...
We have two main sources of user populations: high school students (who may or not have been accepted to MIT already) and current MIT students. The analysis for each general population, and classes within those populations, is below.
...
Characteristics:
- 14-18 years old
- about About evenly male and female
- diverse Diverse ethnic backgrounds and countries of origin (but basic proficiency in English)
- academically Academically motivated and accomplished
- proficient Proficient with technology
Pichu is applying to colleges. He is interested in MIT, but would like to learn more about its culture and academic opportunities. Pichu is in many ways similar to Pikachu (below), although his general focus is likely more on the academic opportunities at MIT. When When we expand our website to include more information about other features of MIT life (such as academic programs and virtual campus tours), for example) he will be much more likely to use the website.
Pikachu has been offered admission into MIT, and needs to differentiate MIT from other colleges. Before making a final decision, Pikachu would like to gather more information on financial cost, academic programs, research opportunities, and student life.
We interviewed one prefrosh who reported browsing a number of different sites about campus life (i3 videos on YouTube, main MIT site). She She wanted to be able to get advice from current MIT students about housing and academics.
Raichu has accepted MIT’s offer of admission and is preparing for the fall. While Raichu may have come to CPW, he was busy attending so many free food events that he was not able to adequately compare dorms. Raichu is worried about ranking dorms and would like to find the dorm that best fits his personality. In addition, Raichu has started to consider potential majors and scout the surrounding neighborhood for good restaurants, but all the information he wants is scattered across multiple websites and he is finding it hard to keep track of everything.
We interviewed several current freshmen (the closest to this user population as possible right now). They all reported a lot of difficulty finding information about dorms when deciding among them for their preference list, and difficulty using the Housing website as well. Additionally, they said that over CPW they weren’t able to interact much with current MIT students or to get a good feel for which dorms would be best for them. Several of them reported that they selected the wrong dorm when they first came to MIT and then subsequently entered the re-adjustment lottery once they had a chance to talk to more MIT students.
...