I. Hilditch Design

Gateway to NCAA
  
UX/UI Branding Social Design Web Design Figma


Providing accessible educational resources to international student athletes interested in competing as NCAA athletes.

About

Gateway to NCAA intends to fill a knowledge gap which forces international students into the hands of overpriced recruiting agencies. By using my experience in college recruiting, I created a resource which interacts and educates the user about the process.





1. User Testing

What were my target groups?
I planned to gain insights on two major groups:

  1. Current school aged international students (15-19). 
  2. Current international students who immigrated to the States for NCAA sport. 

By targeting these demographics, I sought to understand how international students were being underserved from a number of perspectives.
How did I collect data?
  1. An online questionaire: students answered basic questions about their demographic and were asked to rank items from 1-5 based on importance. The students answered whether or not they would be okay doing an in-person or zoom interview at the end of the form. 

  2. An in-depth interview with willing participants from both demographics. During the interviews, there were basic guidelines and a careful script.  

What were the results?
30 survey responses
10 in-depth interviews

My feedback confirmed the following:
  • Students who are already in America needed an advisor or agent to help them through the recruiting process due to lack of accessible information. 
  • Scholarships are the most important factor for students looking for a US college.
  • Young students interested in America were mostly at an elite standard, looking to elevate their athletic careers.




2. Site Map


In planning my website, I took into consideration the research to create a basic wireframe of what I’d be willing to offer in my resource:

  1. 3 major “stops” - one introducing students to America, two taking them through the recruiting process, and three guiding them through the immigration process.
  2. Agent hours for students looking for extra advice. 
  3. Resources for parents and educators who want to help guide their student.

All wireframes generated using Figma.





3. Brand Identity & Prototype


I wanted to balance educational themes with color, fun and a game-like feel. It’s important my brand felt playful while still keeping sports and education as major points.



Once I worked on the brand, I was able to translate my wireframes into working prototypes before building the site. This stage helped me test and get some early feedback before building the site.





3. Website


I built the first iteration of front-end code on Cargo. I’ve moved the prototype over to Webflow for official release.




5. Social Design


I created a book of social media to go alongslide the web design. The brand remains fun, game-like and exciting