Many students feel bad they have an opportunity their parents were not as fortunate enough to have. Students suffer from imposter syndrome, shame, and embarrassment when on campus. Confusion and anxiety are also common challenges.

Academic Challenges

Difficulty navigating the academic system and feelings of not being prepared are common challenges. Being the first in their families to pursue higher education, first-generation students can’t rely on their parents to help them overcome these barriers. They also aren't as aware of the resources available to them.

Financial Challenges

Lower family incomes may cause first-generation students to have to take on jobs during college, taking up much needed time for academics and socializing. This is an added stressor to the already overwhelming environment. Financial burdens are the main reason first-generation students drop out.

Social Challenges

Greater social isolation and in extreme instances, stigma and discrimination are also challenges. Feelings of insecurity and fear about acceptance result in isolation. Limited ability to vacation for spring break or spend money on dinners also leads to feelings of loneliness.

Where do we fit in?

First-generation students come from diverse backgrounds and face the challenges above at differing degrees, so our design would need to be multi-faceted and flexible to fit into daily student life. We want to alleviate some of the academic challenges first-generation students have. More specifically, we will focus on designing a solution that addresses the pain points of not feeling prepared. We chose this specific pain point after conducting rounds of interviews where we saw this being the most prevalent problem for incoming first-generation students.

Project Scope

Through primary and secondary research, the team found that first-generation college students are unsure whether they can finish college. There exists self-doubt and a lack of motivation when thinking about navigating an academic environment. this leads us to our problem scope:

Design a virtual experience for first-generation college students to address the doubt and motivation they have in regard to finishing their education.

Goals

Build empathy with our end users
Drive design decisions and rationale
Tell the story of our final design

User Story - Maritza

Approach

Maritza is a persona made up of 2 rounds of interview takeaways the team got from 4 first-generation college students and 4 high school seniors who would have been transitioning to university life.

Meet Maritza

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Maritza is a high school senior who decided to apply and go to college. She is the first one in her family to attend college and has recently been accepted to a large university

She's unsure about the transition from high school to college and is unsure about what university life even entails.

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She often waits anxiously for update emails from the university to understand what she needs to do before getting to campus.

As the first one in her family to attend college, she feels alone in the process. She is unsure whether she will acclimate to the university culture and be able to make friends in an unfamiliar environment. It's also tough because she is unable to ask her parents for guidance as they are also unfamiliar with the process. Being the first in her family to ever pursue higher education and take this leap, she is even doubtful as to whether or not she'll be able to finish her college education. Stress, anxiety and doubt circulate in her mind while she heads into the summer before college.

One evening, she gets an email from her university to begin her onboarding experience and prepare for the upcoming semester. She gets access to an application call DUO Mobile and BoilerKey. She sets up her account and logs into another application she got access to, BrightSpace.