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about me!
UA Global
Year
2019
Role
Researcher
Skills
Research synthesis, Creating surveys, Leading focus groups and interviews
Colleagues
Ali Alshabeeb, Ana Garcia, Caitlin Hooker, Vanessa Ojeda, Jacob Wells
“How might UA Global foster a meaningful and authentic experience when students interact with their services?”
Background
The University of Arizona's department known as UAGlobal is responsible for providing resources for students who wish to join study abroad programs, as well as for international students to become integrated into U of A campus life.
Although this project isn't necessarily tech-related in UX, I consider my work with this team valuable as this helped me realize my passion for problem-solving for community needs. This opportunity to intern at the UA DesignLab is what helped me discover what UX is!
Our Approach
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Identify challenges that students face
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Understand students' wants and needs
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Identify resources that can be added to improve their experience
Initial Research
The University of Oregon: International Student & Scholar Services
While also collecting user feedback, our team also conducted our own research by looking for other college institutions that have similar departments and resources. We then narrowed down our sources to this one specific program which we were interested in using as a frame of reference to improve UAGlobal's current services. Below is a map of the resources that are provided to international student at UO at every stage of their college life there, beginning at pre-transfer to campus and ending at alumni programs.
Primary Data
225 total unique students participated via 2 focus groups, 34 one-on-one interviews, and 180 responses over 2 surveys.
Focus Groups - Feedback Analysis
Among the 2 focus groups, we saw various trends. The wants and needs of students fell under 3 distinct categories.
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Academic and professional resources - tutoring and career development catered specifically to either international students or students interested in studying or working in other countries
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A suggestion they had was for faculty and advisors that are from/have extensive knowledge of a different country assist international students one on one, or could offer guidance to potential study abroad students on a country they are interested in going to
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Entertainment as outreach - Students often suggested having events either on the UA Mall or in the new global space that center around different cultures and countries
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A physical space - Students are interested in learning about new cultures through diverse and accessible food options, and would also prefer that the space be decorated with multicultural art.
Connecting Partial Awareness - What Are We Missing?
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105/225 students associated UA Global with ONLY study abroad affairs
4/225 out of all students interviewed either were unsure of what UA Global does, or had never heard of UA Global.
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15/225 of students feel disconnected from UA because of a difference in culture.
Opportunities and Student Insights
102/225 of students asked believed that the inclusion of more international dining options would be a positive step towards improving and implementing UA Global’s mission of a global community on campus.
“I'd really like to see more cultural events celebrating cultures that are different from ours. I also feel like maybe having small weekly events in a new Global Space would be helpful to keep people involved.”
“I would like to see more study abroad events on campus where you could talk to people who have studied abroad and have [the] experience to help make a decision on whether you want to or not...I didn't really consider doing it because I didn't know what to expect from the classes.”
“Food and music is the language that everyone can understand and appreciate. It breaks down barriers of prejudices and racism which would help a lot of international students.”
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