New DAAD counselling tool for its global network.
The integration of a new product in My GUIDE
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has more than 60 offices around the world. In these offices, counsellors advise prospective international students who want to study in Germany on open study programmes, available scholarships, German student cities, and what to consider and organise when coming to Germany to study. This information generally varies from country to country.
As the DAAD's lead UX/UI design agency for their My GUIDE product, we were also asked to develop an integrated module to support DAAD staff in the process of advising international students. The complex tool should support face-to-face counselling at the DAAD offices, as well as online and via email. It should simplify the exchange of information and make it easier to document recurring information in the form of reusable templates.
The product’s challenges
DAAD counsellors work in very different ways, and this is reflected in their individual methods of gathering information and collecting links. Some use Word, others Excel, and each has their own approach to how they conduct their consultations. The tool therefore needs to support a flexible and hybrid working model to meet the needs of both physical and digital consultations. In some countries with a high number of counselling sessions, email counselling was more popular, while some DAAD offices in other countries had fewer but longer face-to-face counselling sessions.
Another challenge was the heterogeneity of the consultants - different ages, digital skills, cultural backgrounds and internet connections.
From data to prototypes and feature validation
Through iterative user feedback and continuous development, we were able to gain a deep understanding of the specific use cases of DAAD employees and build the first prototypes - a tangible way to test the tool, measure impact and get rapid feedback on workflow optimisation and user experience.
Some of the product features help advisors to speed up tasks, such as automating answers to non-specific questions, creating advice templates and note templates to organise recurring enquiries, and sharing templates with colleagues.
Other features help advisors provide more personalised guidance to prospective students, including the ability to work directly with students' My GUIDE accounts during an advising session, enter customised notes and country-specific information, and create a virtual advising folder containing programmes, watch lists, profile settings, checklists and a transcript check that is synchronised with the student's My GUIDE account.
Global launch
The counselling functionality of My GUIDE is introduced and rolled out in the DAAD's global external network. It not only improves the efficiency of the counselling process, but also facilitates the counselling work through automation and templates and promotes consistent information worldwide. The DAAD is committed to the continuous development and improvement of the tool, supported by regular usability tests and improvements.
As a permanent project partner, we work closely with the DAAD to keep this valuable tool at the forefront of technology and usability.
Let’s discuss your product needs
Book a call to Linn, our founder and UX / UI expert of over ten years, and learn how brightside Studio can provide efficient and flexible solutions to your design challenges.
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