Overview
Hello, My name is Nihal Gudia. I'm a product designer with a digital product design diploma from Xperian School, Currently working at Leapfinance. This is a submission for the assignment given to me.
Generative User research
Basis the understanding I got from my initial research, I started formulating a user archetype and noted down the variables the user needed to have inorder for me to approach them for an interview. Here are those variables
I also drafted a discussion guide for myself so that i won't go unprepared for the interview. You can view the discussion guide here.
After that, I approached few friends of mine who were interested in studying abroad or have already studied abroad and got one to agree for a conversation. Here's how it went.
This conversation was really insightful and helped me in understanding the core issues in writing a SOP. Basis that I created an empathy map to understand the gaps.
Empathy Map
Feels
Thinks
Says
Does
Thinks it can become complicated easily if they are not reminded
I paid the consultancy to take care of everything, they should do this as well
Looks for online resources to understand the process
Thinks one SOP is enough for all colleges and just changing the university name should be sufficient
I can write for myself, So I did it.
Looks as essay writing help to create a structure
Thinks that the consultancy will take care of it for her
Someone who isn't fluent in english will ask the consultancy to do it
Uses grammarly to get help with spell check
There is no proper structure to refer to
It was fairly easy process for me, I looked at few examples and drafted my own version
Asks friends and CS people to proof read and make modifications
SOP is not that important part of the process, So I don't need to plan for it specifically
Each university has an individual format of SOP that they usually prefer
Uses the same SOP and changes the name at the end
If I use content from applicants who got the admission I should be good
Getting on a call is easier than to and fro in mails
Reflections and Insights
- Social norms play a major role in deciding a counsellor
- Applicants need help with not only their script but also structuring the script and grammatical errors
- The priority for having individual scripts for different universities in not very high
- Planning is not prioritised and no structure is present
- For people who have written few SOP's, they don't need that much of a help but a minor proof read
- The feedback system should prioritise voice interactions also
- There is a need for spell and grammar check systems
By this point, I had a good understanding of what would help the applicants draft better SOP's. So, I started making Information architecture and sketching post that
Takeaways
- Conducting interviews with more applicants would've been more insightful
- Almost spent 3-4 hours understanding and searching the internet for more information. I could've just asked someone and got concise data instead
- I missed out adding few initial and post flow screens like success flow etc.,
- Prototyping would've been better, I need to strategise my time better from now
This assignment challenged me in new ways as I had no understanding about the problem at hand, But it also gave me a confidence that nothing is unachievable given persistence. Thank you and looking forward for your response
