CIRCLE

01 | From where it begins？

As an international student myself, I feel the pride, the privilege, as well as the loneliness, the isolation altogether. I saw the need for an online community for Chinese international students in the US. Hence, in 2022, I started this CIRCLE online community project.
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Studies show that college students frequently suffer from mental disorders such as depression (41.6%) and anxiety (36.4%). The lack of social support and cultural differences make it even worse for international students. A welcoming, close-knit community could be their lifebuoy ring to thrive academically and mentally. I realize that international students tend to be scattered in different locations, only an online community can conquer the distance.
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‍Credit: This project is advised by Amy Bruckman, Regent's professor at Georgia Tech, teaching the Design of Online Communities class.

02 | Competitive Analysis

• 1point3acres
  This is the most frequently used site for Chinese international students to look for resources. Information exists in forum posts format. Users cannot edit their original posts or delete their posts. Searching within the site needs points, which have been made increasingly hard to earn. This mechanism is designed to keep users active daily. However, the overall information transparency on this site is low, as users cannot access posts freely and do not have control of their posted content. Subscription to the site costs 41.67 dollars per month.
• moonbbs
  This site focuses on shopping in the U.S. for Chinese people. It does not provide any resource for student-oriented information. It uses a basic BBS(bulletin board system) format.
• xiakexing
  This site only focuses on how to succeed in tech interviews. Users can only interact below each posts thread. Visitors cannot access posts without an account. The format is also basic BBS.
• 1o24bbs
  This site is also targeting people who are job hunting. Under the life in the US section, the majority of posts are about stocks and finance.
• uscardforum
  This site is only targeting people who need financial advice or American credit cards. It mostly shares information on how to apply for credit cards, how to build up credit scores, and how to use credit cards strategically.
• Wechat groups
  WeChat groups create private environments. Outsiders only join when a member invites you with a QR code. I am currently in three Georgia Tech students' WeChat groups. It’s similar to iMessage groups. No information is accessible on the internet.
• GT Discord server
  This server is under the GT student hub on Discord, which can be accessed with a GT email. The threads in this server are oriented around CS classes, and students usually organize/find WeChat groups through this discord server. Overall, it’s not an active community.
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TL;DR: The majority of those sites focus on helping Chinese international students with job hunting in the tech industry, shopping, and finance. The Bulletin board system platform makes it hard for users to build personal connections or meet people locally. Wechat groups, in comparison, are a more coherent community and exist across all American universities. However, they are not searchable on the internet, and information gets lost easily as chats overflow. All three GT WeChat groups I have access to have roughly 470 people (500 is the maximum number).

03 | User Research & Insights

The users groups are defined as - Chinese International students in the United States. I used surveys and semi-structured interviews to collect data.

1. Surveys
   Where do international students get support? I collected data on the platforms they use, how they use them, what they need help with.
   - The most common platform people use is 1point3acres.
   - Most people gave it a 4/5 score in terms of difficulty to use.
   - The most sought-after help is grad school applications and visa applications.Most people are between the ages of 21-25, and are on an F-1 visa.
   Take a look at the survey, and the data! (It's in Chinese but try chrome-translate.)
2. Interview
   Read about the Interview process and script. A total of 6 interviews allowed me to generate an affinity map of their journeys.

04 | persona

Evan Yi - Evan is a senior at a public high school in China, in the college application process. His high school doesn’t provide resources for US colleges.

Jenna Xia - Jenna is a freshmen at Duke University. She feels a little disoriented because of language and culture differences. Does not do well in literature classes.

Charlotte Pan - Charlotte is a senior at UCLA. She is excited about graduation but is stressed about job hunting. Her U.S. visa is also expiring soon, and she is not sure how to renew it. She also would like to stay connected with UCLA alumni and help incoming students learn more about this great institute.

05 | Pain Points

06 | ideation

07 | User flows

User's goals at different stages
‍1. High school senior - Learn more about college applications
2. Newly admitted/freshmen - Learn more about college life
3. Sophomore moving out of campus - Find a safe neighborhood
4. Students new to the area - Find a local hiking group in Atlanta

complete user flow

08 | low-fidelity prototype

complete low-fi mockup

Usability Testing
I conducted a think-aloud task walkthrough with a low-fidelity mockup to facilitate the iterative design process. I was able to identify confusion with wording, mismatch between users' mental models, and categorization. I also did preference testing on different versions of the menu bar. After 4 interviews, data reached saturation with repetitive feedback.

09 | high-fidelity mockup

complete hi-fi mockup

10 | the takeaway