(03/05)University orientation app
Helps final-year high-school students choose a university: a personalised test, entry-exam guidance, campus services and a chat with current students.
In short
01 · The problem
Many final-year students feel confused before this choice: orientation tests and open days are generic, and a significant number change faculty in the first year.
A difficulty I had lived through myself became the starting point.
02 · The research
Questionnaire and interviews
Questionnaire with 17 first-year students and 4 semi-structured interviews, March–April 2025.
chose mainly out of passion for the subjects
want more information on real job opportunities
still have doubts about their choice
found their school’s guidance not very effective, or useless
trust students’ stories on social media most (17.6% trust official university information)
In their words
“The information they gave us was SO MUCH, and all scattered.”
“I never understood where I had to go to find what I needed.”
“Talk to university students, but directly, personally.”
“Nobody ever explained to us how university websites really work.”
“Putting my thoughts in order helped me.”
From the interviews, translated from Italian.
Customer profile
Value Proposition Design mapped what students do, fear and hope for, from failing the entry test to finding a home in a new city, then measured the fit between pain relievers, gain creators and products.
Jobs
Pains
Gains
Value Proposition Design for students in their last two years of high school, in order of importance.
Value map
The Value Proposition Design became a value map: jobs, pains and gains turned into products and services, pain relievers and gain creators. The products are the app, the chat with current students, the guide to services and the flyer.
The value map: gain creators and pain relievers on the left, the student profile on the right.
03 · The choices
Problem: orientation tests mean little. Solution: change the tests.
Problem: the tools are simple and generic. Solution: keep them up to date.
Problem: they are not up to date. Solution: refresher courses.
Problem: few resources and skills for their staff. Solution: investment.
The real client: from here, Value Proposition Design.
Client-Problem-Solution cycles: each cycle questions the one before, until the real client is back.
04 · The project
The same identity, a compass with a graduation cap, carries the app and the flyer with the QR code to download it.
01/03 Test
Fifty questions in four areas, on a five-step scale, lead to a suggested university with a short description and a link to its official site.
02/03 University
For each university the app explains the required TOLC with a link to CISIA, housing and transport with a route map, and opens a chat with students already enrolled.
03/03 Chat
From the home page, tests, universities, rankings and services are one tap away, with news such as open enrolments. The chat puts the student in touch with someone already on that course: direct answers that go beyond official information.
05 · The outcome
What I delivered
From the first question to the chat with a current student: one place that reduces uncertainty and the risk of changing course in the first year.
What I learned
A questionnaire, four interviews and four CPS cycles came before a single screen. Reframing the problem until I found the real client, final-year students, taught me to question the brief before answering it.
(03) Contact
UX/UI internships and a master’s
I am looking for internships and collaborations as a UX/UI designer, and a master’s programme starting in autumn 2027. Get in touch.
