Turning Pain Points into Progress:
58% More Satisfied with the Indiana University Mobile App Experience
EdTech
Mixed Methods Research
B2C
TLDR
My Role
Conducted a mixed-methods study involving a UX audit, analytics review, surveys (50 students), interviews (6 students), and card sorting (10 users) to uncover usability issues, user mental models, and inform an intuitive re-architecture of the app.
Core Experience Gap
Poor navigation and scattered features made key tools hard to access
The Solutions
Information Architecture Updates Illustrated Through Wireframes
HIGHLIGHTS
✱
Successfully delivered recommendations &
redesigns that led to
58%
increase in User Satisfaction with the app
3x
increase in Task Completion Rates
PRODUCT OVERVIEW
IU (Indiana University) Mobile is an app designed for the students, faculty & staff of Indiana University that streamlines campus life by providing easy access to essential tools like maps, grades, schedules & events, all in one place.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Challenges with App’s Usability
Users struggled to navigate the app and access key features efficiently, leading to frustration and reduced engagement. Accumulated usability issues and a poor user experience made interactions difficult, ultimately compromising the app's ability to fulfill its purpose as a reliable campus companion.
The call was clear, the IU Mobile App needed to be more intuitive and user-friendly.
PROCESS
RESEARCH QUESTIONS IDENTIFICATION
Process
Research Workshop with UX Design, Development and University Stakeholders
Goals
Identify key research questions
Establish Usability audit objectives
Defined focus areas for evaluation
Aligned stakeholder priorities
Research Question Examples
What are the key pain points users experience when navigating the IU Mobile App?
How effectively does the app enable users to access core features like bus tracking and grades?
What specific elements of the interface contribute to user confusion or frustration?
METHODOLOGY SELECTION
Method 1: Usability Audit
To establish a baseline understanding of usability issues, I conducted a UX Audit of the app using heuristic evaluation. The goal was to uncover general usability issues and establish a foundation for further research. This helped identify core problems before diving into user behavior analysis.
I evaluated both light mode and dark mode to ensure consistency across themes and address potential challenges specific to each. The design was evaluated on two levels:
UX
The usability audit uncovered structural issues, navigation challenges, and unintuitive features misaligned with user mental models, causing frustration in both light and dark modes.
UI
The audit also focused on inconsistencies in scannability and usability across light and dark modes.
Heuristic violations and visual design issues were addressed to ensure an intuitive and cohesive experience for users across themes.
Some of the issues found are:
Accessibility concerns
1.0
Low Contrast Search Bar in Dark Theme
The search bar in dark mode has a low contrast ratio, making it difficult for users to locate, violating Heuristic #4: Consistency and Standards.
2.0
Low Contrast in Shortcuts Menu
In dark mode, the shortcuts menu uses dark green text on a black background & has low contrast, making it hard to read and violating Heuristic
#4: Consistency and Standards.
Touch Target & Shortcuts Menu
1.0
Low Contrast Search Bar in Dark Theme
The search bar in dark mode has a low contrast ratio, making it difficult for users to locate, violating Heuristic #4: Consistency and Standards.
Inconsistent Categorization & Information Overload
1.0
Disorganized Content Grouping
Despite having a "Campus" section in the navigation, related information (such as Evening Transportation, Student organizations, Student newspapers, Laundry, and First Year Experience) is buried under "More," contributing to poor categorization and overwhelming content. This violates Heuristic #2: Match Between System and the Real World.
These findings suggested significant navigation and visibility issues, prompting me to investigate user behavior patterns through analytics review.
Method 2: Analytics Review
To validate usability issues identified in the audit, I examined user engagement metrics to determine how users interacted with the app and where they dropped off. Due to confidentiality, I cannot specify the features reviewed, but special attention was given to both high-traffic pages, to understand why engagement dropped off, and low-traffic pages, to identify potential discoverability issues.
Observations
High-traffic pages showed engagement times of just 4–18 seconds, indicating possible usability challenges or incomplete tasks.
Low-traffic pages highlighted poor discoverability of features that users could potentially benefit from.
The data confirmed that users were either struggling with navigation or abandoning tasks prematurely, reinforcing findings from the usability audit.
Method 3: Surveys
I conducted surveys to specifically quantify how widespread these issues were and identify patterns in user frustration.
I aimed to gather quantitative insights on which features were most used, how navigation confusion impacted user experience, and whether usability concerns affected engagement.
Tools Used
Screening Criteria
Participant demographic
Google Forms was used to design and distribute the survey due to its accessibility and ease of data collection.
Participants were recruited exclusively from Indiana University’s active student population to gather insights from the app's
primary user base.
A total of 50 students participated in the survey. Participants were recruited to ensure representation across different class years and disciplines, reflecting diverse user behaviors and challenges.
Over 70% of participants reported frequent use of core features like Kuali time and Bus tracking
2/5
Users rated the app 2 on a 1–5 scale, where 1 is very difficult and 5 is very easy, highlighting major usability challenges
Students reported difficulty locating features, highlighting gaps in the app’s organization.
These insights revealed that students frequently used key features but found them difficult to access. This reinforced the need to understand how users conceptualized and organized app content, leading me to conduct user interviews.
Method 4: User Interviews
These insights revealed that students frequently used key features but found them difficult to access. This reinforced the need to understand how users conceptualized and organized app content, leading me to conduct user interviews.
Protocol
Conducted one-on-one interviews with 6 students who were active users of the app.
Focused on understanding pain points, unmet needs, and their mental models of navigation.
Methodology
Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions to allow participants to freely express their experiences.
Key questions included:
What challenges do you face when using the app?
How do you typically locate frequently used features?
What improvements would make the app easier to use?
Are there features you wish the app had or did better?
Insights
Complex Navigation
Students found the app's navigation confusing and cumbersome, with them struggling to locate specific features.
Feature Organization
Scattered feature placement forced users to “hunt” for frequently used tools.
Lack of Tutorials and Onboarding
Lack of onboarding tutorials made it harder for new users to adapt to the app.
Need for Enhanced Features
Many participants requested enhancements to existing features, such as real-time updates for bus tracking and clearer grade postings.
The most consistent problem across all users was the difficulty in locating frequently used features, which reinforced the findings from the surveys. Additionally, multiple participants expressed frustration over having to "hunt" for tools, validating the need for a clearer information architecture.
Method 5: Card Sorting
Insights from user interview revealed a fundamental issue with the app’s navigation. To address this, I needed to understand how students mentally grouped and categorized app features to create a navigation structure that better aligned with their expectations. This led me to conduct card sorting to uncover natural patterns in feature categorization.
Study Procedure
Participants: 10 participants were recruited for the study.
Methodology: An open card sort was conducted as diagnostic research to explore user mental models and improve the app's discoverability.
Tool Used: Optimal Workshop was used to facilitate the card sort study.
Number of Cards: 32 cards representing key app features and content areas were included in the study.
Used dendrograms to identify natural groupings and validate top-level categories.
Study Observations
Dendogram with best merge method
Categories Sorted
Based on the card sort and dendrogram analysis, the following categories were identified:
Core Academic Tools
Features like Class Schedule, Grades and Canvas were strongly associated with academic tasks.
Campus Navigation and Logistics
Features such as Bus Routes, Parking Permit, and Buildings were consistently grouped under campus navigation.
Student Support & Resources
Features like Health and Wellness, Sports Notifications, and Student Organizations formed a cluster related to student activities.
Help & Settings
Features like Tech Help, Notifications, and General Settings showed overlapping clusters with Help.
Information Architecture
With the categories defined, I created a hierarchical structure that aligned with user workflows. The information architecture grouped related features under intuitive headings and streamlined navigation
Home: Central dashboard for quick access to essential tools like bus routes and news.
My IU: Academic tools and personal resources.
Maps: Campus navigation features.
Discover: Opportunities and resources for educational and extracurricular exploration.
More: Additional tools like parking management, tech help, and feedback.
Profile: User-specific settings and preferences.
Creating Wireframes for Feedback
To validate the new information architecture, I created low-fidelity wireframes for key screens, such as the Home page,
My IU, Maps, Discover, and More. The wireframes were shared with stakeholders and users to gather feedback on the categorization and navigation.
Usability Testing
The redesigned IU Mobile App aimed to address user frustrations with poor navigation and feature discoverability. After restructuring the app’s information architecture and creating a new sitemap, usability testing was conducted to validate and assess whether the redesigned navigation and UI improvements enhanced usability.
Objective
To evaluate the impact of the redesigned information architecture and navigation system on:
1. Task completion success.
2. User satisfaction.
3. Navigation efficiency (time-on-task).
Methodology
Participants
7 students from Indiana University, representing frequent and occasional app users.
Recruited to reflect diverse user behaviors and needs.
Tasks
Participants completed 4 key tasks
Task 1
Prompt - Track a Bus using widget
Target - Home screen
Task 2
Prompt - Check class schedule
Target - Classes tab
Task 3
Prompt - Look for food destinations
Target - Maps
Task 4
Prompt - Find student organizations
Target - discover tab
Metrics
Task Completion Rate: Percentage of successfully completed tasks.
Time-on-Task: Average time taken to complete each task.
User Satisfaction: Rated on a scale of 1 (very difficult) to 5 (very easy) for each task.
Qualitative Feedback: Comments and suggestions from participants about their experience.
Testing Environment:
Conducted with a clickable prototype of the redesigned app.
Tasks were observed, and user interactions were recorded for analysis.
Findings
Task Completion Rates
3x increase, from 31% to 94%, indicating improved navigation and feature accessibility.
User Satisfaction
58% improvement, with ratings increasing from 3/5 to 4.5/5 due to clearer categorization.
Navigation Efficiency
67% faster task completion, reducing average time from 3m 45s to 1m 15s, reflecting better flow.
Reflections
What I would've done differently
Include Faculty and Staff Perspectives
The study focused entirely on students, which made sense given that they are the primary users of the app. However, faculty and staff also interact with features like class schedules, academic tools, and campus navigation. Including their point of view would have provided a more holistic understanding of user needs, especially regarding administrative and teaching-related functionalities.
Longitudinal Testing for Real-World Validation
The usability test was conducted in a controlled environment with a prototype, which may not fully reflect how users interact with the app in real-life scenarios. Running a longitudinal study, where users test the redesigned app over several weeks, would reveal long-term usage patterns, adoption rates, and unforeseen usability challenges.
Personal Learnings
Users Don’t Always Think Like Designers
Our assumptions about navigation were completely overturned during card sorting. Users grouped features differently, reminding me that design should be research-driven, not assumption-driven.
Numbers Alone Don’t Tell the Full Story
While quantitative results showed success, the most powerful validation came from user quotes. Hearing ‘I found what I needed so much faster’ was just as meaningful as the 3x improvement in task completion
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