Wonderland

Project Description

Designing a student community platform to help and guide first-generation community college students connect to college resources and the school community in more fun and flexible way.

Problem

Research shows that 70% of community college students in California fail to graduate or transfer, and first-generation college students (FGCS) stats show they are at a high risk of dropping out. The main issue is a lack of guidance. FGCS's parents are unfamiliar with college experience and its process. This leaves the students to need to figure out everything themselves. Because FGCS are unfamiliar with the college process, they often don't know how to navigate resources, what resources are available, or how to ask for help. FGCS also frequently have jobs that are not related to their major to help their financial needs, making it difficult to access school offices and office hours that are only available in the daytime and weekdays. Balancing out a busy schedule between jobs, private life, and college life also leads them to be unavailable to communicate with school peers and connect to the community, which links them to feel like outsiders and disconnected from the school community.

Insights

What interested me from our research besides the pain points above was how students value personal connection and relationships. They are willing to help their friends and family, and they feel more motivated to connect a service if that is more personal. At the same time, some of the topics they need help or advice can be very personal. Not many people want to reveal "I need help" in front of classmates, especially regarding financial and housing topics.

Solutions

Wonderland, a student community platform. College is where people share knowledge. In Wonderland, students can ask and answer questions to each other, anytime and anywhere. Wonderland also allows students to post and comment anonymously, as an option, for sensitive topics. The game-like interface on the homepage and customizable avatar are designed to welcome students warmly while having fun. We tested our low-fidelity prototype made with the classic Mario map, but the map could be developed based on the collaged map in the future prototype. We tested our prototype with the users, and the feedback of having an anonymous option and game-like UI was most the most valued in the concept.