Project 2
A Way
A platform designed to guide newcomers and help them get familiar with the unknown territory by giving required information during their initial days in a new country.
Project Type /
Capstone Project
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My Role /
Project Manager, Researcher, UI Designer, Content Strategist
Date & Duration /
January 2020 to April 2020 (15 weeks)
Tools Used /
Pen and Paper, Sticky Notes, Adobe XD, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe In design, Adobe Photoshop, InVision App
Many people are now travelling to other countries either for better job opportunities, for higher education or to explore new places. It is obvious that newcomers find difficulties during their initial days in a new country. Being a Permanent Resident in Canada, I know what a newcomer goes through as there are many mandatory steps to follow as soon as they land. I strongly believe that a newcomer never feels away when they have the product A Way.
This is an individual project, where I applied various interactive media skills such as UX/UI design, User Research, Project Management, Analytics, and Content Strategy. To design this product, I followed the typical design thinking process shown below.
Product Definition
Personas
User Flow
User Journey Map
Wireframes
Mock Prototype
Prototype
User Research
User Survey
Sketching
Idea Generation
Prioritization
User Testing
Design Thinking Process
The Problem
Most people are moving to countries like Australia, Canada, UK, USA. Newcomers are having a harder time during the first few months due to a lack of information and guidance. And they are spending lots of time searching for necessary info and travelling to meet settlement services and agents for guidance which is leading to stress and affecting their focus on their day-to-day tasks such as work, studies etc., and encountering numerous problems while going through some mandatory processes. No platform facilitates newcomers in making them get familiar with the unknown place.
The Solution
"A Way", a mobile responsive website that facilitates newcomers who move to countries such as Canada, Australia, UK, USA, by giving necessary information and guiding them in the first few months. The platform also allows users to discuss various topics essential for new immigrants, international students, and visitors and they can seek advice from an expert who has extensive knowledge about the country, to get reliable info within a short period of time.
The goals of this project are:
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to design an intuitive platform for the users
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to communicate with them in a friendly tone
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to make them get familiar with the new place
User Research
Before starting the design process, I did a survey and interviewed 15 to 20 different audiences such as international students, immigrants, and visitors in Canada to know about the problems they faced during their initial days and to confirm if there is a need for this product. Around 80% of people who participated in the survey expressed that the newcomers need this kind of product to alleviate problems that usually occur during the first few months.
User Survey
Five key Words: The platform should be/have
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Spam free and trustworthy
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well organized/categorized
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better User Interface
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easily accessible
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quick response (in the discussion forum)
Respondents mentioned the following
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to provide different onboarding screens for immigrants, students, and visitors to choose categories based on their criteria.
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should be country-specific
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should be well sorted out into categories.
6 people selected that they know a similar platform exists
9 people selected that they didn’t come across such kind of platform before.
People who said yes – expressed that they used similar apps/websites and Facebook/WhatsApp groups to know about the info about other countries, however, they didn’t get clear/required information and mentioned that this one is diversified compared to other existing platforms.
Comparative Analysis:
I conducted a Comparative Analysis taking three digital platforms that offer similar services, to analyze the crucial factors that I need to consider, and to identify gaps that my platform can incorporate. I found the websites are not intended to help newcomers.
Market data and Analytics:
Analytics, an interesting part, as I received some great info about newcomers’ queries from the data provided by the Canadian government. Here, I noticed why people are approaching the settlement services and what issues they are encountering while they do so. It gave me an insight into the aspects such as making my platform beneficial for my target audience and unique from the current similar platforms and services present in the market. Later, I created three personas to get a comprehensive knowledge of what I need to go ahead.
User Personas:
Personas
User Flow and User Journey Mapping:
To identify the users’ actions, questions, happy moments, pain points, and opportunities, I created a user journey map and learned what method gives a seamless experience to the user at various touchpoints. This provided me an insight of what users might feel as they navigate through pages.
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User Flow Infographic
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User Journey Map
The most exciting part now begins, where I started. I created a draft prototype to test with my target users before I turned it into a digital product. I made many changes to the design based on the ideas that evolved in my mind. Testing the draft prototype with the users gave me some valuable insights. Considering the points from the users' feedback, I iterated the process to create a prototype with better usability.
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Draft Prototype
Wireframes
I created wireframes before creating a style guide for the product layout.
Mobile Version - Lo-Fi Wireframes
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Desktop Version - Lo Fi Wireframes
(The final design of desktop version is coming soon)
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Style Tile
Usability Test
Five target users tested the low fidelity prototype and pointed out what they found extremely helpful, as well as some issues associated with a categorization. The feedback helped immensely and encouraged me to make the product more beneficial for the target users.
Hi-fi Wireframes and Prototype
In the end, I designed the hi-fidelity wireframes with some modifications based on the users’ feedback using Adobe XD and tested to see if the final design of the product does make sense to my target users.
Home and Info Pages
The home page has four countries to choose from. This page asks users to choose either their visa status or basic info about the country (Immigrant, International Student, Visitor, and About Canada). Based on the section they choose, the website shows respective topics.
Forum Page
The Forum section where users can discuss various topics with other users. They can create threads and leave a message. This section allows users to share their experiences as well as help others by giving suggestions. Users should register to involve in the discussion. However, they can read messages without an account.
Expert's Advice
Expert's Advice section allows users to seek advice from the experts who are familiar with the countries. Users can communicate in two different ways. Message and Virtual call. To communicate, they should select options such as topic, province, date, and time. Once they book an appointment, they will get the confirmation and the details of the expert who is going to speak to the user. And when they leave a message, the member will reply in 24 hours.
Videos, What's New
Users can watch videos and the latest happenings around the country of their choice. They can read updates and learn the ongoing and upcoming things that help them to be up to date. The videos related to different topics including tips give clear info for the newcomers.
A few Screens from the project
This is my individual UX project, where I noticed many aspects associated with Interactive Media. I enjoyed involving in the end-to-end process that gave me an in-depth understanding of both agile and iterative practices in UX.
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And I feel the project A Way is very beneficial for the newcomers as it supports them and assists them to get acquainted with the new place that further reduces their anxiety and stress.
Other Project Documents:
