2/22 Early Personas/Discussion Guide

Potential Personas:

Our Users:

• Undergraduate and Graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania
• Ages 21-38
• Fields of study vary, but are predominantly interdisciplinary in nature
• Our users participate in a variety of extracurriculars, both by attending and by organizing

Majors include: cognitive science, visual studies, biological basis of behavior, urban studies, etc. Our use of ‘interdisciplinary’ refers to students who are required by their major to take several courses in schools that are not their own. This could be extended to include students whose minors are outside of their primary school. This does not include students who choose to take a small number of outside courses without major or minor requirements.

Secondary User Groups:

• Professors
• Administrators
• Parents
• Other Students

Hi, my name is Anastasia. Thank you for meeting with me, and for agreeing to chat. I know I briefly introduced our goal when we spoke earlier, but to reiterate: our intention today is to gather information regarding your experiences with information distribution here at Penn. Specifically, we are interested in the factors and resources that impact the process of course selection and planning.

This project is very much in the early stages, so if you have any feedback, positive or negative, please let me know. It would be extremely helpful.

Student:

What kinds of classes do you usually take?

How many a semester?

Where do you find courses?

What factors influence your choice in courses?

How do you know which ones you might find interesting?

Are finances a factor in your selection process?

Have you ever taken a course which required you to spend your own money on materials, etc?

If so, how do you feel about the degree of clarity with regards to communicating course expenses?

Have there ever been unexpected costs associated with a course you’ve taken?

If so, how did you deal with that?

How do you plan your courses?

Where do you find information about requirements?

What medium are you most likely to use to find out information about classes? What about logistical information?

How would you describe your priorities when picking courses? For example, do you prefer to take a certain ratio of quantitative courses to qualitative? Are there location based factors that impact your decision?

Guide me through what you do during advance registration.