#ramregistration

Prototype: RamRegistration - a site for Fordham students to look for classes and then register every semester

https://www.figma.com/file/jJe45tswJxL8vA9XUB5CX7/Untitled?node-id=0%3A1

Problem: 

State of the Problem

Right now, Fordham has two different systems that students must use when planning and registering for classes. The first program is DegreeWorks, which shows students which classes they have taken, the classes they are in the process of taking, and the classes they still have to take. This program also allows them to see how many seats are left in the class sections they may want to take the following semester. The second program is Banner, which is split up in the following sections: “Plan Ahead,” “Browse Classes,” and “Register for Classes.” The “Plan Ahead” feature allows students to browse classes by department, course number, attribute, etc. and then add the class they want to their planned schedule. The “Browse Classes” feature allows students to look for classes in the same way that the “Plan Ahead” feature, except students can also narrow down by campus. Despite the fact that searching by campus can be very helpful in narrowing down options (so that students are not looking at 20 pages worth of classes), this feature’s downfall is that students cannot add a class to their plan once they have found one that they like; to do that, they would have to go back to the “Plan Ahead” section of Banner. Finally, the “Register for Classes” feature allows students to submit their pre-created plans on registration day so that they don’t have to face the struggle of looking for classes on that day. The wide array of places that students have to look when they are planning and registering for classes can make the whole process very dizzying and irritating. 

How does this design target the problem?

Through this prototype, I have tried to solve the problems listed above. I asked myself, “how can I create program that incorporates the best and leaves out the worst of Banner and DegreeWorks in a way that makes the program easier for students to use?” As a result, I created a program that is called “RamRegistration,” in which I work to make an easy-to-use combination of the best of what Banner and DegreeWorks have to offer, eliminating the excess steps that students have to take when planning and registering for classes.

Data Collection:

How I got the data

Most of my knowledge and experience came from having to use both Banner and DegreeWorks over several semesters as a Fordham student. Having to have different tabs open in different programs has led to my computer shutting down, all the tabs closing, me losing my place on the programs and having to start all over again, etc. I found myself constantly wishing that all the information I need and all the steps I had to take were in one place so that I wouldn’t get confused or annoyed with how many tabs were open at any given time.

However, I did not inly want my experiences and opinions incorporated in the prototype design. So, I collected more data through a survey on SurveyMonkey that was sent out to the rest of the class. All in all, an average of 10-15 people answered the survey. 

The following are the results of the “Yes or No” questions:

The following are the responses to the question, “What do you wish was different about Banner?”:

- “That it wasn’t so slow during registration”

- “Telling you how many seats are left in each class. Not freezing/glitching when registering.”

- “Run time when it comes to registration”

- “I wish it had the seats left on there”

- “I wish they removed unavailable courses”

The following are response the responses to the question, “What do you wish was different about DegreeWorks?”:

- “I wish I can still check how many seats are in the class even if the core/major is already fulfilled”

- “That I can still check the classes for the requirements I have already met. Also, I wish it only show me the classes that are offered in the following semester, not all the classes under the requirement even if it is not offered (eyes too hurtful to scroll down all those useless info)”

- “I wish someone had taught me how to use it literally even one time like I only just figured out how to use the what if option to see other classes outside of my major”

- “I wish it was easier to read with information about the future course possibilities”

How I used the data

According to the data, all the students who responded use both DegreeWorks and Banner when planning for registration, and over 50% of them had trouble learning how to use DegreeWorks. My data collection also led me to conclude that DegreeWorks is good for finding out which classes you have to take, what the course numbers are for those classes, and how many seats re left in the class. So, I decided that these are elements of DegreeWorks that I wanted to keep in my prototype.

The data also led me to the conclusion that Banner is good for searching for classes, learning which professors teach those classes, and then creating a pre-planned schedule to submit on registration day. Therefore, as students seemed to like these aspects of Banner, I decided I wanted to keep them in my prototype.

Lastly, my data collection showed that almost roughly 94% of the students who responded to my survey find it irritating/confusing when classes are listed on DegreeWorks and Banner when they are not available to take the following semester. Hence, I found it integral to remove the parts of Banner and DegreeWorks that show classes that are not offered by the University the following semester.

RamRegistration

I tried to create a program, RamRegistration, that kept all the good parts and removed all the bad parts of Banner and DegreeWorks. My program allows students to narrow down their search by campus, time and day that class is offered, and semester. RamRegistration only shows the classes that students have yet to complete under their requirements (and only the classes actually being offered the following semester are displayed when the student clicks on a certain course).

I also decided that I would exclude some of the information that students find on DegreeWorks: FIDN, Major, Minor, Concentration, Credits. Instead, I would put these under a separate page in myfordham - something like a student profile that shows all this information. These pages would be linked through myfordham so that the student’s information is transferable for RamRegistration’s algorithm, but will not show up on RamRegistration (the information is not particularly pressing when it comes to actually registering).

Furthermore, Ram Registration shows recommended classes based on your requirements and current plan. This way, when registration day comes along and a student doesn’t get into a class they wanted, they have options from this “Recommended Classes” section; they don’t have to actually search department and course number to find a class they might be able to take.

As for the “Plan” portion of RamRegistration, I decide to reduce the number of plans to one instead of three. I normally tend to use the three plans just to have classes as backup. However, I did not believe that the backup options are no longer necessary since the “Recommended Classes” option exists (I would be willing to revisit this concept in a new iteration, though).

I have also added a section to search for classes that are not a part of the student’s requirements. The student can search based on department, course number, and/or attribute, and only the classes that are actually offered the following semester will show up as options to add to their plan.

Lastly, I am assuming that the smaller volume of data on RamRegistration will reduce the lag that students face while registering. The extra classes that are not really being offered and the ones that do not pertain to the students’ needs are either eliminated by my prototype or by their filters at the homepage of RamRegistration. It is my intention that the site no longer crashes as a result of registration day. 

Universal Principles:

I tried to use as many of the C.R.A.P. Principles as possible when creating this prototype. Below are my explanations of each

Contrast

I tried to stick to the colors that Fordham typically uses in an effort to stay true to the spirit of the University. The banner across the top of each page is maroon and the text is white. The background of the page is white with black text and any other accents are grey. The text headers are maroon. Additionally, all the text is consistent in size, with the headers being a little larger than the rest of the text/information on the page. 

Repetition

As aforementioned, the entire prototype is based around four main colors - maroon, white, black, and grey - to pay tribute to the school colors. There is also a consistent font used called “Gupter.” I decided to use the same font the entire time to emphasize a sense of order in the design. Also, at the top of each page is a maroon banner with the word “RamRegistration”; this is done in an effort to create a consistency within the program so the students know the application.

Alignment

Throughout this prototype, I did my best to use edge alignment to create more visually appealing web page for the students to look at when using RamRegistration. Incorporating alignment throughout the prototype was important because if the program isn’t organized then the registration process isn’t either. Right now, the students suffer through the registration process because Banner and DegreeWorks are poorly designed. It was my intention to make RamRegistration as clean and concise as I could.

Proximity

I worked to effectively space every piece of text in the prototype so that it has both visual appeal and good translation of information. I grouped all the information that was relevant to each other together. For instance, all the incomplete requirements are together at the top left of the page and the recommended classes are together right underneath. Then, I placed all the information on each page that goes more in-depth into the class offerings together. 

First Iteration and Prototype:

Below is the first draft of my prototype:

Originally, I was going to include all the classes that students have taken, are in the process of taking, or have yet to take. However, during my feedback session, a classmate of mine suggested that I only include the classes that the students still have to take; otherwise, there is too much unnecessary information clogging up the page. 

After the feedback session, I also added a “Recommended Classes” section and a place to search for classes that are not part of the students’ requirements. I believe that these are two of the most important sections of my prototype because they give students more options without having to leave the webpage they are looking at.

I also decided to add a specific section where students can narrow down by campus, time, day, and semester: that way, they will only get the results for the classes they actually want. A big problem with Banner and DegreeWorks now is that there is an excessive amount of unnecessary information that confuses the entire registration process: classes that are not actually being offered the following semester, classes at a campus that the student does not want to be at, etc.