Thesis Statement -
Integration of communication for prospective students with alumni and current students to improve the process of university selection through real-time social media like networking.
Duration
Jan 2020 - Present
Designed By
Pranav Shinde
My Role
Concept Development, UI/UX, Visual Design
Design Tools
Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Principle
Advisors
Adam Smith | Mike Strobert
Prompt -
It is difficult for prospective students to choose a university that matches their liking in terms of prospects and something they have an interest in. Multiple factors like cost, living preferences, food, place play a big part in making a very important decision.
Solution -
Developing an interaction model after identifying the key pain points of individuals to tackle the problem of university selection & easing the application process in an engaging manner through establishing a personal connection.
How do we take that personal connection and integrate it into the ecosystem of the university selection process?
• Live Chat with Alumni to gain a more personalized experience and testimonial about the university.
• Chat with current students to stay updated on the recent developments to align your personal and professional goals with the structure of the university.
• AI Chatbot to guide you through the program/application process to help you understand the process and requirements.
Why is it important?
Establishing transparency for potential students through real-time testimonials helps in making the right and well-informed decision and a higher rate of conversion.
User Research
75% of the prospective students rely on connecting with the alumni to make an informed decision during their university selection process.
65% of the students said it would be better if they could seamlessly connect with current students to determine how it aligns with their personal and professional goals.
Almost all the users highlighted it would have been easier to determine their university choices if they had multiple chances to interact with someone from the university other than their advisors. Reviews don't exactly help identify the current scenario of the particular program they are looking to enroll in.
Solutions
Live Chat with Alumni.
Have a conversation with program alumni of your concerned program either through chat or video calls.
• Real-Time Connections
• Testimonials
• Accurate Information
Schedule Call.
Have a conversation with program alumni of your concerned program at a later time depending on the availability.
• Flexibility
• Trust
• Accessibility to resources.
Call Functionality.
Have a conversation with program alumni or a current student of your concerned program through an intuitive UI to help connect in a seamless way.
• Easy to Share
• Live Communication
Next Steps -
- Identify ALL possible interactions that a prospective student has with the university website starting from the homepage and accordingly develop new interaction modules to make it a seamless experience.
- Translate the real-time connection feature for multiple programs and identify the change of tone required for the feature to adapt to different programs.
- Develop a global feature set that would be ideal to apply for any product selling website to help potential users/customers to have real-time communication with actual beneficiaries for transparency related to the brand.
Going above & beyond.
The experience of university selection also encompasses the application process. Reimagining the application experience to translate the form-based approach into a conversational application would help the students remain engaged in the process and also the intuitive approach that the university is undertaking.
*Conversational AI for the application process would only be utilized if the advisors are unavailable for one on one interactions. The users can still connect with other students if they wish to connect as per the availability.
How does a conversational application process make a difference in the experience that the students undertake?
Voice provides a realistic feel in interactions
Interactive voice systems are a more natural means of interaction than visual interfaces for the majority of users and by removing a visible interface and exchanging it with voice, users are placed in a far more acquainted context.
Offering a tailor-made personalized experience
A conversational interface or a device utilizing conversational AI can produce a deeper personal connection between a user and a system. This way, it is not just a device for the user, but more of a friend.
Anticipatory Design
With your objective to reduce your end user’s efforts in order to communicate with the VUI, it is imperative to understand the initial intent and anticipate needs at various “checkpoints” within the conversation in order to dish out relevant response(s).
User flow -
This diagram represents the user flow for the application process through conversational AI. The entire process will be functioning on the basis of user inputs and specific commands. The user can also ask for the intervention of an advisor if available which provides a fallback for any system faults that are unseen.
Screens -
The screens are a work in progress currently. Stay tuned for further updates.
Developing human-like conversations instead of forcing students down a rigid path.
For example -
Where are you coming from? What is your nationality?
"India"
I have heard great things about India, we have OSCIS, a student body for the international students from India, let me know if you need some more information about the same.
Developing narratives based upon the individual helps the student engage more freely to have a conversation and also helps the university learn in more depth regarding a potential candidate and their eligibility for a particular program.
Next Steps -
- Define the narrative and flush out a conversation that would ideally be a warming experience for a potential student to interact with.
- Identify the additional points of real-time connections to help foster the application process in detail.
- Understand and rectify points of conflict of why and when the conversational AI would be utilized and what makes it really stand out against filling a form.
Work in Progress!
Thank You!