Scrappy Cash

S C R A P P Y

C A S H

UNT’s

An app created by Brianna Glass, Kristen Sadlier,

Matt Rivas, & Taylor Crisler

$

Table of Contents

Student Guide

04/26/16Server: Scrappy

Page #

Universtiy of North Texas 1155 Union Circle, Denton, TX 76203. 940-565-2000

Welcome to UNT!

Concept

Functions

Visuals

Interviews

[side of explanation]

[x20]

[tax not included]

[memos included]

$1.00

$2.00-$3.00

$7.00-$13.00

$4.00-$6.00

$

$

At UNT, students experience a barrier between themselves and the financial re-sources and services offered on campus. We created Scrappy Cash, a financial-oriented app, to remove the communication barrier by a visual solution. The Scrappy Cash app will be introduced at orientations for UNT freshmen. A tutorial will introduce financial terms, financial processes, app functionality, and the website.

Scrappy Cash is designed to meet the versatile needs of UNT freshmen. Therefore, a Scrappy Cash account will give students access to up-to-date information related to their major, residential living, meal plan, FLEX status, and active loan, scholarship, or work study applications. It will include access to the Eagle Network, MyUNT, and EagleConnect. Scrappy Cash will serve as a database for how much money a student needs, wants, and has.

Concept

$ $$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$ $$

1

Functions

2

To open an account with Scrappy Cash, incoming students will sign-in into the app with their EUID. Five sections anchor Scrappy Cash:

Search & Bookmark – The Eagle Network will link with this section. Loans, scholarships, and work study opportunities can be found in this section. After brows-ing, students may bookmark opportunities to be applied for on a larger device. The templates will be available only by web-site, as many actions related to the applica-tion process are not mobile-friendly, such like a scholarship essay.

Mail – A student can connect to their email account through EagleConnect. This eliminates the complication of multi-ap-plication browsing on a compact cellular device.

Profile – The profile will include infor-mation on the registered student. Notifica-tions will appear on this page as students save or favorite a loan, scholarship, or work study opportunity. A calendar will highlight due dates. Below the calendar, a checklist will communicate the steps needed to progress.

3

Functions

$

$Glossary & FAQ – In this section, stu-dents can locate information regarding financial terms and answers questions.

Pay Portal – The Pay Portal will allow students to monitor and pay electronically to their schooling, housing, and dining/FLEX balances and fees by card. There will be an option to store card(s) details; there-fore, security is necessary for the safety of Scrappy Cash.

Each section will include the numbers and locations of the financial offices at UNT that correspond. A search and share option will be present in each section. The share op-tion will allow students to share access of important financial information to a parent or legal guardian.

Interviews

Brianna

Matt

Taylor

Kristen

Memos

Instead of asking questions, I showed my visual sketches to freshmen, designers, and friends and asked for feedback. As my sketches developed after each interview, Scrappy Cash evolved into a potentially user-friendly and visually appealing app, which is excellent, be-cause financial graphics cease to be aesthetically pleasing.

From the subjects I interviewed, I learned about the differences between departmental, in-stitutional, and external funding for scholarships. This process provided keen insight into the most effective way to find each of these scholarships, the kinds of misconceptions freshman have about them, and how their deadlines and requirements can vary based on discipline. It also reaffirmed my hunch that an organization based on a chosen discipline, such as the Society for Professional Journalists, is often seen as a hub where those who want to award scholarships look to find worthy candidates. For example, Professor Mark Donald is on the Mayborn scholarship committee, and is heavily involved in the SPJ. Finally, TG’s Adventures in Education taught me about running an ergonomic scholarship database, which really really drove home for me what an adverse effect poorly designed websites can have on incoming freshmen, especially those that charge for their services!

Our goal was to create a medium that would improve communication and accessibility for UNT freshmen students to the Financial Aid & Scholarships Office. The initial goal was main-tained throughout development. We wanted a platform that was interactive, such as a website; however, we discovered that an app would better connect and fulfill the needs of the students. While interviewing, I was exposed to methods ensuring a user-friendly application by design and type. I listened to the experiences and concerns of our target audience. As a team, we discussed these factors and applied changes to our product. For example, we decided that the app should integrate all UNT matters – UNT Housing & UNT Dining Services included. If this concept was to be actualized, it is important to listen to the targeted audience, because the usability of the app would certainly be dependent on the user’s experience. Would Scrap-py Cash improve communication and accessibility for UNT freshman students to financial resources on campus? Yes, I think the app would move connection forward.

After conducting 4 interviews, and carrying out extensive research on the student loan pro-cess – I’ve learned that the students are greatly lacking necessary resources needed to make the complex loan process easier. Even if students file for bankruptcy after college, their loans still need to be paid off whether the loan is subsidized, unsubsidized, or private.

4

Interviews Quotes

I like the design of the app, it’s illustrative and funky!

In this case, function over form is important. But the form should still be evocative and interesting.

We encourage students to resist attempting something they aren’t com-fortable with. A student can start by developing three essays. Once you’ve had to write one, tweak them as you go. The challenge with using a database like fastweb is that it’s driven by advertisement and not disci-pline. It’s more functional and time efficient to search by discipline.

The communication between the Financial Aid & Scholarship Office and freshman students could be a lot better. When I go to the office for ques-tions, to gain better understanding, there is an assumption that I should know certain things prior. In most cases, I don’t, so I am more confused when I leave then when I got there.

I would have everything in one place. It’s too hectic having to get on 4 or 5 different websites. I would have one designated place for everything and I would make it way more user friendly than it is now. The system they have is all over the place. And when youre dealing with money, es-pecially student loans, you’d figure that they would perfect that.

5

Meredith White

Kenny Fallis

Lisa N. Goodwin

LaPorcha Wilson

Andrew Campbell

6

Interviews

Thesis

We think that a visual solution will improve communications between incoming students and the Financial Aid offices.

History

The University of North Texas offers limited financial aid resources and services that are not effectively reaching incoming freshman. The resources offered to stu-dents include the UNT Financial Aid & Scholarship Office, Student Accounting and University Cashiering Services, and the UNT Student Money Management Center. The services offered to students include in-person counseling, scholarships, short-term loans, installment plans, Hazlewood Act, student employment, accommoda-tions for people with disabilities, and UNT textbook price comparison. Outside of UNT, students are required to complete online counseling through the U.S. Depart-ment of Education’s Federal Student Aid.

Future

In the future, we want to see UNT Financial Aid & Scholarship Office actively devel-oping their communication with students. As a UNT student, unless you are seek-ing, you will not find the information. We think to remove the current communica-tion barrier a visible visual solution is necessary.

Visuals

7

Gallery of a few people we interviewed.

Sanjuan Banda Bobby Klingen Smith

Emily Cayas

Louise GomezLaPorcha WilsonFernando Devora

8

Visuals

A site map of Scrappy Cash

UNT Scrappy

Cash

UNT EUID Sign In

Menu Bar

Mail (Compose/Share)

EagleConnect

Inbox, Outbox, Sent, & Drafts

Search Engine

Search All Search Loans

Search Scholarships

Search Work Study

Eagle Network

Profile (Phoro/Name/Major/Classification/Share/

Checklist Meter)

Notification Tab History Favorites Checklist

Glossary/FAQ

Pay Portal (Calculator)

9

Visuals

The next pages will present sketches of Scrappy Cash.

10

Visuals

11

Visuals

12

Visuals Digital sketches of Scrappy Cash.

13

Visuals