Needfinding
We wanted to focus on potential challenges faced by first-generation low-income (FLI) high schoolers matriculating to college, specifically exploring the "summer melt problem."
Summer melt: when high school graduates fail to matriculate to their intended institutions during their summer transition before college.
6 interviews
matriculating high school students
current college students
students affected by summer melt
FLI program professional staff
each interview coded through empathy maps
Key Insights
Family-related commitments factor into college decisions
Feelings of responsibility to
understand students bills/aid process
make financially cautious decisions
High school students need more structured college preparation and guidance beyond access to a school counselor (not always guaranteed)
Synthesis
After iterating over various 'Point-of-View' (POV) and 'How Might We' (HMW) statements for multiple interviews, the following statements appropriately captured our key insights to frame the remainder of our exploration.
We met Teresa, a current community college student applying to transfer to a 4 year college who was previously impacted by summer melt.
We were surprised that she was giving up on her own college success and experience in order to pave a more stable and academically-prepared path for her younger siblings.
It would be game changing if FLI students could plan for their futures while taking the rest of their families into consideration.
How might we help FLI students feel that their personal/emotional circumstances are being taken into consideration when making a college decision?
Experience Prototypes
To ground our solution brainstorming in validated user needs, we tested our assumptions with various experience prototypes with FLI high school students.
Personalized College Search Filtering
Each tester ranked college characteristics in order of importance
TESTING ASSUMPTION FLI students prioritize personal situations over academic interests
RESULTS
Prioritized cost of attendance
Liked being able to separate cost-related notes according to personal circumstances
Breaking Down Student Bills
Each tester presented with student bills varying in levels of detail
TESTING ASSUMPTION Students want to see a breakdown of student bill
RESULTS
Wanted financial guidance, but with constraints to avoid being overwhelmed
Thought seeing income AND expenses side-by-side helped alleviate stress and increased feelings of control over finances.
Our synthesis showed us that users want…
financial transparency for their college future
personalization sensitive of personal circumstances, and
resources that provide financial guidance.
Prototyping
ideation of concept through brainstorming and wireflows
After developing our product concept through iterations of sketches and storyboards, we proceeded with the following core tasks for a low-fi prototype.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
simple task
Taking personal circumstances into consideration, use foundation models to generate a course plan with COA.
moderate task
Modify the plan generated by the foundation models.
complex task
Generate and compare variations of course plans for different majors.
Using this prototype, we conducted a concept study amongst 4 participants meeting our target demographic:
FLI high school seniors planning to matriculate to college.
Do I already need to know what major I want to do?
Is there a way for me to not put in that information?
I don't know these classes since I'm not in college yet.
customizability
flexibility
more context
wanted ability to see differences across different potential majors
background information should be provided at users' personal comfort/relevance
wanted more information about classes
Medium-Fidelity Prototype
Feedback we wanted to address
Sensitivity to personal circumstances and their potential to change
Customization allows financial transparency for different scenarios
Ongoing support in finding financial resources
Revised…
simple task
Taking personal circumstances into consideration, use foundation models to generate a 4-year financial breakdown.
moderate task
Based on generated net-cost and user profile, provide recommended personalized resources.
complex task
View and adjust time allocations to see impact on financial breakdown.
Team
Amanda Huynh, Anna Chang, Britney Tran, Shina Penaranda
Method
needfinding, user interviews, usability testing, UI/UX design, prototyping, heuristic evaluations
Duration
10 weeks
Tools
Figma
TuitionTally.
a web tool personalizing projected college finances
As part of Stanford's HCI course Design for Grand Global Challenges, our team explored how foundation models, guided by user research and prototyping, could enhance education. Our final project resulted in a Wizard-of-Oz web application, prototyped through Figma, that provides matriculating high school students with personalized financial predictions for their future colleges.
