The new ipad app for the Sydney TAFE is now available. This post is about developing the application as a unique form of communication for the 120-year old organisation.
I suspect that the hands-on nature of apps might be a good match the type of learning experience that prospective TAFE students are likely to be seeking. By presenting an eclectic mix of photos, video and text for users to explore, it can respond to the different tastes and instincts of a diverse target audience.
I suspect that the hands-on nature of apps might be a good match the type of learning experience that prospective TAFE students are likely to be seeking. By presenting an eclectic mix of photos, video and text for users to explore, it can respond to the different tastes and instincts of a diverse target audience.
The application is called Sydney TAFE Explorer - it is available now via itunes and the App store.
The application was conceived and designed by Digital Eskimo and built by Propaganda Panda. It is a second iteration of an application they created for a the institution's history exhibition called iTIME. The project brief for ShortComms was to help compile and structure a lot more content to reflect the current offering of today's TAFE, using the engaging "wheel" architecture devised by the creative team.
To do this, I sought out user reviews, developed a content plan and curated content from the extensive photo and video resource library already developed by Sydney Institute.
The application was conceived and designed by Digital Eskimo and built by Propaganda Panda. It is a second iteration of an application they created for a the institution's history exhibition called iTIME. The project brief for ShortComms was to help compile and structure a lot more content to reflect the current offering of today's TAFE, using the engaging "wheel" architecture devised by the creative team.
To do this, I sought out user reviews, developed a content plan and curated content from the extensive photo and video resource library already developed by Sydney Institute.
How do people discover Sydney TAFE?
School students can explore Sydney TAFE's offerings in the printed course guide via their careers councellor - there are still 35,000 printed every year. However, school leavers make up just over half of enrollments – others are seeking a career change, re-entering the workplace, updating their qualifications, or overseas students combining study and English tuition. The Sydney TAFE website the facebook page (17,882 followers at the time of writing) and YouTube are other ways to find out what it offers.
To understand potential users, we informally took “iTIME” to current students, watched them use it and asked questions about their expectations from a TAFE app. Even in this small sample group; some either predominately chose text buttons while others seemed drawn to faces and pictures to tap, who could then 'speak' to them about the subject. This observation was consistent with the theory of different learning styles (Fleming 2001) - which suggested people can lean towards visual, listening or touch and experience to learn.
To understand potential users, we informally took “iTIME” to current students, watched them use it and asked questions about their expectations from a TAFE app. Even in this small sample group; some either predominately chose text buttons while others seemed drawn to faces and pictures to tap, who could then 'speak' to them about the subject. This observation was consistent with the theory of different learning styles (Fleming 2001) - which suggested people can lean towards visual, listening or touch and experience to learn.
800 courses to 300 buttons
Sydney TAFE is huge – it has seven locations across the city and offers over 800 courses. It’s a communications challenge to condense content to provide a taste of the diversity on offer, but not miss any study areas. The Sydney TAFE 2013 Careers Guide 70-page hard copy puts forward high–level careers areas. The grouping don’t exactly follow the internal faculty organisation because Sydney TAFE promotions unit present information outwardly to suit the users' expectations and needs rather than their own internal structure. Something we communicators encourage!
Following user feedback, the action of spinning the wheel was adjusted so it ‘lights up’ groups of related buttons, following the course guide structure. This is how it looks:
Following user feedback, the action of spinning the wheel was adjusted so it ‘lights up’ groups of related buttons, following the course guide structure. This is how it looks:
Top-level menu for Sydney TAFE Explorer. Users spin the wheel to light up related course areas.
After determining top level navigation it was straight to the photo library, guided by TAFE and the expert designers at Digital Eskimo. Once a user selects a subject area they immediately see a smattering of buttons - some with text labels and others with intriguing images, like a machinery close-up or an elaborate live flower costume.
Fresh new photo shoots and video production on campus provided lots of material. Belle – a young woman doing a mechanic’s apprenticeship and Hassan who is studying remedial massage to transition out of a rugby career are just two of the students showcased. Other content used promotional and historical photos, testimonial, stories and campus information. Our big challenge was not finding content, it was what to leave out! The final app contains 305 individual item.
Fresh new photo shoots and video production on campus provided lots of material. Belle – a young woman doing a mechanic’s apprenticeship and Hassan who is studying remedial massage to transition out of a rugby career are just two of the students showcased. Other content used promotional and historical photos, testimonial, stories and campus information. Our big challenge was not finding content, it was what to leave out! The final app contains 305 individual item.
Built Environment Subject page Sydney TAFE Explorer App
Each subject area page gives a mix of photo galleries to demonstrate TAFE’s main strengths, and very short blurbs about the careers and courses. Unlike a printed book, users can tap straight through from the app to the web for all the essential course information and they can even go directly to enrollment. This was a feature that many testers asked for. We selected images to reflect what makes TAFE so valuable – people from a range of ages, backgrounds and life stages, hands-on learning, and the technically modern facilities.
The proof of the pudding
I wanted to document this process because the end result could be an interesting reversal of a traditional "touch point" (marketing jargon for a way someone interacts with your organisation).
For example, imagine a prospective student who already has a dream to be a fashion designer. From there, he may go looking for a suitable course and campus to study at. That could mean visiting the location, reading a printed course guide, or searching the internet.
A different prospective student, however, may be using an ipad at home or at school - where you can explore with less direction - swiping and tapping images that appeal to them. She could spot a dynamic photo of a student’s dress design modelled on a catwalk in Sydney Town Hall. If it captures her imagination it opens a world of possibility dropping this user straight into an example of what it is like to study in a hands-on environment, work in this creative field, plus the links and basic course info to get there.
All the creativity and glamour, along with the trades, science and other training already exists at Sydney TAFE, behind the sandstone walls. Hopefully, as touchscreen technology becomes more ubiquitous the app puts those images and experiences right under your fingertips.
For example, imagine a prospective student who already has a dream to be a fashion designer. From there, he may go looking for a suitable course and campus to study at. That could mean visiting the location, reading a printed course guide, or searching the internet.
A different prospective student, however, may be using an ipad at home or at school - where you can explore with less direction - swiping and tapping images that appeal to them. She could spot a dynamic photo of a student’s dress design modelled on a catwalk in Sydney Town Hall. If it captures her imagination it opens a world of possibility dropping this user straight into an example of what it is like to study in a hands-on environment, work in this creative field, plus the links and basic course info to get there.
All the creativity and glamour, along with the trades, science and other training already exists at Sydney TAFE, behind the sandstone walls. Hopefully, as touchscreen technology becomes more ubiquitous the app puts those images and experiences right under your fingertips.
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