A new way for students to interact with their data and accomplish online tasks at Indiana University is long overdue. In our current environment, we have One.iu.edu (task/service search)., Canvas (learning management system), iGPS (academic planning tool), and Student Services (PeopleSoft), as four of the main data and service providers for our students. In this environment, students must either know where to go directly to accomplish a task or find information, or they need to know what they are looking for and the right terminology to search for in One.iu.edu. Numerous IU research projects over the past 10 years have shown that educational terminology (department jargon) is a big hindrance to students finding what they need. One.iu.edu is an excellent search tool and serves an important role; however, it is still simply a search. If a user does not know the correct name for what they are looking for, it is unlikely they will find what they need. Beyond that, IU has many great services that students are not likely to even know are available. Discoverability for unknown services is poor. If the student doesn’t know something exists, they are unlikely to search for it or discover it spontaneously.
Another issue with the current organization and presentation of student data is that for any given task the student might need to do, they have have to access information from multiple systems in order to accomplish a single goal. IU needs to pull relevant data together, using well-understood terminology and present to the student in a manner that helps them make the best decisions and assists them in completing their task in a logical, organized, efficient process.
As a first step towards a unified student environment, we recommend a student dashboard that provides students with an overview of their most important student data. The page would provide a series of widgets that pull together relevant data that can help the student navigate their day, semester, and academic career. The overarching goal is providing services geared toward student success, integrated with information/applications that can make student daily life easier, as well.
The student dashboard would integrate the Notifications and Search to facilitate getting the right information to the student. As the Notification system is built out and used by more teams, it should become an integral step in prompting students to complete mandatory tasks (pay a parking fine, register for classes, renew residence hall room reservation, etc.) and gain access to their most pertinent information (class registration appointment time, grades, financial aid received, etc.).
Strategically placed help information would assist students in finding what they need. The IU Knowledge Base has a lot of good information; however, in some cases it can be difficult to find the correct articles. In addition, it is not clear how many student know the KB is available or think to search there for IT information. A couple of examples include providing a link to locate computing labs in the ‘Assignments’ widget, and a link to learn about how to print with IUanyWare in the ‘Print Quota’ widget. Integrating work from the ‘Smarter Support’ team, a support widget with trending help topics and seasonally appropriate articles should also be included on the dashboard.
The proof of concept project includes a simple dashboard that provides students with an overview of some of their important information. The student would need to authenticate in order to access. The dashboard will show an example of how Notifications and Search could be integrated within the page. The prototype will also include a few example widgets to show various types of information that could be displayed to the student.
Basic requirements goals:
Additional content options to consider:
Initial wireframes were developed in Axure and used to guide the proof-of concept prototype. Previous work I had completed and reviewed with students helped inform the conecepts shown in this iteration.
Axure wireframes (content exploration).
The name should suggest a way to quickly and directly access student information and applications. Below are some suggestions for consideration. Initial list is exploring items related to the following terms/phrases: dashboard, express lane, fast track, direct route.
In order to provide a student dashboard that would be valuable to our students, teams will need to provide API’s of much of their data, allowing access for other teams. This will likely require a new mindset across UITS. While we need many teams to manage all the data generated at IU, individual teams don’t ‘own’ the data they are responsible for. More importantly, the team that manages a portion of data should not be a hindrance to the appropriate use of that data. Ultimately, what this means is providing access through APIs so that disparately located, but related information, can be brought together and presented to the user to help them reach their goals. At a minimum, Canvas, SIS, Enterprise Applications, and iGPS will need to work with the dashboard owner to get a start on initial widgets.
The dashboard should be available to students from any device they choose to access it from. The widget format of the dashboard should make it fairly straightforward to present the content to users on their mobile devices. Likewise, individual widgets, as well as the student environment ‘container’ need to be developed to meet recommended accessibility standards.
Long term, as more access to data is obtained and additional widgets are created, we recommend organizing the widgets on multiple pages, retaining the dashboard as the homepage of the student environment. Additional page suggestions include Academics, Finances, College Life, and Technology. In all cases, the widgets would pull in relevant information and present it in a manner that helps the student know if an action is necessary. If so, the interface should guide the student to what they need to complete that action.
IU maintains a vast amount of student data but students currently have no efficient way of finding or accessing it. Not only do they have to navigate to multiple systems, they need to know what to search for in order to find the system in the first place. A student dashboard that would help students understand the information available to them, locate the right services at the right time, and provide overviews of their academic and financial standing is long overdue. Moving forward with the student dashboard is a first step toward the overarching goal of providing better services geared toward student success.