The College of Art & Architecture has a special mission to make the University of Idaho, Moscow and beyond a more resilient, vibrant, sustainable and efficient place. Home to six undergraduate degrees and four graduate degrees, this college allows students to pursue their passions in everything from interior architecture and design to virtual technology and design. One of the recent initiatives the art and design program has taken part in is the design and user experience of MyUI, the new-to-come university interface for Vandals at UI, supported by the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and the Dean of Students Office.
Currently, students use a variety of resources to get information about campus, their schedules, payments, student programs and more. VandalWeb, the UI website and Canvas are the main websites and programs available with a wealth of information for students. However, it can often be difficult for students to track down specific information, and they may find themselves needing to visit multiple different platforms to find the data they need.
The main premise of MyUI is its convenience and accessibility for students, allowing them to access everything they could need during their education all in one place. As well, with its interface being available through a downloadable mobile app, students can take MyUI wherever they go.
Dave Gottwald is an assistant professor of the art and design program and coordinates the interaction design emphasis at UI.
Working in coordination with Parking and Transportation, the International Programs Office and MyUI, Gottwald taught an interaction and experiential design course in fall 2022 in which undergraduate students and graduate students assisted with the design of the MyUI app, either for regular course credit or a practicum credit, depending on their standing.
Gottwald recruited students who had taken previous interaction design courses of his and had other experience with digital design tools for the 300 level studio that aided in designing two MyUI cards. These students helped with the appearance of the individual buttons and screens of the app, illustrations and graphics and other student-facing elements. They were split into two teams, one tasked with designing a PTS card, and the other with an IPO card.
“They were given an XD (Adobe) file that already had a number of screens in it, and then already had what are called components … the little buttons and the form fields, and then they were provided with the website for all the other assets,” Gottwald said. “They were able to reference those to make new things, so if they needed to design a particular checkmark or an illustration, they would go to that website and look at the icons that already exist and design stuff off of that. So, they were kind of given a blueprint at the start out of the gate.”
Besides the hard work that the design students have already put into the app, they have also been involved in what Gottwald refers to as “ideation”, or brainstorming sessions, in which students, staff, faculty and stakeholders from multiple university offices and departments have collaborated together to produce all of the essential elements of the app, from visual design to functionality.
“The students all said that the highlight of the process for them was having the stakeholders, the client, in the room working with them on solutions, and it was really high energy,” Gottwald said.
“The students all said that the highlight of the process for them was having the stakeholders, the client, in the room working with them on solutions, and it was really high energy,” Gottwald said. “It was really positive because the stakeholders were thrilled that students were working on this, because I think in the past they may have felt like software was just kind of done far away somewhere, and they weren’t able to participate in it, so everyone felt like they were part of the design team.”
Kali Armitage, the director of enterprise applications at OIT, acts as a sponsor for the project and manages many of the teams that are collaborating to design and produce MyUI for a more user-friendly experience. In her role, she aids the team by contracting digital design work, consultants for programming and others that provide work that helps improve the user experience.
Having been in her role for two years, with the last year wielding real, tangible results, Armitage emphasizes the importance of the student perspective on MyUI’s design, and truly building the app for the optimal student use.
“Other people had met with ASUI and other students about what their needs were, looking at what the digital experience was now, and what products were available that we could utilize to give the students what they were asking for, which was more of a customized, interactive, personalized, mobile-friendly interface,” Armitage said. “It’s really about bringing all the things that a student needs to do together in one place, and organizing them in a meaningful way.”
“…we’re trying to take our time and really listen to the students and figure out what they want and then deliver something that’s a really great experience,” Armitage said.
Examples of what will be available for students through a “card” display include library resources, payment balances and information, parking maps and permits, campus maps, dining options and study spots.
Although all of MyUI’s features have not fully launched yet, there is a beta version that is available for students to view by visiting my.uidaho.edu. There are already many features and resources available for experimentation. The team plans to gradually release the program, eventually fully replacing VandalWeb and other current programs, websites and software used by students. Eventually, Armitage hopes for there to be integration with Canvas to allow students to access their grades and class modules directly within the MyUI app.
However, MyUI isn’t just for students. Staff and faculty can expect their own improved experience as well for everything from submitting tax forms, to pay sheets, to viewing and submitting grades.
If students are interested in being beta testers for in-progress versions of MyUI and are interested in providing feedback to the team, the information to sign up and volunteer is located at the MyUI Dashboard page on UI’s website.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into the development of the actual cards and that functionality, and we’re trying to take our time and really listen to the students and figure out what they want and then deliver something that’s a really great experience,” Armitage said. “We’re trying to make it so that you know the majority of the things that you need are right there in the app.”