orieNtation UniverSe App

UI/ UX Design

orieNtation UniverSe is a conferencing platform designed with the aim of facilitating large-scale social engagement among university orientation camp attendees when physical social interaction is prohibited.

Task: A university module project with the task of designing an entire platform to focus on social interactions that mimic the physical world.

Methods: User Interview, Proto-Persona, User Journey Mapping, Prototyping, Usability Testing, Heuristic Evaluation

Team: Worked as the UI/ UX Designer alongside 3 other members

Duration: 2 months

Tools: Miro

Overview

With the onset of COVID-19, the capability for physical interaction diminished and orientations had to be conducted online for safety reasons. As such, there was a need for an online platform to facilitate these social interactions to keep the students connected.

Problems and Solutions

As there was a limit to physical interaction, people found it hard to form connections.

User Interview

A survey was conducted with 30 orientation attendees to understand their pain points. A focus group discussion interview with 5 orientation organising committee members was then conducted for further insights. These participants were chosen using a convenience sampling method.

Survey and Interview Questions

Data Results

Proto-Personas

Based on the survey and interview results, 2 key proto-personas were created to gain a better understanding of our target audience.

User Journey Map

With the proto-personas in mind, we formulated an ideal user journey that we would like our users to experience.

Prototype

With the user journey in mind, we created a prototype to simulate the experience.

Usability Testing

The Wizard of Oz user-research method was used to conduct usability testing in-person with the use of 2 laptops.

User used his/her own laptop to navigate our system while we controlled the actions with our own laptops.
Allow users to explore the system on their own if they wish to
Inform them of the consequences of their actions eg: clicking a button causes a screen overlay to pop-up

From the usability testing, a few pain points were brought up:

Design Enhancements

Based on the pain points brought up, the prototype was revised again to counter these issues.

Heuristic Evaluation

From the prototype, a heuristic evaluation was conducted to gain further insight into how the prototype can be improved.

Constraints

Given more time and resources, more research will be conducted to understand current trends and whether similar applications exist to gain insight on the current trends. More participants will be recruited for usability testing to gather further insights into potential areas for improvement.

Future Directions

Create a working prototype on Figma for users to test out so that they have a better understanding of how the application works instead of just visualising.