Yasmin Haq
My UT App Redesign
BACKGROUND
Overview
The MyUT app is a student portal that allows students to access and manage personal, academic, and financial information. The MyUT portal allows you to complete tasks like pay for your tuition, and register for classes, manage your student funds, etc. There is a website version of the myUT portal that many students use.
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The mobile version of the portal doesn’t include access to much of the important information or tasks that would create a streamlined experience for students. It's also hard to access and is organized arbitrarily.
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Overall, my goal is to add and optimize the MyUT workflows for mobile use to increase user retention. I worked on this project in Jan 2023. This is an unsolicited redesign.
Goals
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Build a central navigation that aligns with the MyUT website
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Create page designs that flow well and improve user experience.
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Prioritize, condense and increase the amount of information presented by creating visual hierarchy
Process
DISCOVER
SYNTHESIZE
IDEATE
VALIDATE
DISCOVERY
The Problems
After heuristic evaluation and having 6 UT students complete a usability test, I identified some of the major pain points with the app:
1
INACCESSIBLE LOGIN
Task completion was halted for many users because their credentials didn't match up with what they use for all other UT platforms. Additionally, there was no error mitigation, so users couldn't figure out their credentials, permanently locking them out.
2
UNINTUITIVE USER FLOWS
When the User logs in, the app showcases a disorganized navigation. There is no ability to complete any essential tasks with the information presented. Overall, the app doesn't provide much value.
3
NON ESSENTIAL FEATURES CREATE BLOAT
Features like Canvas and an outdated Covid wellness page creates clutter and takes up crucial visual real estate. The Canvas integration also feels redundant because most students use the app/website.
4
INCOMPLETE FEATURES
Essential tasks are not present in the app, such as paying bills, accessing academic information, and upcoming events/reminders.
Auditing
Existing Designs
I started by diving into the current flow to create an rule in both the desktop and mobile version. The desktop version has essential features that many students use frequently. Many of these features are not accessible in the mobile version.
DESKTOP VERSION
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MOBILE VERSION: LOGIN
MOBILE VERSION: NAVIGATION PAGES
SYNTHESIZE
Brainstorming
I wanted to have an onboarding page/login that the user is presented with before entering the main section of the app. Instead of logging with a username, the user can login with their EID (a campus given id number used for any other digital campus tool), which would make the process much simpler than remembering the correct email or user name specifically made for this app.
The next step was to create pages and prioritize what belongs on the navigation bar. I originally decided on 5 pages after taking a look at the visual hierarchy on the MyUT website. One of the challenges with this process was figuring out what and how much information is most valuable to users while still keeping the app simple. I organized the nav into academics, financial info, personal info, profile, and home.
SOLUTION
Breakdown
After Iterating on some wireframes, I put the user flows in front of students, who gave me crucial feedback. Their feedback allowed be to solidify some hi-fi mock ups. Here are some of the key points/recommendations for the redesign:
STREAMLINE ONBOARDING PROCESS
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1
Adapting the login to accept a student's UT EID login, which is used for dual verification and Canvas.
2
Adding a "Remember me" checkbox to reduce the cognitive load of having to enter in a login every time a user enters the app.
3
Add ability to recover login to help users solve problems on their own.
ALIGN NAVIGATION WITH DESKTOP
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I aligned the nav with the MyUT desktop version by creating an academics and finances page. I compined personal info and profile into one tab to maximize real estate.
REFRESH BRAND IDENTITY
I wanted to create a modern look and feel. but also add some variation to UT's color palette. I also chose a font that felt inviting, but also easy to read.
CHALLENGES
Challenge 1
HOW MUCH SHOULD OF THE APP SHOULD BE REDESIGNED?
I decided since this project was an unsolicited redesign, I would focus on creating a "north star" design. I have no knowledge of the development challenges or a predicted scope, so I would try to deliver the set of pages tied to the navigation. These pages would serve as jumping off points for any tasks/user flows students would need to complete.
IMPACT
Improved
Consistency
Navigting through the app would be simpler because of alignment with desktop. Because users already have those patterns memorized, applying them to mobile would be intuitive.