INFO Student Social Life
A user research client project from Dr. Wayne Lutters, focusing on understanding University of Maryland INFO college undergraduate students’ social life, identifying factors and challenges that impact their engagement, and design solutions to enhance their social life experience.
Duration
3 months
My Role
Interviewer,
Recorder,
Modeler,
Moderator
Tools
Figma, Miro,
Survey,
Interview
Project
User Research project
of six members
Problem
The INFO College at the University of Maryland identified a concerning trend: undergraduate students were struggling to connect with and participate in college events and student organizations. Faculty and administrators noticed various obstacles preventing students from engaging in extracurricular activities, leading us to investigate what factors were creating these barriers to participation.
Research Questions
“What encourages/stops students to join events and organizations? How do they usually decide to participate in the event? Do they get any practical benefits from this?”
Product Concept & Low-Fi Prototype
Based on our analysis of student feedback and data from the Wall Walk exercise, we redesigned an enhanced version of TerpLink, UMD’s existing events platform. The improved platform aims to reduce participation barriers by 10%. The improvements are designed to foster a stronger sense of community while streamlining the entire event management process.
ELMS Canvas Integration
Adds an "Events" category to directly connect students to TerpLink's platform to increase TerpLink visibility
Homepage Recommendation
Incorporates personalized event recommendations and course-related activities at the top for easier discovery
Event Filtered System
Introduces simplified category filters (Academic, Career Development, Entertainment)
Event Attendee List
Informs event participation, enables networking opportunities, and displays faculty recommendations
RSVP Form
Provides privacy controls for email sharing, anonymous attendance, dietary, and other accommodation preferences
Calendar Integration
Added events to ELMS calendar automatically after RSVP completion, to assist with students’ event commitments and academic schedule
Post-Event Feedback System
Assists organizers to collect feedback for future events improvement and understand participant experiences
Research Process
Research Methods & Key Findings
We conducted surveys to collect quantitative and statistical data for analyzing patterns. and interviews to provide in-depth qualitative data for nuances of students’ experiences. Besides, we also interview the events holder in INFO college.
Factors that encourages engagements
Challenges that prevent participation
80% participants
consider skill development and networking as factors effect their attendance at clubs and events
80% participants
encounter scheduling conflicts that hinder their participation
60% participants
feel that location and travel time influence their willingness to attend
10% participants
feel that certain events lack information
Affinity Diagram
We utilized affinity diagram to organize the notes we analyzed from interpretation session. It identifies patterns and categorizes key factors from our research data, helping us understand key themes and user needs across all participants. From the affinity diagram, we identified three key factors:
Motivations to join events and clubs
Students value career-focused events and prefer to connect with peers who share similar interests
Barriers to participate in activities
Poor event awareness, scheduling conflicts, and location barriers limited student participation
Participants’ feedback and suggestions
Students prefer career-focused events, industry workshops, and meaningful social gatherings
Decision Point Model
The decision point model assists the team to conclude with six main factors: time, location, relations, takeaways, interests, and communication.
Persona & Journey Map
We developed two personas that capture our target users' goals and challenges. We mapped their journeys to understand users' emotional experiences and decision-making process when discovering and engaging with campus events and clubs.
Wall Walk
