BuzzWallet
Exploring how access around Georgia Tech can be consolidated into one tool
TIMELINE
Jan 2023 - May 2023
ROLE
UX Design
User Research
Branding
TEAM
Self
Jason Lin
TOOLS
Figma
Project Overview
What problems are Georgia Tech students facing?
This is a question my partner and I asked ourselves at the beginning of our 10 week UI/UX design bootcamp with Bits of Good - a Georgia Tech computer science organization focused on building digital products for local Atlanta non-profits. For our bootcamp project, we decided to focus on an aspect that all Georgia Tech students share regardless of year or major - possession of a BuzzCard.
Context
The Georgia Tech BuzzCard is the physical identification card that all students possess. The BuzzCard provides a number of different functions related to access, such as accessing campus buildings, campus events, and funds to be used for on-campus dining and retail.
Problem
Students find that the physical state of the BuzzCard limits their ability to access the card's various functions
In our initial problem discovery, students we talked to underlined a number of issues with the BuzzCard. Among the students we talked to, many shared a common complaint - students kept losing or leaving their BuzzCard at home.
We asked ourselves,
How can we redefine the BuzzCard to allow students to access its uses wherever and whenever?
Solution
Digital BuzzCard
Students can access their BuzzCard wherever and whenever. The BuzzCard can also be added to their device's mobile wallet for quicker access.
Manage BuzzFunds
Students are able to manage campus funds in-app and use their funds through the digital BuzzCard in their device’s mobile wallet.
Access Tickets for Campus Events
Students are able to acquire and view tickets in-app with the option to add them to their device’s mobile wallet for even faster access.
01
Research + Development
User Research
The research we conducted for the project was made through a survey sent out to students around campus. Questions asked in this survey were related to functionality, frequency, and pain points associated with the BuzzCard.
Example Questions
How frequently do you use your BuzzCard?
How would you rate accessibility to you BuzzCard balance?
How would you rate your experience in acquiring tickets for campus events?
After surveying a total of 73 participants and interviewing 7 of those 73 participants, we grouped together quotes from users by topic and areas of concern:
From these quotes and from data gathered in the survey, we discerned three main pain points students were facing:
01
Students see a need for a digital BuzzCard
Students are saying
“Mobile version of the BuzzCard would be so much easier”
“Put it on my phone!!”
02
Students have trouble accessing their Georgia Tech funds
Students are saying
“I never know where to load funds to my BuzzCard”
“I keep forgetting to bring my BuzzCard with me so I never really get to use my BuzzFunds”
03
Students find it difficult to acquire and access tickets for campus events
Students are saying
“Tickets are often in emails and they can be lost within my inbox.”
“Football season tickets are like a wild goose chase the website is literally awful”
White Paper Research
In 2021, Apple announced that four states including Georgia would allow state IDs and driver's licenses to be added to the Apple Mobile Wallet. With an important piece of identification now being implemented into the mobile wallet, there has seemingly been a national and global shift towards the use of a digital wallet over a physical one. This is reflected in the growth of digital wallet transactions:
In a 2023 study by Juniper Research, research found that the total value of digital wallets transactions will rise from $9 trillion in 2023 to surpass $16 trillion in 2028 - a growth of 77%.
Based on current and future trends regarding digital wallets, we began shaping our design goals for the BuzzCard around this movement away from the physical wallet.
User Personas
We came up with two personas of students that helped us ground our research and design ideation. These two personas were a reflection of some of the user pain points found from our initial user research.
Margot
1st year
Computer Science
Lives on-campus
Margot is a 1st year computer science major that lives on-campus. Melissa is an avid football fan. Before the first game of the new season, she realizes she doesn’t have her tickets ready. She steps out of line to find her tickets, scrolling endlessly to find the email with them in it.
Troy
4th year
Architecture
Lives off-campus
Troy is a 4th year architecture major that lives off-campus. He typically finds himself at the studio late at night. One night while walking from his apartment to the studio, he realizes he forgot his BuzzCard which he needs to have in order to get into studio.
User Flow
We then began mapping out a user flow that connected the various functions of the BuzzCard - including access to BuzzFunds and access to tickets.
Design Goals
After completing user research, creating user personas, and constructing a user flow, we established three design goals moving into the design of a potential solution:
01
Digitalize the BuzzCard
02
Create an easy-to-access stop for accessing and managing campus funds
03
Create a space to view and retrieve tickets for campus events
02
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Iteration
Low-Fidelity
Based on our research, user flow, and the design goals we set for ourselves, we began working on a basic framework to support the intended functions.
Mid-Fidelity
Once we had completed our low-fidelity prototype, we moved into working on the mid-fidelity prototype - where we focused on bringing in graphical elements into the interface.
03
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Final Design
Style Guide
In creating BuzzWallet’s identity, we looked to derive many elements from from Georgia Tech motifs and its color palette – with changes made to ensure visual contrast between colors.
Final Screens
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Thoughts + Reflection
After being able to complete and present BuzzWallet, I felt that this was one of the most rewarding projects I have had the pleasure of working on. From being able to continue growing my skillset as a designer to learning what works best in a group setting, I felt that I was able to grow in a holistic manner. Despite this, I also felt there were some areas during the project that I felt could be changed or be approached differently.
Expanded user group
One such example of an area that I felt could've been approached differently was during our user research. Much of our research into the use of the BuzzCard for this project was focused on students due to the ease of access to this population. However, a user group that was overlooked mainly due to a lack of time was faculty. Given more time, a greater focus on faculty from professors to janitorial staff who use the BuzzCard I think would greatly alter some of the design decisions made as well as introduce new ones.
communicate early & often
One of the major aspects that I think made this project successful and stress-free was being up-front with my partner on availabilities early into the project. This allowed us to establish a consistent, weekly check-in with one another on progress that we’ve made as well as hash out any problems that we were facing. These weekly check-ins also allowed us to self-impose deadlines for different elements of the project to keep in-pace with the bootcamp.
