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.