IST-Go! Safe Study

Client

IST-Go!

Timeline

4 months

Content

Product Design

Strategy & Design

Ed Tech

B2C Mobile

Inaccurate Data, Untrusting Users

IST-Go! is an app designed to help university students with social distancing by providing real-time occupancy data of nearby spaces. The app faced challenges with data accuracy and user engagement.

To address these issues, a new room/desk booking feature was introduced, which improved data accuracy and better aligned with user needs. Additionally, the app's previous health check-in feature and location-changing difficulties were resolved during this process.

Key Results

Engagement & Adoption

Increased User Engagement: 30% increase in app usage due to the new room booking feature.
High User Satisfaction: Positive feedback from 75% of users regarding the new booking feature.

Strategic objectives

Improved Data Accuracy: Occupancy data accuracy improved by 40% with user-provided data.
Feature Improvement: Eliminated the confusing health check-in feature, leading to a clearer app purpose.

My Role

Design

Created high-fidelity wireframes and improved user flows for the new room booking feature.

Research

Conducted surveys and user interviews to identify student needs and pain points.

Strategy

My role extended beyond traditional design duties. I facilitated workshops, guided the team through a structured ideation process, and played a key role in translating customer feedback into actionable design improvements.

Challenges & Strategy

Inaccurate Occupancy Data

The app used technology provided by the Portuguese tourism board to convey how many people are in an area. However, the tech wasn't reliable and inaccurate occupancies were being shown.

Inaccurate Occupancy Data

The app used technology provided by the Portuguese tourism board to convey how many people are in an area. However, the tech wasn't reliable and inaccurate occupancies were being shown.

Inaccurate Occupancy Data

The app used technology provided by the Portuguese tourism board to convey how many people are in an area. However, the tech wasn't reliable and inaccurate occupancies were being shown.

Inaccurate Occupancy Data

The app used technology provided by the Portuguese tourism board to convey how many people are in an area. However, the tech wasn't reliable and inaccurate occupancies were being shown.

Low User Engagement

The original purpose of the app was to show students on site events, activities, maps of the university campus- When lockdown was announced, this was no longer relevant or useful.

Low User Engagement

The original purpose of the app was to show students on site events, activities, maps of the university campus- When lockdown was announced, this was no longer relevant or useful.

Low User Engagement

The original purpose of the app was to show students on site events, activities, maps of the university campus- When lockdown was announced, this was no longer relevant or useful.

Low User Engagement

The original purpose of the app was to show students on site events, activities, maps of the university campus- When lockdown was announced, this was no longer relevant or useful.

Unusual Features

The app grew organically in response to the pandemic- With health check features tossed in without considering the impact of a half baked feature, e.g the health check in.

Unusual Features

The app grew organically in response to the pandemic- With health check features tossed in without considering the impact of a half baked feature, e.g the health check in.

Unusual Features

The app grew organically in response to the pandemic- With health check features tossed in without considering the impact of a half baked feature, e.g the health check in.

Unusual Features

The app grew organically in response to the pandemic- With health check features tossed in without considering the impact of a half baked feature, e.g the health check in.

Enhance Data Accuracy

The occupancy data is useful to users - How can we improve it? By using crowd-sensing to obtain accurate data. How do we do so safely, and while providing utility?

Enhance Data Accuracy

The occupancy data is useful to users - How can we improve it? By using crowd-sensing to obtain accurate data. How do we do so safely, and while providing utility?

Enhance Data Accuracy

The occupancy data is useful to users - How can we improve it? By using crowd-sensing to obtain accurate data. How do we do so safely, and while providing utility?

Enhance Data Accuracy

The occupancy data is useful to users - How can we improve it? By using crowd-sensing to obtain accurate data. How do we do so safely, and while providing utility?

What Do Students Need?

By speaking directly to students, we can understand what they need from an app, thereby enabling the collection of data while providing value.

What Do Students Need?

By speaking directly to students, we can understand what they need from an app, thereby enabling the collection of data while providing value.

What Do Students Need?

By speaking directly to students, we can understand what they need from an app, thereby enabling the collection of data while providing value.

What Do Students Need?

By speaking directly to students, we can understand what they need from an app, thereby enabling the collection of data while providing value.

Feature Review

By reviewing the features in the app with real users, we can get a sense of the challenges that these features create. We can evaluate usefulness and gain actionable insights.

Feature Review

By reviewing the features in the app with real users, we can get a sense of the challenges that these features create. We can evaluate usefulness and gain actionable insights.

Feature Review

By reviewing the features in the app with real users, we can get a sense of the challenges that these features create. We can evaluate usefulness and gain actionable insights.

Feature Review

By reviewing the features in the app with real users, we can get a sense of the challenges that these features create. We can evaluate usefulness and gain actionable insights.

The Users & Real Needs

Student Survey

Problem
Needed to understand why students were attending university during a pandemic and their specific needs.

Strategy & Approach
Developed and distributed a survey to capture data on student attendance patterns, motivations, and frequency.

Execution
Recruited 214 respondents using student networks and analysed survey results.

Uncovering Current Issues

Problem
Existing app features, such as health check-in, were confusing and misinterpreted as contact tracing tools.

Strategy and Approach
Uncover why engagement is so low, through targeted interviews aimed at high engagement, "power" users.

Execution
From the survey, we identified users who fit typical user profiles. We conducted open ended interviews to uncover their painpoints.

Results
The health check-in feature was controversial- The usefulness was questioned and the purpose was not clear to the users.

Ideation

Exploring Feature Options

Problem
Needed a feature that would address user pain points, provide utility and improve data accuracy.

Strategy and Approach
Brainstormed and evaluated potential features- Assessing them for viability, feasibility and desirability.

Execution
Created story-boards of potential features, including social feeds, daily alerts, gamified challenges and room booking, to communicate the concepts to stakeholders.

Results
Room booking was selected for its potential to solve multiple pain points and meet business requirements.

Feature Development

Building the Booking System

Problem: A Booking system isn't straight-forward to build- And we lacked an on premises ability to convey the booking to the user,

Strategy and Approach: Use service design mapping to understand complex touch points, and validate the solution with stakeholders.

Execution: Recruited a student volunteer to go on site, and test out the proposed approach. Recruit several volunteers to input into the map itself.

Results: Developed some ancillary support documentation, prompts and support to the user so that the resultant solution worked in real life.

Room & Desk Booking Feature

This new feature allows users to easily reserve rooms or desks, ensuring that booking information is correctly recorded and accessible.

By doing so, it better aligns with user needs by providing a streamlined and efficient process for reserving workspaces.

Furthermore, during the implementation of this feature, the app also addressed existing issues with the health check-in process and resolved challenges related to changing user locations. These improvements collectively contribute to a more user-friendly and reliable application.