StudentAid BC
Mobile App Case Study
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Understanding the Problem
StudentAid BC is the student financial assistance program provided by the government of British Columbia, Canada. This program offers various forms of financial aid, including loans, grants, and scholarships, to eligible post-secondary students to help cover the costs of their education.
In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the journey of securing financial support for educational pursuits becomes a critical intersection of efficiency. The prospect of navigating a web portal for crucial financial aid introduces an additional layer of complexity. Balancing classes, assignments, and personal commitments, students find themselves wrestling with an interface that, in its current state, may pose more obstacles than solutions.
At a glance, the web portal has issues that include:
Meeting the Users
The main goal was to understand the pain points of students who’ve taken a student loan using their provincial student aid portal. We conducted interviews with students enrolled in post-secondary programs with outstanding student loans, and working professionals, who had successfully repaid their loans in full after completing their education. This gave us insight on the challenges faced while applying & managing their loans.
NAVIGATING THE BALANCE OF COMPLEXITY AND SIMPLICITY
Despite a proficient daily use of technology, users encountered challenges when dealing with more intricate tasks.
CHALLENGES IN PROGRESS TRACKING
Users reported experiencing confusion midway through the application, citing inadequate updates and feedback on progress and status changes.
EXTERNAL ASSISTANCE AS A COMMON RESOURCE
Users frequently turn to external help during the application process instead of consulting the available documentation on the website.
FINANCIAL LITERACY'S IMPACT
Users' ability to navigate the process is closely tied to their level of financial literacy.
Gathering Key Insights
HOW MIGHT WE STREAMLINE THE STUDENT LOAN APPLICATION PROCESS FOR STUDENTS ENROLLED IN POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION TO ALLEVIATE THE ANXIETY ASSOCIATED WITH OVERWHELMING INFORMATION, LACK OF FEEDBACK, AND MULTIPLE REDIRECTS WITHIN THE EXISTING SYSTEM?
the design process
Iterating
We soft-launched our initial design and had users scroll through the dashboard and interact with the content available there. The main task was to start a new application and find a specific form required on an application section. We asked them:
How would you compare this product to your experience using the SABC portal earlier? (if not used, asked for the banking applications)
How comprehensible was the dashboard? Did all the information available make sense to you?
What was the most confusing part of the test?
01
DASHBOARD
Clear and easy to understand interfaces
100% participants acknowledged that the dashboard improved organization and information availability. Loan Details & Loan Repayment sections need to be highlighted further to stand out from regular elements. Notifications for the message icon need to be disabled as user is drawn to click the WIP feature.
02
ASSISTIVE CHAT BOT
Provides requested information, clears any doubts, shares resources on the go
Users didn’t intuitively map the chat feature for assistance in retrieving a downloadable form. They were not aware about the assistive chat’s capabilities, and their first response isn’t to open the chat for help. After explanation of the feature functionality, the feature acceptance rating increased.
03
APPLICATION OVERVIEW
Give users a sense of progress & direction while they fill the details required
Users had a mixed response to application filing using online forms. 2 user reported feeling anxious and overwhelmed because of information overload. The progress bar needs to be redesigned to make the user aware of the remaining/completed sections. Sections need to be broken down into a multipage view with option to save & exit at any point.
improvements
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1
Auto-save the progress made by the user to avoid starting over in case of app-crash/accidental breaks in the user flow
2
Suggestions/feedback to mitigate prolonged typing sessions
3
Fetch and auto-fill data through an integration with Service Canada, SABC and other permissible government entities
4
Human-like conversation flow
next steps
LOGIN FLOW USING STANDARD 2FA
SABC currently uses the BC services app for users to log in and from user interviews it was clear that was almost unanimously seen as a pain point. Using a common Pin/ Fingerprint reader authentication for Logging into the application can be considered to resolve this pain point.
EXPAND THE APP
For the current project’s scope, we chose to deal with the core of application which was the application & management of Student Loan. Next up, we can build the profile sections, Inter-Departmental Integrations and overall UI.