Education

UPDATE: Students Encouraged to Help Shape New “My ASU” Page

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Since ASU adopted Google Apps in October 2006, students have had access to a personalized start page known as myASU. As with any organization running Google Apps, this start page allows users to add and rearrange widgets such as their email inbox, RSS feeds, video games or weather reports just to name a few. (Read the post from last February on Techcrunch where Michael Arrington talks about the big players in the personalized homepage arena.)

The popularity of personalization is beginning to show as the university prepares to release a new version of the myASU page that will merge three popular sites: ASU Interactive, ASU Current Students, and myASU. This will create a one-stop-shop for students to manage their academic life. According to the project website the new site will go live on July 20.

Based on student feedback that was collected last May, the University has set out to simplify the online experience for current and potential students. Leah Lommel, Director of Academic Development at ASU responded saying that:

We are trying to consolidate the ASU web experience for the students so they get the most pertinent information to be successful in school without a lot of digging around.  It is about a personalized experience pertaining to them and their ASU. We plan to continue this strategy of student feedback and more surveys to make the experience better and more integrated over time.

The current survey is asking students to review a semi-working sample of the proposed redesign. Below is a screenshot of the new layout taken from the project website:

So far, the survey results have been positive. Lommel provided me with a few  of the comments that have been received so far.

• It seems a LOT better than the student page we have now. It’s already seeming more useful.
• I really like the set up, it’s easy to understand, it’s useful and I definitely think it’s easier to understand for freshman.

It’s an impressive start and a HUGE improvement on the existing setup. Consolidating these three sites into one location will greatly improve how students keep track of their academic career. No longer will we have to search around from page to page to register for a class or to check announcements from professors. This is an enormous undertaking, so my kudos to everyone involved. I am excited that they are asking, and will continue to ask students for feedback. This is a classic characteristic of emerging web technology; get the users involved and rely on the collective wisdom of your customer base. Here is a bit of the feedback I left yesterday when I took the survey:

• Move the “My Info”/”My Stuff” tabs on the top left instead of top right.
• When student clicks on “My Info”, it would be nice to have a customizable dashboard, similar to the look of the current ASU Google start page. Students could pick and choose which info boxes are displayed on this dashboard.
• Make an RSS version of the academic calendar so that students can add it to their ASU Google Calendar or any other calendar that supports subscriptions.
• Add a link to the ASU announcements section so that students can subscribe via RSS or email to these announcements.
• More prominent links to information about tutors/LRC resources

The project is managed by Lissa Gladden. You can track its progress here if you like.

If you are interested in providing feedback to the project team, spend a few minutes and take the survey.

(Oh yeah - one more thing - the last few questions on the survey ask about mobile devices. Looks like maybe they’re working on developing a version for the iPhone/Blackberry/other mobile devices…)

UPDATE 7/22: Looks like the site is live now. Although, officially it is not supposed to roll out until next week, I was able to view the new page today. If you’re interested in taking a look, check out the new my.asu.edu. Or, you can click the myASU button under the search bar at the top of the blog. I’ve updated the button to direct to the new version. You’ll need your ASURite username and password for access.