In Spring 23, the team is prioritizing work on three key features of the prototype (based on the research and direct student feedback) while continuing to explore new ways of working together across administrative silos to enhance the student experience.
Buildings Data Review, Cont'd
Week of May 29, 2023
A close review of locational/building data continues, to ensure that building entrance details are accurate and that any changes made in Albert are reflected in other systems of record at NYU. Goal is to go live with changes in Albert in time for the start of Fall classes.
Buildings Data Review
Week of May 22, 2023
Members of the Implementation and Technology team meet with the Strategic Assessment, Planning & Design (SAPD) team to review the locational/building data that is currently in the SIS (Albert) and the SMS.
Student 360
Week of May 15, 2023
Members of the Core team work with IT leadership on a Student 360 project to support students through enhanced process/data foundations and to explore CRM strategies to connect student-related services. The team will help with discovery research over the summer to document current processes and data needs to support coordination across NYU.
Beacon Project Scoping
Week of May 8, 2023
The Core team refines the project charter and short/long scope of work based on the Gap analysis findings. The group discusses next steps to prototype a shared administrative dates calendar in Livewhale.
Albert Building Codes
Week of May 1, 2023
The Implementation and Technology group approves the plan to replace shortened building codes with full building locations in Albert, which will help first year students navigate the campus with more ease after registering for courses. Goal is to implement in time for incoming fall students who being registering in the summer
Gap Analysis Report Shareback
Week of April 27, 2023
The results of the gap analysis report are shared with the core team, and the group discusses the 4 options presented to move the project forward, along with scoping, resourcing, and timeline considerations
Calendar Data
Week of April 17, 2023
Data is compiled about key non-academic dates and deadlines for students, to inform a future calendar prototype using the NYU Events calendar tool (LiveWhale). An update is shared with Student Affairs' Navigation and Access team
Calendar feeds
Week of April 10, 2023
A subscription link is added to the NYU Academic Calendar to allow students (and faculty and staff) to see dates and deadlines on their personal google calendars. A demo of the NYU events calendar is scheduled for key staff who oversee administrative dates and deadlines.
Systems Overview
Week of April 3, 2023
Subgroups of the Implementation and Tech ALG meet to learn more about the NYU events calendar and building location details in Albert.
Dissemination of Design Principles
Week of March 27, 2023
The team discusses ideas and venues for disseminating and encouraging adoption of design principles.
Staff/Student Engagement: Integrated Calendar
Week of March 20, 2023
The Stakeholder and Communications Action Learning group surveys schools and key departments about important, need-to-know calendar dates. A pilot group of students tries subscribing to the Academic Calendar, individualized course schedules, and Brightspace (LMS) feeds and provides feedback on their experience.
Student Research: Campus Map
Week of March 13, 2023
The Student Research Action Learning Group coordinates and conducts interviews with students about campus map functions. Synthesized takeaways and recommendations are shared with the Core team.
Student/Stakeholder Engagement
Week of March 6, 2023
The Implementation and Technology Action Learning Group continues looking at campus map functions. Planning begins for student usability testing sessions for later in the month. A brief project overview is shared with university Chiefs of Staff.
Campus Map Deep Dive
Week of February 27, 2023
The team discusses opportunities to: add full building information (and links where possible) in Albert, better understand locational source data, and provide clearer instructions for students on how to access/use existing map tools
Implementation Workshop II
Week of February 20, 2023
IDEO and representatives from IT, Digicomm, Student Affairs, MarComm, Enrollment Management, and Usability Lab come together to align on pilot ideas and conduct an impact effort exercise
Stakeholder Interviews
Week of February 14, 2023
Gap analysis interviews continue
Community Engagement
Week of February 6, 2023
Project updates and learnings are shared with the broader NYU community in various venues including the annual Storytelling Summit.
Gap Analysis Prep
Week of January 30, 2023
Work begins on a gap analysis to inform a roadmap for the prioritized features (which may look different than the NYU Backpack prototype) and other future tech needs.
Core Team Alignment
Week of January 24, 2023
Core team meets to review stakeholder engagement opportunities, discuss opportunities for student feedback, and prep for the next implementation workshop
Prioritized Features
Week of January 17, 2023
The core team prioritizes work on three key features of the prototype, based on the research and direct student feedback:
-- building a more dynamic, filterable map of NYU locations
-- sharing key administrative calendar events on students’ calendars, and
-- sending selective push reminders of key administrative deadlines for students.
Implementation Workshop I
Week of January 9, 2023
Key stakeholders and systems leads come together to define the scope of the beacon project, confirm the most desirable features (for students) to prioritize, and discuss assumptions about viability and feasibility. A follow up survey is circulated to help inform the project roadmap and resource needs.
In Fall 22, the team embarked on an intensive 7-week design sprint based on the refined brief: How might we communicate the most critical, need-to-know information for first year students in the first semester of school after orientation ends?
Design Sprint Wrap-up
Week of November 14, 2022
IDEO shares designs for "NYU Backpack": a more streamlined NYU mobile experience that brings organization, navigation, and task management together in one place. Building off of this momentum and new mindsets from this new way of working, the next phase will be focused on gathering additional feedback from key stakeholders and senior leaders, executing on “quick wins” and advancing the beacon project. Week 7 snapshot.
Synthesis and Refinement
Week of November 7, 2022
IDEO synthesizes feedback to identify the essential features and functionality that were most desirable for students. The team holds a ‘quick wins’ workshop that can be used to identify smaller changes to existing products and processes based on our design principles. Week 6 snapshot.
User Testing
Week of October 31, 2022
IDEO is back on campus! Activities include in-person and virtual user-testing sessions with students, a ways of working blueprint session with key stakeholders, a feedback meeting for staff, and a meeting with Stern's Business, Technology and Entrepreneurship students. Week 5 snapshot.
Design and Prototyping
Week of October 24, 2022
Based on prioritized design opportunities from week 3, the IDEO team further defines key features to produce 3 prototypes for testing. IDEO also engages members of the Implementation team to have a more holistic picture of technical opportunities and feasibility, which will inform our prototypes. Week 4 snapshot.
Synthesis and Prioritization
Week of October 17, 2022
The core team meets, in small groups and also as a full team, to share back emerging insights from the prior week and start narrowing the focus to top needs and features for prototyping. IDEO prepares a testing plan and begins to map out the design and prototyping process for the week of October 24. Week 3 snapshot.
On-site Research
Week of October 10, 2022
IDEO is on campus this week! The team hosts an in-person kickoff meeting, co-design sessions with students, and pop-up installations in Bobst and Tandon to brainstorm early ideas for how to communicate the most critical, need-to-know information to first year students during their first semester. Week 2 snapshot
Research Plan
Week of October 3, 2022
NYU and IDEO finalize the research plan and prepare for in-person sessions during the week of October 10. IDEO designers conduct 1:1 interviews with students for inspiration. Week 1 snapshot (PDF)
In summer 2022, the team built off of the research from phase 1 (student journey mapping) to create a project brief and prepare for the design and prototyping phase in Fall.
Planning
Week of September 26, 2022
The team continues finalizing participants for co-design sessions and begins identifying and calendaring other key touchpoints for the design and prototyping phase in October.
Planning
Week of September 19, 2022
Team members organize into Action Learning Groups (pdf: 729 KB) focused on Communications, Student Research, Stakeholder Engagement, Senior Strategy Liaison, and Implementation. Student recruitment for the co-design sessions begins.
Planning
Week of September 12, 2022
Time to hone in on what our Beacon Project may be! The Core+ team is asked consider this question as the launching point: “How might we work cross-functionally to design a way for students to get the information they need, when they need it?,” along with survey results and key criteria for success. An cross-functional alignment workshop results in a refined project brief for October's sprint.
Alignment
Week of September 5, 2022
A sub-group meets to discuss student recruitment strategies for the design sprint in October, including ways to ensure a diverse and representative group is engaged.
Alignment
Week of August 29, 2022
Stakeholders from across campus meet for a Ways of Working Workshop, focused on (re)thinking how we can break the silos and work horizontally and vertically on projects for the greatest impact for our students.
Alignment
Week of August 22, 2022
The survey results are in, and some shared themes are emerging! Survey respondents share their priorities and current/past efforts of getting students just-in-time information. In addition, the team workshops how the ways in which we work together will impact the work itself.
Alignment
Week of August 15, 2022
A wide range of stakeholders (including the Extended Core team members) are invited to participate in a short technology, data, and communication survey, which will help to inform the brief for the design phase as well as future cross-functional collaborations.
Alignment
Week of August 8, 2022
Representatives from EM, IT, Student Affairs, StudentLink, URPA, and Usability Lab come together for an interactive workshop on technology, data, and communications. Participants share existing roadmaps, priorities, and identify key considerations, requirements, and opportunities for the work ahead.
Phase 1 of the project, conducted in Spring '22, developed a nuanced understanding of the key moments that matter along the first-year journey.
Deliverables + Opportunity Areas
Week of May 2, 2022
Research deliverables from IDEO are presented to an extended group of campus partners, project participants, and Student Success Standing committee members for feedback and discussion of next steps.
Initial Shareback
Week of April 25, 2022
Senior Strategy and Extended Core teams meet with IDEO to discuss the research summary and in-progress journey map and playbook. Both groups engage in talks about how to translate the insights from the project into change.
Design Opportunities
Week of April 18, 2022
This week, IDEO hosts co-design sessions with the NYU team to generate and refine opportunity areas based on research insights and key moments that matter for students. Analogous inspiration activities continue, with interviews from the health sector.
Build Begins
Week of April 11, 2022
This week marks the transition from input to output, building sacrificial concepts and rough prototypes of ideas for the student journey map. Week 5 snapshot (PNG)
Early Insights
Week of April 4, 2022
IDEO's in-person research wraps up, and the team shares early insights (PDF: 53KB) with Senior Strategy and Extended Core stakeholders. More than 200 community members provide input through various co-design sessions, classroom visits, interviews, and other touchpoints.
In-person Research
Week of March 28, 2022
IDEO's on-campus immersion commences, with student-led campus tours, classroom workshops, student:designer matchups, and co-design workshops planned throughout the week.
Virtual Research
Week of March 21, 2022
Intensive research continues, through conversations with students, faculty, and staff. Week 2 highlights include discussions about belonging and inclusion, different school cultures, and one-on-one interviews with first-year students. Week 2 snapshot (PNG)
Kickoff
Week of March 18, 2022
Workshops with Extended Core and Senior Strategy teams to share process, methodology, and align objectives. Interviews with reps from Student Affairs, Student Success, Financial Aid, and IT lay the groundwork for research with students/experts to come. Week 1 snapshot (PNG)
Participant Recruitment Strategy
Week of March 14, 2022
The core project team refines the research plan (PDF: 2MB) and participant recruitment strategy. A short student survey is designed to facilitate participation, and circulated to campus partners.
Research Plan
Week of March 7, 2022
IDEO meets with the core project team to develop a research plan for March 14 - April 29 that includes observation and interviews with students, faculty, and staff; classroom activities; and co-design workshops with students.
Timeline Mapping
Week of February 14, 2022
The core project team rolls out a draft timeline (Google Slide) with key interactions during the project Sprint with IDEO. Official kick-off with stakeholders is scheduled for mid-March.
Strategy & Extended Core Kick-offs
January 18 and 22, 2022
Strategy and Extended Core groups met (separately) to review context for the project, and to discuss key deliverables, interactions, and desired outcomes.
Review of Existing Research
January 6, 2022
In partnership with campus stakeholders, project team begins to compile existing research, relevant data, and analyses to create context for journey-mapping.
Student Success Standing Committee January 5, 2022
Rationale and journey-mapping goals presented at monthly Standing Committee committee, and members generated a number of ideas and insights that will serve the project. Group is also invited to share additional feedback via an online questionnaire.
Dissemination of Design Principles
Week of April 3, 2023
The