Branding . UX Design
Ally.
A companion tool for international students
In one of my design courses at Vancouver Island University, I was tasked to create a project that may theoretically help with a cause of my choosing. My cause was to advocate international students overcome their struggles or barriers during their study at Vancouver Island University. From there, I decided to go with an app system where students could use to book appointments, do their paperwork and find appropriate destinations. The app was set out to be user-friendly, simple, with all the mentioned features implemented to it.
Problem.
International students, as well as immigrants in general are often subjects to exshauting documentation and procedures, which have been exacerbated by Covid. As a result, applicants are often left confused and may waste their time and resources on less than reliable solutions, particularly those found online given by people lacking expertise in the matter.
Goal.
First and foremost, the app should be user-friendly especially to non-native English speakers, which are its primary target users.
Secondly, the app needs to be consise and on-point as much as possible, so that the immigration process does not become too daunting for those who have just embarked on their journeys in Canada.
Market Research.
In order to discover the right development of the app, there is no better way to look at the existing competition that can offer much needed insights for Ally. The immigration-oriented apps available are plenty, yet most of them encounter issues, that is they either lack a friendly user interface or are not precise in details. Below provide some of the common apps one can find to assist them with immigration:
User Journey.
Personna.
Page Flow.
Wireframes.
I began the design phase of the outcome with low-fidelity wireframes. Conducting this gives me a better perspective of the outcome of the final design for Ally.
Onboarding.
The user will first go through a series of question for the app to determine how urgent it is for them to prepare their documents. It is crucial to understand the user's situation, especially, in terms of immigration process, as these factors have great impact on the success of the application.
Document Check.
Document Check is the main feature of Ally. This is where students can go to check their issues relating to paperwork and see how they can solve them. Ally shows instructions and a checklist for students to keep track of their document progress and helps them have a better understanding on the process. When you search for an issue, Ally will locate related issues you could choose from.
Office Navigation.
Office Navigation navigates where students could come and solve their issues. The built-in navigation system will direct users based on their means of transport, locations and their choices of location. The app will find results based on an user’s issue. Results will be displayed on a seperate page and the user will be able to choose his preferred location to go to.
