Compass

Overview

Every semester, students tirelessly apply to internships. In the end, they may or may not get one, but even worse - getting no response at all. This whole process can be frustrating especially when they don't have a tool to keep track of applications. We challenged ourselves to create a solution that is holistic and addresses the root of the frustration. Hence, we created a tracking system that also provides a space to connect with peers, get tips, and find inspiration.

Goals

Holistic Solution

Students help students - a space for students to find resources and share their own resources
Simple tracker accomplished by an intuitive Kanban Board
Forum for Discussion
1. Articles, tips and templates

User Research

First, we wanted to find the source of the problem. After conducting surveys, and interviewing some candidates, we consolidated all the information into an empathy map. We realized that this lack of awareness centered on people being simply unaware of how to explore Dallas or they have no interest in understanding Dallas’ history. Hence, many conclude that Dallas is boring.

After we got an idea of the users' unique needs, we tried to understand their experience in existing travel apps. To do that, we conducted a competitive analysis and did journey mapping to transform pain points into opportunities of improvement.

Personas

Reviewing insights from our research and personas, it was clear to us that we needed to design something like a travel guide app. However, we need to go beyond that to keep users engaged, make users want to come back, and teach history in an innovative way. After repeatedly hearing that Dallas is boring, we realized we needed to include external ways of gratification. Hence, we decided that gamification will be the core aspect of our app and generated three main features.

Features

Find

This is a basic function of the app: a map and a search feature. We also decided to add search filters/tags to prompt users to consider small businesses (like “black owned businesses”) and "hidden gems" of this city. This function accomplishes the goal of showing users the vibrant and diverse culture of Dallas

AR Scavenger Hunt

One of our main concerns was how to educate people about Dallas without it being boring. Hence, the AR Scavenger Hunt is the innovative gamification that allows users to virtually experience history. Users begin by selecting a location, and as they explore, they have to find clues (historical facts about the place). They can also point their phone camera at a building to see its historical view (AR aspect).

Social

This is the aspect that makes users want to come back to our app. While most travel apps are single use, our solution focuses on creating a community of people who are interested in exploring Dallas. Users can create their own profile, connect with their friends, and compete to earn badges upon completion of the scavenger hunt.

Lo-Fi Mockups

Designing

We wanted the app's brand personality to be elegant, approachable and simple. Especially because our users consider Dallas boring, we have to design in a way that makes them curious. In coming up with a name and logo for the app, we really considered the brand personality.
D-Tour expands to Dallas Tour but it also sounds like Detour to echo the message that the search never ends: at a dead end, or a detour, you are bound to find something wonderful at Dallas.

Hi-Fi Frames

First, we created our style guide and got inspiration from Dallas' landscape. In designing, we tried to find the balance between familiarity and creativity. We explored many layouts and tried to make the designs appealing and unique, but we also kept some standard layouts that people are used to. For example, our home screen is a map and a search bar: this is similar to the google maps layout to help the user feel familiar and comfortable

Prototype

Then we created a functional prototype by carefully considering the users' intent and actions. This process was very iterative and we consistently got feedback from peers and mentors to revise the details and present the features well.

Working Prototype

Takeaways

Evaluating Solution

Our approach to solving this problem included the classic UX journey - personas, current state journey map to understand pain points and improvement, competitive analysis, and feature finalization. But this wasn’t enough - to get a creative solution, we all agreed to read about travel apps everyday and pitch one idea everyday. We also did many fun group activities and that allowed us to become more comfortable with each other to be able to boldly reject ideas and suggest improvements. It’s a result of this holistic process and true teamwork that we came up with an innovative solution

Insights & Reflection

I really enjoyed this experience as it was my first time working to solve a real-world problem with a team. There were days where I would work for hours together revising designs and didn't even feel like stopping. I felt a strong desire to make it perfect and give my best as it was our own product. There were definitely days where I faced so many challenges like unable to decide on a design but my mentors at Dialexa were really helpful in guiding me, providing resources, and supporting me throughout.