The University of Auckland is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the highest-ranked university in New Zealand in the QS World University Rankings. The University of Auckland is one of New Zealand's largest university by enrollment, hosting about 40,000 students on five campuses in Auckland. It promotes a diverse and vibrant culture that meets the needs and seizes the opportunities of a dynamic global society.
Area: UI/ UX Design and Development Scope: Web application
The Background
Looking for grants, funds and fellowships is a tedious task. Finding a great opportunity means spending hours on different sites, scouring details of various grants, and filling out endless forms. There is a lack of a platform where students can engage with good opportunities and find funders, grants, and workshops.
The Challenge
Drawing from the personal experience of Senior students who spent a lot of time finding better opportunities, our client realized that it was particularly hard to find the right guidelines and keep track of different grants and workshops.
Upon wondering whether a lot of students faced a similar problem, the client conducted research to test their hypothesis. Based on the results, it was concluded that there was a need to provide personalized support and all the help in one place to university students.
About the app
The Auckland University app is one of a kind product that addresses all these problems. It brings together design and technology to create a seamless and exceptional experience for students. The app is designed to bring ‘joy’ back to the process of searching for grants.
The solution provides students with the tools to unlock great opportunities on their mobile devices. It provides proper information regarding different fellowships, funders, and grants, all in one place. Students can easily find out the number of active workshops and register their interest. The app also comes with a built-in dashboard that allows students to keep track of their applications, grants, and workshops.
Project Goals
Intuitive and Modern tool
One of the primary goals was to build an intuitive, modern product that will connect better with students and tackle all their possible pain points.
Functional
We wanted to make sure that the site helps users achieve their goals and gets the job done, quickly and properly. It was essential to integrate the web app using Drupal CMS and provide API support for the mobile application.
User-Friendly
Discover new UI elements that are more friendly to students.
Engaging
Discover new features that will encourage students to engage more to find the right opportunity.
Key Features
1. Manage Funds
Comes with a ‘Find my Fund’ functionality.
2. Manage Grants
Find grants and fellowships for your area of interest.
3. Manage Workshops
Discover active workshops and register your interest.
UX Design
Designing for a unique target group required long discovery and research plans. We created user flows based on data and scenarios prepared by the client’s side. Based on this research, we also created user personas. The user personas helped us empathize and focus on creating features that will help users achieve their goals.
UI Design
User Interface Design not only had to meet all of the accessibility standards but also appear as visually attractive to the target group. It had to support two dedicated platforms- desktop and mobile.
Development
From the beginning of the project, we collaborated closely with both the back-end and front-end team and discussed every user story to make sure it was efficient and easy to implement. Besides API support for the mobile app, we made a Drupal website with the same features.
We took care of the design handover, while the QA team made sure that there were no bugs and the website works perfectly.
To engage students with the best opportunities, the solution comes with modules such as funders listing, grants listing, and ‘my favorite grants’. This enables the students to view different grants from funders, find out all the pertinent details, and keep a track of the workshops and grants they have opted for.
Client Testimonial
I would like to thank the team at ISHIR and extend our appreciation for going the extra mile to help us release our application on time. Our deadlines for this project were challenging yet critical and we managed to complete our project because of your team’s effort. Thank you for going above and beyond the call of duty, and ensuring that we meet our benchmarks in a timely manner.
It was a pleasure working with you all and we look forward to our continued engagement.