Advisor Pal

Prototype link (https://www.canva.com/design/DAF7HChLiY8/1LRZ2cvrS-aRfiNXIx4lqg/edit?utm_content=DAF7HChLiY8&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton) (https://www.figma.com/file/hqcJXT20JIrGMFB24ovgr4/Advisor-Pal's?type=whiteboard&node-id=0%3A1&t=5QycpSKgbIVKqWnP-1) Students need reassurance during their college years so we're bringing them one that is 24 hours and 7 days a week. Advisory Pal will increase overall student morale by answering any questions about campus/campus resources, schedule, updates, etc., and also direct students to someone they can ask for more complicated questions or solve a problem.

When picking out a topic we asked college students to describe their biggest pain point of college through the survey (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc19dxXYPCNp4gjrqHxqZ_uVYkp1dok1Y6ELKgnzbzYHt2_Xg/viewform). From there we got some direction; they need convenience and reassurance. Then decided to create another survey on a broader scale and surveyed a school Snapchat community if they would rather have, a “24/7 AI chatbot student advisor or App that lets you know when wash machines are available at dorms”. Students preferred the chatbot since it is available 24/7 to help when their advisor is out of the office. Once we had our topic of focus we started researching the concept and there wasn’t much but we found this article (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/redefining-academic-advising-rise-ai-powered-part-i-bermea-ed-d-). After that, we started to brainstorm some personas from different demographics and created some “How Might We” statements to solidify our deliverables. Even though it was never mentioned in discussion with out subjects we surveyed and informally interviewed we knew we needed to incorporate accessibility so we strayed away from high usage of color that colorblind people can’t see. As well as made sure the font was legible to anyone and the text had enough contrast to read easily without straining the user's eyes.

We decided to apply some principles of design to make our app more inclusive and welcoming. We incorporated Contour Bias to give a sense of calmness since the purpose of the app is to provide students with extra reassurance. People prefer smooth edges over sharp ones because they feel mentally safe, this is probably because of our instinct to protect ourselves from danger or sharp things. Another principle we too into account was Horror Vaccui. Filling up every inch of the space isn’t necessary so we wanted to make sure the information wasn’t overwhelming to the user. We had our friends give their input throughout; some of the people we surveyed would ask them what it is they would like to see and not see. In addition to that, just prior knowledge was used.

Built With

• ai
• canva
• figma
• interview
• survey