Thesis Capstone
My final thesis project focused on the experiences of Caribbean International Students and finding ways to improve these experiences before, during, and after school.
Role: UX/UI Designer and Researcher
Contributions: KWHL, Literature Reviews, Stakeholder Map, Personas, Journey Map, Information Architecture, Interviews. Workshops, Wireframes, Usability Tests, Moodboard, Style Tile, Prototypes, Mockups, Thesis paper
Timeline: 8 months
The Project ✨
Students often come to Canada not knowing they may face culture shock and difficulty forming friendships, or fully knowing what they will do once they graduate.
This project followed the entire design process over the course of 8 months, so there was a lot and a lot and A LOT of data, writing, processes etc. documented but I tried to give a condensed version here in this case study
The Problem ✨
There were many problems highlighted during the research process, and I'll discuss them in the Problem Discovery and Solution Making section.
The Solution ✨
Giving students access to more information through an informational pamphlet and a program and search tool. And for further community building, an online Caribbean club community that can be utilized by schools.
Why This? Why Caribbean International Students?
When it came to choosing a topic, I remember my professor telling the class to choose something close to or interesting to you. After a lot of brainstorming, I decided I wanted to focus on the experiences of Caribbean international students, being one myself. With a topic space, I wanted to discover ways to assist Caribbean international students navigate their space on and off Campus in the GTA (final topic).
Understanding The Topic
Secondary Research
How Might We
How might we understand and alleviate the issues faced by Caribbean international students who have limited support systems once they enter Canada and attend school?
By investigating the problem space, I hoped to create solutions that were not only helpful but also gave these students a community once they came to Canada. The aim was to have Caribbean students better equipped to navigate their space and have a support system that understood their experiences.
Visualizing The Audience
Personas
With some more work being done in the background (KWHL, Stakeholder map and Conceptual map), the problem space was becoming clearer and clearer, so what's next? Visualizing the people this project was aimed at- Caribbean students.
Meet Cathy and Nathan
Explanation- Two groups, one journey/ storyline
Group One: Current Students
Cathy
She would let me know what school life was currently like and any expectations she had moving forward.
Group Two: Graduated Students
Nathan
He would let me know what it was like completing school and joining the workforce.
Both Groups
Together, they would help me understand the transition from an enrolled student to an active worker.
Interviews and Focus Group
So with the secondary research concluded, I started getting a clearer vision of the project and the target audience. Having that foundation and general understanding, the next steps were hearing from the target audience themselves and observing if any of the info learnt so far holds true and what else I can learn.
Interview
Wanting to learn the first-hand account of these students, interviews felt most appropriate because they allow for conversation to flow and gain more personal insights. More than anything, I didn't want it to feel like a stiff interview, more of a free-flowing conversation.
Focus Group
The focus group was meant to bring the audience together, post-interview, to gather more views/concerns and facilitate a discussion among them.
BUMP ALERT:
Even with the promise of snacks and refreshments, the focus group had to be scrapped due to scheduling conflicts with the participants. Also, the tight timeline, I had to pivot and just focus on the interviews and gather a few more participants.
Insights
Having analyzed the data, several insights were discovered. **This isn't a full, comprehensive list, just some of the heavy hitters**
Love for their home countries but no desire to return
Insight: They don't want to return home
Anticipating What Life Will Be Like in Canada
Insight: Participants do not know what to expect when coming to Canada but those who do attribute it to having friends in the country.
Not knowing all the information
Insight: There's some understanding of what Canada would be like, but there are gaps in between.
Persona Updates
Don't worry, it's not déjà vu; you did see Cathy and Nathan earlier, but a few tweaks were made to them based on the data from the interviews. The interviews showed me that there are not two user groups but one, just at different stages of the same journey.
Explanation- One group, two stages of the journey/ timeline
Stage One Updates: Current Students
Cathy
The struggle of finding friends was included.
Stage Two Updates: Graduated Students
Nathan
He is now moving locations to find better jobs in his field and still feels like he is not fully prepared for adulthood.
Journey Map
With the insights, secondary research and persona updates, a clearer picture was formed of the target audience and the problems they faced. However, I needed to understand and see what happened at every stage of their journey.
This map shows Nathan's journey as a Caribbean international student broken into three sections:.
His first year at school
His final year at school
When he's graduated and started working
The Problems
Creating the journey map brought ideas and opportunities to life. These opportunities were rooted in the pain points uncovered through primary and secondary research.
In the end, 6 recurring themes/problems were highlighted.
Students do not know which school to attend
Many Caribbean students were unsure of which Canadian post-secondary institutions to attend and had to do extensive research to find one.
Homesickness/ culture shock
Being so far from home and unable to visit often led to students missing it. With culture shock, students had to become accustomed to many things, such as changing seasons, trading a cash system for a card/ tap system and even the social culture.
Leaving their country to come to Canada
The similarities between the Caribbean and Canada were few. Students left the comfort and security of their country in pursuit of higher education.
The Solutions
To come to these solutions, I hosted a co-creation workshop. I presented the problems and tasked the participants to come up with solutions.
If you'd like to know more about the workshop, please reach out.
By the end of everything, there was so much data collected, on top of the outputs from the workshop session. So, going back to the insights, problems and journey map, I started connecting the workshop solutions to them, keeping my users in mind and referring to the interviews.
I also did some more background research on existing "solutions" ( didn't want to design something that already existed).
In the end, I made a few edits and came up with the following.
Program Search Tool
This would be a section dedicated to discovering programs and Canadian post-secondary institutions. A field to input keywords to find post-secondary programs- e.g. engineering and business. Once entered, schools that offer those programs would appear.
School Comparison Tool
A filtering system for students to field-specific information when comparing, for instance fields like food, party culture and even hospitality.
Caribbean Club
Friend Search
Students could locate students in similar positions through an interactive map of the Caribbean and search feature. They can view a profile with a quick bio and introductory information.
Mentorship Program
Students can connect with mentors based on specific factors like career path.
These solutions would be integrated into existing platforms, Maclean's Education and Humber Ignite.
Within Maclean’s Education, the school comparison tool and program search features would be embedded as Maclean’s website was partnered with and offers data on post-secondary institutions in Canada.
A Pamphlet
These pamphlets would contain introductory information for Caribbean students coming to Canada. Would also include QR links to resources such as Maclean's program search.
Designing The Solutions
Information Architecture
Problems and issues addressed, sketches completed, I was getting an idea of how the final concepts would come together, but first, I needed to know where these concepts would be placed within the site/ where users could find them, the structure of the content, features, and navigation.
The sections highlighted in RED are the integrated solution
Caribbean Club Information Architecture
McLean's Education Informaation Architecture
Wireframes and Prototypes
The wireframes and prototypes were created in Adobe XD and are accessible via the links provided.
The wireframes were also annotated. If you'd like to see all of them, please reach out.
I created all of the written content or pulled the information from credible sources (ie university program pages).
Usability Testing
To ensure the solution met user needs and expectations, I conducted a session of usability testing. Each session was held with a previous interviewee and focused on identifying pain points, evaluating the effectiveness of the interface, and validating the user flow.
Objective
The goal was to test whether users could complete tasks, if they needed help to complete them or could not at all. Also, understand the interface intuitively, and provide feedback that can be used for future iterations.
Using high-fidelity prototypes, I observed how users interacted with the design, noting areas where they hesitated, got confused, or made errors.
Key Findings
Some participants were unsure if the searched school was saved (School Search Tool).
Returning to the filter multiple times because they could not find the enter button.
When comparing schools, participants were confused by what the metrics meant and what the rating scale represented.
Key Findings
There was difficulty clicking the buttons.
Participants did not know the names of the islands since they weren't labelled.
Some participants noted the "Friend Connect" was like a dating app for friends.
Design Iterations
Based on the feedback and observations made during the usability testing sessions, iterations to the design and prototypes were made.
Creatives
Creative Strategy
I'll be showing the main elements in this strategy, but if you'd like to see the entire breakdown, here's the link
Moodboards
Ignite Caribbean Club Moodboard
McLean's Education Moodboard
Style Tiles
Ignite Caribbean Club Style Tile
Ignite Caribbean Club Style Tile
Final Mockups
Ignite Caribbean Club
Ignite Caribbean Club
Next Steps
Looking ahead, there are several opportunities to build upon our existing solutions and expand their impact.
Cultural Adaptability: The Caribbean Club model can be adapted for other cultural or regional groups, such as a Latin American Club. The framework and features can be tailored to meet the specific needs of different student communities.
Expanded Mentorship: By integrating business and alumni networks, the mentorship feature can grow to support students with career planning, networking, and job readiness as they approach graduation.
Enhanced Maclean’s Integration: Future developments could include:
An application tracker to help students manage and organize their school applications.
A personalized dashboard offering program and school suggestions based on previous user searches, saved content, and preferences.
These next steps aim to further support students in their transition to post-secondary life by making the process more intuitive, personalized, and community-driven.
Final Thoughts
This project has really been an exciting journey from start to finish. Over the eight months, I moved from initial research and user interviews to brainstorming, designing, and presenting a comprehensive set of solutions.
Not everything went as planned, like needing to cancel the focus group and reworking the solutions, but each challenge became an opportunity to adapt and grow. I learned that progress isn’t always linear, and setbacks often lead to stronger outcomes.
In the end, something meaningful was created: a set of tools and initiatives that aim to ease the transition for Caribbean international students by addressing deeper, often overlooked challenges. I'm proud of what I've accomplished and hope this work contributes to a more informed, connected, and confident student experience.
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