Apply Online: Mobile Edition!

I'm excited to report that after a pretty good meeting with some stakeholders, they were able to see the wisdom in investing in the development of an online version of the college application (Apply Online) that will work not only for the desktop but also for mobile devices. We currently have an Apply Online service but it is in need of updating. The objective is to create a streamlined application process that can be completed and submitted in 5-7 minutes by requiring essential-only data needed to make an admit decision.

Among the concerns discussed were

Is it even viable?
Shouldn't the focus be on developing mobile apps to serve the current student population then branch out to prospective students?

Considering our enrollment challenges, it would be advantageous to capture the attention of many minorities and others who do a considerable amount of shopping for services and products (including education) online and via mobile devices. This way, we maximize our ROI by increasing our visibility and reach. Expectations can be managed by providing accurate information as to what other digital services are currently offered on campus.


App vs. Optimized Website
Should we use a mobile app or an optimized website to apply online?

Just because an app is faster doesn't mean it's great for every situation. In this case it was almost a no-brainer that we should seek the utility of a Mobile Optimized Website as opposed to a device specific app. The MOW can be built more quickly, can be deployed for multiple devices with minimal customization, does not need to be upgraded when updates are made to specific machines. This is the clincher: Since prospective students are likely to use it once, there is no need to download an app that will never be used again.


Are other schools doing this?
As of the date of this blog, no other schools were doing this. It was raised that schools must be shying away from this for a reason.

Most likely that reason is the challenge posed by most college online applications: Significant content bloat and redundant information that may be verified elsewhere. Our goal is to streamline the process to bare essentials and to provide a form akin to what many businesses are already doing with e-commerce, online trading, online banking etc. Since many consumers (in the business world) already fill out forms of considerable length (on mobile devices) to attain convenient services, our theory is to make our form just as user-friendly if not more so.


e-commerce Considerations
It was raised that e-commerce is not being widely utilized on mobile devices.

Research shows that the use of e-commerce is on the rise on mobile devices and that capturing the attention of this growing market will be to our advantage. Many of the attendees admitted to having done some form of mobile banking or other e-commerce operation already. Having a student being able to complete an application and gain immediate consideration by submitting the application fee facilitates immediate customer contact and increases the likelihood of moving a prospective "customer" to an admitted student.


Won't we lose valuable information?
It was raised that "scaling down" the college application to work on a mobile device will increase the likelihood of losing valuable information needed to be captured for admit decisions to be made.

Scaling down the information needed for any online form leads to increased task completion. Surveys that are long are less likely to be filled out than those that are short and more concise. The discussion then centered on removing unwanted and redundant information from the application process period, and streamlining this to accommodate the shrinking attention span of online users.

Share your thoughts and ideas and help us make a better product for Coppin State University.

12 is the Magic Number

In creating a concept for the Mobile version of the website, it is determined (I think) that for wide screen smart phones (iPhones, Droids and others), 12 icons can fit on the screen (4 x 3). Twelve icons = twelve major topics. I'll give you my impression of the 12 most important things to display. What's your 12?

Academics * Admissions * Tuition * Financial Aid
Apply Now * Calendar   * News    * Contact Us
Directory * About CSU  * Current * Emergency Info
                         Students


There is no need to fill all 12 if each item isn't critically important

...and the Survey Says...

Yes, this line was taken from the "Family Feud" gameshow, popular for surveying average people and using the results to determine where contestants ranked.

The Survey group met today to hash out the appropriate questions needed to get the maximum benefit from the campus feedback. Information overload (ergo unnecessary useless data) is a common pitfall of projects this size. We hope our questions will give us the quantifiable, granular data needed to build a site suited to the specific needs of the Coppin Family.

Among the subjects considered were:

• An audience based set of questionnaires focused on Task Completion*
• Harnessing the information needs of those served by the pages we create

The final questions will be rolled out in a day or two, keep posted.

^*Task Completion is a phrase you'll encounter several times here. It refers to the operation of a web page by purpose. Most individuals go to a site to do something, complete a task. Rarely do people read all the data on a website, but people seek out "hot zones" where their functionality is concentrated and perform the action they set out to do. Building a site with this in mind leads to better results.

Mobile Presence: Which one do we need?...

Here's the big question: Do we commit resources to the creation of a Mobile App or funnel our energies into a Mobile Optimized Website?

When the web phenomenon exploded in the mid nineties, it was no longer a question of whether or not you needed a "homepage" - it was what kind of web presence did you need and how quickly could you get it out there. Fast forward just 15 years (in internet terms that's a lifetime) and the same can be said about a mobile presence.

Specialized Mobile Apps have become popular and are used for a variety of functions. Mobile optimized websites are also on the rise and are taking advantage of increasing support for HTML5 and CSS3 capabilities.

Reasons for Native Mobile Apps:

• High Performance - taking advantage of the device's capabilities
• Offline Mode
• Findability
• Device Attributes - Camera, GPS, etc
• Monetization

Reasons for Mobile Optimized Web

• Rapid deployment and update cycle
• Lower deployment/maintenance costs
• Universally available (with caveats) on a majority of devices

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/purplelime/2848782746/ by PurpleLime

Mobile App or Browser-Based Site? Report Says The Browser Will Win on Mobile

Mobile App or Browser-Based Site? Report Says The Browser Will Win on Mobile

Subcommittees Created

After a refreshing but not-long-enough vacation, I return to the grindstone. We have created several subcommittees to attack specific portions of the project. Not in any order of importance, these are the subcommittees:

Graphics and Design
Content Development
Architecture (layout and link structure)
Policy and Procedure (new business processes)
Survey Questions (what we'll ask and why)
Mobile Web (CSU on Mobile Devices)

Each group has an assigned task list which will be executed in the coming weeks.

Online Newsletters Re-Imagined

Interesting thought. Blogging software (WordPress, Blogger, etc) are viable sources for re-imagining the current use of online Newsletter. At present, we have a database driven, extremely simple and non-interactive format.

The idea is, if we utilize something like Wordpress, not only are we able to give departments the ability to create a unique experience, but we include the Web 2.0 feature of user feedback to gauge the effectiveness of the article AND promote the brand by allowing users to have a say in the development of the school's image.

eduWEB Impact

My team and I are attending the eduWEB Conference. We're gathering a lot of ideas and information about effective design practices and positive brand impact methodology. I can't wait to share these ideas with the committee and implement them in the foundation design of Version 7. I'll share these insights at intervals and look forward to active discussion on each.

Facebook Group Created

Some of this stuff is still new to me in terms of coordinating multiple points of information so please bear with me as you witness my baby steps. At any rate, I've created a group on Facebook - feel free to "Like" or "join" the group. It has the same name "Coppin Web Project". I'm open to suggestions to make this smoother.

And it begins...

Coppin State University is constructing a new website to achieve a world class presence on the internet that will attract prospective students and provide a platform for distributing its information. This is the 7th version since the college (now a University) went live on the internet around 1992.

Get updates, timelines, and other pertinent information as they become available and view ongoing discussions on the various elements of the project as it evolves. Your responsible participation will assist in greatly in its development.