Student BUDDY!
Type:
Master thesis
Duration:
4-5 months
My role:
UI/UX designer, Graphic design
Tools:
Figma, GitHub
Design Thinking Process
I followed a structured and iterative design approach to ensure the final solution effectively addressed the core problem, aligned with user expectations, and delivered meaningful value. This process minimized risks through continuous validation of ideas, incorporating user feedback and thoughtful adjustments before full implementation.
01 Project overview - Student BUDDY
Problem statement
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PS: What are the similarities and differences in the experiences of using the app for Swedish and Croatian students?
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RQ1: Is design of simple and understandable UI culturally sensitive?
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RQ2: Can one UI design be applied to both students’ groups?
Goals & Challenges
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The main goal would be to provide services between the students, especially to those who want to save money and time. These services would be presented with a number of basic pieces of information, such as name of the service, field of the service, type of the service, phone number, and email address of the student or company they work with.
The research problem
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The main problem to be addressed in this project is the lack of application services for the student population. In addition to studying, students often pursue a hobby or enroll in additional courses.
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The question is why they could not share their knowledge or skills with other students? It will be of great help if students could exchange their experiences, skills or knowledge which would save a lot of time and money. This research project will investigate this hypothesis in real life. Comparing student samples in both countries could give more detailed findings about this issue.
A brief consideration about ethical issues that may arise in the project
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In a research project, ethical considerations are important. Students will be involved in research work. Since their basic data is needed, we must take care of data protection. When testing students, there will be a questionnaire for consent that their basic data (name, age, town, country) can be used for research purposes.
02 Video - Mobile app (new design)
03 Solution - Mobile app (new design)
04 Design system
05 Iteration 1 - First design
MoSCoW method
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During the first iteration, the focus was on the MoSCoW method, user flow, low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes to get the first look at the app. The main idea behind prototypes is to show potential users a better perspective of the app during an interview and to help them understand the purpose of the study.
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Before starting app sketches, the MoSCoW method was applied to prioritize user needs, classifying them into “Must have”, “Should have”, “Could have”, and “Will not have” categories. This approach provided valuable insights into understanding the app ́s components and the appropriate methodology applied to potential users to establish priorities.
User flow
Low-fidelity prototype
Solution: mobile app
06 User Interviews
Who are the participants?
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The research was carried out in 3 groups, 5 students from each group, mostly they were at the last year of their master program
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Since my topic is to investigate similarities and differences in the experiences of using the app for Swedish and Croatian students, 2 groups consist of these two type of student
Why did I choose the third group -
Erasmus students?
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Erasmus students can significantly contribute to this type of research due to the new environment, challenges, language, and culture learning. They can give other perspectives and suggestions on what they need while studying abroad.
Why did I choose User Interviews method?
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User Interviews are a research method designed to present qualitative information about the users, allow to directly engage with users to learn about their needs, preferences and behaviors. It provide an opportunity to receive feedback so I could define pain points, single insights or areas for improvement.
How users were tested?
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Since I started doing my master thesis while I was in Sweden, I did it remotely with all students over the video call or regular phone call.
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Every interview was around 20-30 minutes.
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I asked 10 questions and wrote the answers in my notebook as well as observations such as their thoughts or what they actually wanted to say
Hypothesis
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A majority of students are inclined to primarily help in academic subject
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Students like to be treated equally so the feature to provide first offer then chose offer, will achieve the feeling for equality and security
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Including the reviews in the app can help students to feel secure that the app is valid and to choose easily with who they want to collaborate with
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Including the points in the app and be awarded for it will attract more students to participate in
Affinate mapping
H1::Students like to be treated equally so the feature to provide first offer then chose offer, will achieve the feeling for equality and security
H2::Students like to be treated equally so the feature to provide first offer then chose offer, will achieve the feeling for equality and security
H3::Including the reviews in the app can help students to feel secure that the app is valid and to choose easily with who they want to collaborate with
H4::Including the points in the app and be awarded for it will attract more students to participate in
User cases
05 Define
Priority Matrix
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One of the questions asked in the user interviews was about the skills that students can offer or they want to find in the app, so I chose to prioritize student needs on behalf of their answer
Conclusion
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Students in Göteborg and Split have the same interest for helping or offering within subjects. However, they have different needs for finding or offering help.
06 Ideate
Crazy 8´s
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After I received feedback from user interviews, I've decided to use method Crazy8´s where I draw all new ideas in 8 minutes
Assumption Mapping
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I decided to go in details of the crazy 8´s and prioritize the ideas
User Flow
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After mapping I decided to add new things in the app and develop more features
Low - fidelity
07 Usability testing
Who are the participants?
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The research was carried out in 2 groups, In total there were 22 students, 11 students from each group. Participants were students from Gothenburg, Sweden and Split, Croatia.
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The survey was anonymous, and the only personal question asked was about the city that the students was studying in.
Why did I choose Usability testing method?
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Usability testing is vital to answer the following research questions: “Is the design of simple and understandable UI culturally sensitive?“ and „Can one UI design be applied to both students’ groups?“.
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Several valid reasons justify the inclusion of tasks and the prototype. Although it provides a better user experience, it also helps to receive insights or pain points regarding the app's functionality so issues can be fixed in the early stage of the developing phase in the future, which saves time and costs. It provides a more realistic experience than just rough images or text.
How users were tested?
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The survey was created on www.microsoft.com. The main goal is to understand whether there are cultural differences between students in Croatia and Sweden, with a specific focus on UI elements such as icons, illustrations, colors, and language.
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Tasks were given and interactive high-fidelity prototypes were incorporated as part of the survey
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The survey was conducted in English for both student groups and consists of 12 questions and takes less than 5 minutes after you are done with following tasks!
Testing cultural sensitivity
Results
After taking average results for every question, Split students are very satisfied with UI elements. In contrast, Gothenburg students are very satisfied with the colors and visual elements, icons, and fonts. However, a question about the interface and whether it is intuitive they found somewhat satisfactory, as well as the easy navigation through the app.
Results
The language of the app is in English version for both student groups. Most Split students (64%) found language easy, while four (36%) think it is relatively easy. However, all Gothenburg students except one said the language is easy, while only one said it was relatively easy.
Results
Gothenburg students (73%) agree, while (27%) of students are not sure. Most students from Split (82%) think icons and illustrations reflect various cultures, while only (18%) of students are still determining.
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Results
Both student groups felt very satisfied after completing a registration task. The outcomes were consistent for both groups in terms of offering a skill and searching for an event. Split students were very satisfied. However, among Gothenburg students, there was a leaning towards a feeling somewhat satisfied.
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Open-ended questions
08 Conclusion
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
RQ1: Is the design of simple and understandable UI culturally sensitive?
RQ2: Can one UI design be applied to both students’ groups?
Results:
UI elements and language - consistent outcome
Intuitive interface, navigation - differing by only one level
Conclusion:
The study results indicate that a simple and understandable UI design can be both culturally sensitive and applied to both student groups.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
What are the similarities and differences in the experiences of using the app
for Swedish and Croatian students?
Results:
registration - easy and very satisfied for both student groups
offering and searching- Croatian students (easy and very satisfied), Swedish students (somewhat easy and somewhat satisfied)
Croatian students like the design of the app, Swedish students provide more specific feedback (icons, buttons and map)
Conclusion:
Statistically, there are few differences , however, during open-ended questions, it is visible that Swedish students are more active in giving advice and suggestions regarding the cultural elements and features, highlights, and quotes difficulties in navigating the app.
09 Discussion
Limitations
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One difficulty was finding students who would participate in the research. Therefore, I interviewed people I knew for all three student groups. However, for the survey with incorporated high-fidelity prototype, I knew the majority of students, but some students joined from both Swedish and Croatian universities, that I did not personally know.
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One possible disadvantage is that it might affect research results with a lack of opinions and honest answers. However, engaging familiar people makes it possible to get insights faster, and they may feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts with someone they know.
Future work
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This thesis aimed to focus on user research; however, after getting insights and feedback, a list of suggestions could be implemented in the next iteration of the high-fidelity prototype and developing. Considering single insights and paint points in phase, further investigation could be done, and new methods could be applied such as “How Might We”, “5 Ws”, “Affinity map”, “Customer Journey Map”.
