Lone Star College
As the Student Service Designer, I worked with other administrators and other designers to implement projects that serve the students. We also updated the Lone Star College style guide. After being brief by the executives on the goals of organization, I conducted a series of needs-assessment surveys and in-person interviews to develop insight on needs of the students. With a focus on the qualitative data, I transcribed interviews and used coding and theme analysis to create design recommendations that were presented to the Executive Board. There were several recommendations made and approved.
Objectives
- Perform user research to make sure we are solving the students needs based on data not assumptions.
- Identify pain points and issues that need to be addressed in the Lone Star College student experience.
- Plan and execute workshops with Executive Board in order to propose the most viable solution for a given problem.
- Design a service blueprint to approach things systemically.
Design Process & Methodology
Setting Expectations
Executive Board Brief
The LSC Student Service Executive Board aims to advance the public good by engaging Lone Star College students in high-quality service. The Student Service Executive board works closely with the undergraduate group program coordinators, LSC Board of Directors, LSC Staff, LSC administration to develop new and strengthen past initiatives for the continued improvement of the student experience and community service at LSC. I was asked to investigate the entire student experience; living conditions, transportation, campus culture, and classroom atmosphere. To then present recommendations to the Executive Board on how to service the needs of the students. I developed service blueprints for the approved recommendations based on the Executive board’s priorities. Below are the goals developed in a meeting held with the LSC Student Service Executive Board and I.
Aligning Goals
Student Success Foster equitable student success outcomes by promoting excellence in student-centered teaching, learning, and support services.
1. Excellence of Student Experience: Provide comprehensive services and strategies to promote equitable student access and success throughout the student journey, from enrollment to graduation and beyond.
2. Structure of Support for Equitable Student Success: Encourage students’ sense of connection, belonging, and potential in all touch points by ensuring an ongoing commitment to the student experience and diversity from the college community
Updating Style Guide
I worked as a Designer on a team of twelve comprised of Marketing Specialist, Communication Directors and other Designers to revised the LSC style guide. Our goal was to help ensure cohesive, efficient, and effective branding for the college. The style guide offered a design system guideline that I would later use to created the UI of the LSC Student Services webpage and instructions for proper use of the Lone Star College logo and brand.
Lone Star College Style Guide
Segmentation Research
Demographic
Gender
49% more female students than male students enrolled at Lone Star College System with a gender ratio of 60% women to 40% men. Compared to the US average of 56% female students.
Ethnicity
Students at Lone Star College System are predominantly Hispanic with a significant White population. LSC has very high racial diversity compared to other colleges. 69% percent of students are minorities or people of color (BIPOC). The LSC student demographic breakdown is 29.71% White, 13.3% Black, 42.64% Hispanic, 8.21% Asian/Pacific Islander, 6.15% Other/Multiple/Unknown
Household Income
The average household income for LSC students is $68,473 per year. 40% of LSC's students can be considered low-income, as indicated by their Federal Pell Grant Aid receipt.
Level of Education
Over 61% of LSC students are first-generation college students. Meaning for many of the LSC students this is their first experience in higher education.
Behavioral
To gain insight into how the students navigate the Lone Star College experience, behavioral data collected using google analytics, student interviews, and in-person usability tests. The most significant insight learned is that nearly 87% of students typically work a job and attend classes on the same day. Also, 63% of students access the LSC student services webpage on a mobile device.
Geographic
Lone Star College services low to middle-income families in the northern and western parts of Houston. Many of the LSC students live in food deserts declared by the United States Department of Agriculture based on zip codes. (USDA)
Psychographic
Psychographic data was collected through a series of student needs assessment surveys. The surveys focused on the student’s core values and aspirations and their holistic experience with Lone Star College.
Needs Assessment Surveys
I conducted a series of needs assessment though the student service email platform. The first series focused on discovery, the themes of surveys focused on health/wellness, academic outlook, work/employment, support, child care, transportation, and housing. The second series of need-assessment surveys I launched focused on testing and further development. Over 1300 total responses were recorded.
Based on initial research, our target market segment for LSC students was titled "First Gens". We decided to focus on this segment based on their lack of experience with the higher education system. This information helped me create user personas, and student journey maps to present to the Executive Board and Administrators.
First Gens (Higher Education Explorers)
Typical traits:
- 16-22-year-olds with average academic records
- Academically-driven with post LSC plans
- Attracted to more prominent universities but can’t afford to attend
- Not sure how to navigate the higher education system
- Lives at home with family
- Works full-time or part-time to support a family
- Has 0-3 younger siblings
- 0-1 children of their own
- Lives in food desert declared by USDA
Define Activities
User Personas and Journey Mapping
A student’s experience is a kind of mosaic built from his or her physical and digital interactions with the range of offerings from the school. These include academic programs, technology systems for everything from paying a bill to taking a course, administrative services like registration and financial aid, academic services like advising and tutoring, facilities like dorms and classrooms, and students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community. For this journey map we focused on the student's experience looking to find and utilize campus resources.
In-Person Interviews and Affinity Mapping
To integrate a more empathetic approach to collecting data, I conducted in-person interviews with fifty students over the span of a month. Each interview was transcribed and systematically categorizing order to find themes and patterns. Questions were based on the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs. As a team we created affinity maps with sticky notes using data from the needs assessment survey and in-person interviews. The affinity maps were used to organize research findings into specific categories. These categories were on-campus experience, student physical needs, and resource awareness.
Insights From Data
- Students noticed that the LSC building and signage had not been updated in nearly a decade
- Overall students felt safe on campus
- Students lack the time or resources to accomplish their daily tasks
- Students unaware of campus resources and how to utilize them
- Students lack access to food and personal goods
- Most students used mobile device to access LSC SS webpage
Student Service Experience Recommendations
After continued ideation and affinity mapping, as a team we produced these ideas to solve pain points along the student's experience journey. I presented these recommendations to the Executive Board. Three of the seven recommendations were immediately approved. Once approved I began working as UX/UI and graphic designer for these three projects over a six-month span.
- Student Service Webpage Update
- Signage Redesign
- Tele-Counseling
- Campus Child Care
- C.A.R.E Center Initiative
- LSC Shuttle Service
- Increase Faculty and Student Events
Solutions
Signage Redesign
Unknown to me, the LSC Board of Directors dedicated 1.5 million dollars to upgrade the campus interior experience. I was assigned to help upgrade the aesthetic of hallway, classrooms and common areas signage and posters. The assets were designed using the LSC Design system developed in the new style guide. Below are some the assets I designed. We also launched a social media campaign which ask the students to create digital art for LSC's common areas.
C.A.R.E Center Initiative
I believe that with the right structure and adequate support, all students are capable of succeeding academically and professionally. For this reason, I fought to create the Community Assistance Resource for Everyone (C.A.R.E.) Centers that are now located at all LSC-Houston North locations. Based on the geographic research and insight from the needs assessment surveys, and in-person interviews, I noticed the students consistently mentioned not having access to food. Over one-third of the students stated they would utilize a food pantry at least twice per week, if one was available on campus. I'm responsible for creating the blueprint of this service initiative, to get this project to launch a C.A.R.E Center task force was created to make the system work.
Link to C.A.R.E Center Information
Webpage Updates
After a content audit of the previous student service webpage. I noticed the previous webpage did not include information to contact financial aid, and reaching an advisor was buried on the bottom of the page. My goal was to design the user experience of the student services page to give priority to who students should contact for help. i.e: Advisors and Financial Aid Counselors.
Wire frames were created presented to the Executive Board, they recommended to continue with the option to the far.
I began to layout the UI by using components featured in the LSC design system of the updated style guide.
Lone Star Student Services Webpage
Mobile- Focused UX
I designed the Student Service webpage with a focus on the mobile experience. Research revealed found that over half of the visits to this page were from mobile devices. The shift in content priority was also used when developing the mobile UX wireframe.
I recommended to the team and Executive Board that the advising CTA button should lead the user to schedule an appointment directly but due to student verification processes it could not be implemented. Working prototypes of student services webpage were made in Figma then presented to the Executive Board for approval and feedback.
Once the prototype was approved, icons and images were added based on the design system created in the style guide.
Validation
Lab Usability Testing
I believed if LSC presented the student services and resources clearly, then our students can find what they need or who they need to talk to. This proved to be correct after seeing the remarks from the lab usability test from the website update. I served as the moderator of the lab usability test and asked each participant to preform a series of tasks. As the tasks were underway, I asked each participant to read aloud their process to complete the task. Every participant was able to complete each assigned task quicker on the new version of the website than the previous version. Testing results were presented to the Executive Board and the webpage redesign was launched.
