Uni-Cycle - Mobile App
UX / UI Design - Summer 2024
You’re about to graduate high school! Now what? Uni-Cycle will guide the user in a personalized process of the college search. Allowing for them to find their perfect college match all in one place.
Part 1: Research
Research, Personas, User Flows.
Project Proposal
Audience: Juniors/seniors in high school or those beyond seeking to start the next chapter of their life.
Purpose: Guide future college students in the college search, accounting for factors beyond academics such as social scene, greek life, campus involvement, etc.
Deliverables: Uni-Cycle will filter to the user's interests upon sign up. Giving the user the ability to explore colleges based on their criteria.
Secondary Research
I interviewed a few students not from Cincinnati and asked them: “How did you find out about UC?”
Secondary Research Conclusions
A lot of students find out about their major / college through coaches, teachers, and counselors.
Some students find non-academic factors such as clubs, social scene, and type of university to be an important part of the college search.
One student turned to social media sites such as Reddit for missing gaps of information on colleges they were interested in.
I found out that a lot of students found out about their major / college through coaches, teachers, and counselors. This led me to want to guide the user more in the college process by giving them an external tool to help with the college search. Leading me to a final statement to guide my project.
Project Statement
I found out that a lot of students found out about their major / college through coaches, teachers, and counselors. This led me to want to guide the user more in the college process by giving them an external tool to help with the college search. Leading me to a final statement to guide my project.
“How might we smooth out the college process for younger high school students and allow them to find the perfect fit without reliance on others?”
Personas
Initially, my main demographic was going to be high school students around the ages of 15-18. But, I determined that it limited my demographic a bit too much. Following that conclusion, I decided to create a persona that is starting out the college search in their mid 20s in addition to one that is a high school senior.
Main User Flow
My primary flow follows Ryan, my persona, starting out his college search. He hasn’t quite decided on a major and uses the quiz feature of Uni-Cycle to find out the perfect one for him. He then cycles through different colleges and chooses to apply to NYU.
Part 2: Design Process
Mid-fi Wireframes, Moodboard, Style Guide,
Mid-fi Wireframes
Uni-Cycle is designed similar to dating apps such as Tinder. Starting out, I decided that I wanted the app to feature the universities and have their details flip like a flashcard. But, then after some peer review I realized it wasn’t entirely functional. My peers found it difficult to know / indicate that you are supposed to flip the card.
Moodboard
My mood-board primarily reflects the exciting anticipation of going college. and draws inspiration from the bright colors found on college campuses.
Style Guide
My style guide then takes the excitement and the anxiety of going to college and blends it into one . My use of orange is paired with rounded corners to represent these two emotions. Students can be very thrilled to go to college, but the idea can be intimidating. Unicycle aims to give comfort to those students while still bringing excitement.
Final Wireframes
Final Wireframes and Prototype
Final Wireframes
After many rounds of user testing and applying my style guide, the final wireframes of Uni-Cycle were created.
