MyNeu Listens to Feedback 03-30-2005

Reaching out of the development bubble to learn how users feel about and use an application or service can provide useful insight. It sounds like an obvious idea, but it is not always commonly done. Luckily it seems that Northeastern University is getting closer to realizing the benefits of such a method.

Over the course of two years I have identified some key areas of Northeastern’s MyNeu student portal system which I felt were hindering the overall user experience (readings available in the Related Links section). I had mailed my original research paper to Northeastern’s Information Services department in hopes of creating a dialogue to discuss ways to improve the MyNeu user experience. Nothing came of my efforts so I ultimately left it at that.

Recently MyNeu sought input from its users about the services they were providing–what new features to add, how to improve existing ones. I saw this as an opportunity to provide them with my thoughts on one of their most troubling areas, Co-Op Services. Much of my comments were drawn from my article titled, MyNeu: Things Have Only Gotten Worse. Harsh, but I truly believe this was a major fumble on their behalf. Luckily it seems that this time my comments were heard and action was taken. To preface this, figure 1 shows what the Co-Op Services section previously looked like. Providing equal screen real estate for Co-Op information from each college, when the user is really only in need of the information from their one respective college.

MyNeu Co-Op Services with previous design
Figure 1. Original Co-Op Services section design [View Full Size]

Based upon my comments stating how MyNeu should provide their users with information relevant to their specific needs (i.e., the information from their college), Figure 2 displays the updated version.

MyNeu Co-Op Services Section with updated design
Figure 2. Updated Co-Op Services section design [View Full Size]

While this is my last semester at Northeastern, I hope that maybe my work can turn both users and developers to look more deeply into ways of improving the user experience of Northeastern’s offerings.