
Redesign DigiPen
Results
Communicated a solution to a DigiPen campus design problem that proved to improve user experience and efficiency.
Team Size
Solo
Project Period
Begin: August 2023
End: September 2023
Tools
Procreate
Excel
Google Forms
Overview
In this project, I employed the design process to propose a solution to a problem I identified through user research done by me: students—even seniors—couldn’t find classrooms!
DigiPen names its classrooms after major figures throughout history. While cute, this can make finding a room very unclear, confusing, or, at worst, dangerous if you consider emergency service response time!
After targeted market research, my design to solve the perceived problem resulted in users being able to find classrooms twice as accurately and much faster (and it was cost-effective)!
Keep reading to walk through the journey!
Project Goals
The project aimed to…
Identify a problem with DigiPen’s user experience
Gather data from users experiencing the problem
Propose a solution to solve/mitigate the problem
Present the solution in a timely and clear manner
Provide any constraints if the solution was green-lit
The Problem
The problem I decided to tackle was the navigation of DigiPen.
DigiPen names classrooms after famous philosophers, artists, and STEM figures.
While interesting, this makes navigating an otherwise small and simple campus needlessly confusing and unintuitive
Research
The research phase included…
Conducting user interviews about the problem
Conduct stakeholder interviews to find the reasoning behind it
Research places that has good navigation and why
Through my research, I learned…
Users (new/old students and instructors) found finding rooms confusing and hard to remember especially at first
The rooms aren’t named that way for a better reason than “tradition”
Taking a page from Disneyland’s book, it seems that employing information chunking is the “secret sauce”
Problem Statement
After my research, I was able to create a tangible problem statement to help guide me to a solution:
“Develop an intuitive naming and heuristic method for classrooms so even new students can feel confident where one is by name alone.”
Proposed Solution
With the combination of my user research, market research, and clear problem statement, I concocted a solution that took concepts that proved successful for others:
“Chunking groups of classrooms into blocks. Each with a unique color, shape, and letter, along with a number for the floor and individual classrooms within the block. If possible, also have physical indications in the school with painted exterior classroom walls and lettered signs on said walls.”
User Testing
I created a Google Form to test my proposed solution
Users are presented with the original DigiPen map of floor 2
They then have it taken away and are presented with a modified version attributing symbols to rooms.
They are then asked which room is attributed to what symbol
Then it repeated the previous steps with my proposed map presented first
Testing Results
What was learned through user testing:
Users were 2x more accurate in predicting room location with the proposed map
Users tended to prefer the proposed map over the current one
Users who pushed back against the proposed map were usually students who have attended for 3+ years
Regarding last point, it can be assumed the push back was due to familiarity bias with the current map and a general lack of willingness to relearn an improved map
Constraints
The main constraint that existed was money which included…
Buying the paint to repaint walls to match block colors
Paying contracted painters
Money for reprinting school maps and paid time to replace digital maps
Benefits
As part of my research, I looked into the specific benefits this solution could offer DigiPen to really sell my idea to the higher-ups.
Optics: As a design school, a highly designed and curated experience on campus can elevate the optics of potential students and parents of students visiting the campus.
Ease / Efficiency: This solution would be far easier for just about anybody who’s looking for a specific room—far better than the current naming scheme.
Rapid Response: For when there’s an emergency situation, this easier scheme can decrease critical response time for emergency services.
Property Value: Not only does it offer the benefits above, this solution involves new paint, which I discovered, after talking with the son of DigiPen founder Christopher Comair, would up the property value of the campus with the new coat of paint!
Reception And What I Learned
My project with redesigning DigiPen was met with general surprise at the effectiveness of my proposed solution regarding accuracy of finding a classroom.
Many students were skeptical of the validity of the solution and issue until facing other’s results of the inaccuracies of the current map.
Through this project, I gained valuable skills in:
Interviewing / gathering user data
User testing
Creating effective problem statements
Presenting my ideas clearly to others
Managing constraints