Navigating Student Needs

Navigating Student Needs

• Methods used

• Student Personas

• Needs identified

• Lessons learned

Method – sketching workshop

Method – “DOTs” exercise

Method – student lifecycle

Method – functional mindmaps

Methods – focus groups & card sorts

OE student focus groups5 x Student Services Initiatives proposals

– Academic Commons, aka CalCentral

– Communications Hub & Knowledge Base

– Advising Toolkit– Bill Paying– Academic Planning

Navigation card sorts

Student Personas

• Ben 3rd year undergrad

https://confluence.media.berkeley.edu/confluence/display/MYB/Ben+-+3rd+Year+Undergraduate+Student

• Sofia – freshman undergradhttps://confluence.media.berkeley.edu/confluence/display/MYB/Sofia+-+Freshman+Undergraduate+Student

• Nicole graduate student

https://confluence.media.berkeley.edu/confluence/display/MYB/Nicole+-+Graduate+Student

Needs – basic and many!

• Navigation– unify the online Berkeley

experience• Communications– More targeted messaging– Help me manage important

tasks and events• Academic life– Planning tools– Class tools

The current student experience

Lessons Learned

• Create the big picture vision, then– Deliver useful functionality

• You can’t solve all problems ($, time, & resource constraints)– Identify & prioritize the high-value/high-impact solutions– Don’t recreate an existing solution– Address core campus needs, ex: teaching & learning

• “Push” vs. “Pull” services and UX design– “Push” key data, alerts, tasks, etc.– Help users navigate/”pull” information and access resources

• Students / Staff / Faculty– Share common needs and need to communicate– Create a single campus gateway, not 3

Looking to the future - Mobile

“Pushing” alerts & key information to students