CollegeVine is a product for demystifying the college application process.
The Challenge
The college application process is complicated, especially for those looking to get into good schools. The team at CollegeVine approached us not with a product, but a deep understanding of their market.
The goal was to create an application to help an individual get into the school of their dreams.
Our first step was to understand the users. We conducted discovery sessions with informed stakeholders, familiar with the college application process. We identified 3 distinct user types: student, parents, and mentors. We identified each of their goals and at what points they overlap. From there, we started mapping out workflows with our expectations of how users were navigating the process.
Problem: Students were being presented with schools that didn’t match their preferences. Solution: To arrive at a school list of strong matches, we created a system of questions. We presented them in a beautifully interactive and digestible way, intended to capture all relevant data on an individual. Clarity and a sense of completion were key in amplifying this crucial part of the process.
Delightful feature: From the ground up, we were sure to use any communication to the user as an opportunity to firm up the friendly but informed voice and tone of the product.
Problem: School characteristics are extremely important in making a decision about a school. Solution: We used the data captured about the student during the questionnaire to establish a set of preferences. We then presented the school information illuminating the characteristics they deemed most important. The result is a school list, perfectly catered to the student’s wants and needs. Hierarchy, variation, and interactivity were key in keeping the data playful and engaging.
Problem: Mentors are unable to keep track of their students. Solution: A cornerstone of CollegeVine is shedding light on the steps it takes to get accepted. Mentors are provided to each student to coach them into bettering their chances. To accommodate our mentors, we provided an easy way to keep track of their students’ most important milestones.