ChowChums
FALL 2017 | HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
The Problem
Cornell is incredibly diverse, with more than 10% of the undergraduate population being international students, who face more hurdles in addition to those that one encounters during their college experiences. They often experience difficulties when finding friends when they first get campus and have feelings of loneliness. Their feelings of homesickness are especially heightened, since they have been transplanted in a completely different country with completely new societal norms that they need to readjust to.
Another issue that we found is that international and domestic students hardly ever interact outside of an educational setting. Through our user interviews, we found that the main reason was due to indifference. While both international and domestic students said that they are open to interacting more with each other, both also mentioned that it was not a priority for them.
The Process
User Research
In order to properly understand the current dynamic between domestic and international students, we carried out multiple user interviews with both international and domestic students. Then, using this information, we created an affinity diagram to map out the needs and concerns of our intended audience. This helped us form a persona which had the same end goals as these users.
Design Ideation
Using the information that we had received from the user research interview, we brainstormed and sketched different designs which all aimed to address different aspects of the user persona.
After discussing our ideas, we decided upon a mobile application that would bring students together through food.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Following the design idea we had decided upon, we created a low fidelity paper prototype.
Using this very rough first iterations of our design, we carried out user evaluation sessions where we were able to evaluate our initial design and gained valuable feedback about the flow of the tasks allowed within the app.
Mid-Fidelity Prototype
After executing multiple user evaluation sessions with the paper prototype, we then created a mid-fidelity prototype with Balsamiq using the comments and feedback.
Additionally, we complete a heurisitc evaluation on this new prototype and made note of the necessary changes needed to improve the interface and decrease confusion.
The Solution
InVision Prototype
Features
Browse
The main screen of the ChowChums app is the browse screen, where users can scroll through the different potlucks that are being hosted in their area. In addition to the name of the potluck and a brief description set by the host of the potluck, the type of cuisine that will be featured by at each potluck is symbolized with a small flag of the country it is from.
Join
Each PDP (Potluck Detail Page) provides all the information about where the potluck will be, when it is, who the host is, and what cuisine will be featured. In order to provide incentive for users to attend different potlucks, users earn a badge for each featured cuisine -- if a user attends a Filipino potluck, they will earn a badge with a flag from the Philippines.
Users are recommended to contribute to the potluck by bringing a dish or giving a monetary contribution through Venmo or cash. These options are presented on the page.
Create a Potluck
Users also have the opportunity to create their own potlucks to host and feature a certain cuisine. They then set the time, location, and offer some suggested dishes they wish for people to bring. The host also can connect their Venmo account to the app in order to receive monetary payment from users who wish to attend the potluck but do not wish to cook.
When creating this page, we designed it to mirror the PDP, to further clarify what information is required in each field.
Market
To address our users' homesickness, we added a "Market" feature in the app, where users can search for their favorite snack from home and find a local store that sells that item. They are also able to save these stores that they find for ease of access in the future.