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The goal of this case study was to create a mobile app to provide UofT students with easy and streamlined access to centralized and reliable discount information.
How might we help UofT students easily find, access, and verify student discounts, enabling them to save on living costs, and time, and make informed purchasing decisions?
With rising costs of living in Toronto and increasing tuition fees, UofT students actively seek student discounts to alleviate their financial burdens. However, the current resources for accessing these discounts are scattered, unreliable, and challenging to navigate, resulting in difficulties in finding the most favourable deals among the available options. Moreover, the available resources (reddit, blogs, facebook pages and official university websites) are incomplete and not consistently updated, often failing to meet the students' informational needs.
To address the challenge, our team created "Dealio," a mobile app serving as an online community hub for UofT students. Dealio provides easy access to student discounts, addressing the issue of unreliable information. It offers up-to-date and comprehensive discount details, allowing students to compare and find the best deals in one place.
What is the most challenging when UofT students look for discount info?
Our team conducted secondary research, survey and semi-structured interviews to examine the attitudes and practices of the University of Toronto students regarding discount access. We aimed to understand how students currently discover discounts, their existing knowledge of discounts, and their levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with current resources. We distributed the survey to current students at the University of Toronto and interviewed UofT students to dive deeper into obstacles encountered.
● Over 50% of surveyed students found "searching" to be the most challenging aspect of accessing student discounts.
● Dissatisfaction with the limited amount of information available on University-affiliated resources
● Difficulties found included starting searches, insufficient information on discount terms, and a lack of centralized information
Student discount information is presented in a centralized location
Information is reliable and kept up-to-date with peer reviews and submissions
Information is complete with terms and eligibility requirements to inform redemption step
"How can we effectively address the identified challenges?"
Reflecting on the design process, I realize that the most important aspect of solving user pain points is to communicate and listen to their experiences and feedback. User feedback reveals areas for improvement, empowering UX designers to construct products that prioritize usability and enhance the overall user experience
Teamwork played a vital role in achieving a successful outcome. Without collaborative effort among teammates, we would not have been able to create the desired product. Furthermore, working with teammates from diverse backgrounds offered valuable insights into problem-solving from various angles. It also provided me with an opportunity to learn different work styles and design skills.
