Financial Aid Done Right
This project is very close to my heart. yes-U is a product of Bridge Educational Foundation (BridgeEDU). Bridge Educational Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization that provides scholarship opportunities to Pennsylvania’s low-income families. They partner families and schools with businesses and philanthropic leaders to provide scholarships that allow children to attend the school that best meets their educational needs.
This was a massive reasearch project before we even began. We had to learn the struggles of these parents, families, and children first. We had to review demographic statistics and more. Needless to say, we learned a lot in a short period of time. We worked with teachers, principles, financial aid experts, and more. We had to sift through all the hurdles, organize them, wire them and begin to create some mockup flows. While I worked on the UI/UX, I also had to work on the branding aspect to ensure that the UI/UX flow and the brand where meeting the client’s vision. Re realized early on that there’s no way that we can get these families on the app since there’s so much information and can look overwhelming. We studied “Turbo Tax” and decided this was the route to take - Gamification!
After knowing and understanding the ins and outs of Turbo Tax, I then started to design in a gamified way once we’ve organized all of the user documents and more. I also collaborated with another UX designer while I focused heavily on the branding, user-interface, gamified assets, and the user experience.
We worked on branding from the ground up, including positioning, copywriting, art-direction, visual design, presentation pieces, large print banner ads, wire framing, UX explorations, many UI iterations, testing, and investigating, and everything else in between. This was quite the undertaking and we took it head-on. The target users in the beginning stages was in the low-income neighborhoods. In a nutshell, it’s basically a life-companion app that assist families that can’t figure out how to send their children to college or where to seek fundings, financial aid programs, grants etc. YesU was here to help. It is an all-in-one application that can help families struggling to put their children in Higher education.
Even though there’s a lot of free money for college out there, (from government grants, state aid, Military benefits, colleges, and private scholarships) most low-income families don’t know where to start or what to do to get access to them. And through our research, we found out that many don’t even know that these programs actually exists. The Yes-U company understood these problems and knew that all of those application forms can get very confusing. They continued to encourage their users to not give up on their college dreams or take unnecessary loans because they didn’t apply for grants and scholarships. YesU walks the users through every step of the process and they also have a free toll hotline that connects the students and families to the right people that can assist them. This app was designed with ease of use in mind. It is the most easiest and comprehensive way to get loan applications done right. Go through 6 missions to explore all the opportunities to receive free money to pay for college. There is over $300 billion in free aid awarded every year to students who qualify. This is where yes-U can get you to apply, get guidance, notifications, reminders, and more. Since the process can typically be a head-ache, yes-U gives out step-by-step instructions on how to apply for money from the Federal Government, the user’s state, colleges, and scholarships.
KEY FEATURES
Step-by-step guidance. Answer simple questions and they’ll give you a personalized path based on the user’s unique situation. Snap and Forget. Store critical information and take pictures of the documents the user needs. The app will store their sensitive information in a safe and secure cloud environment that only those users can view. Earbud Consulting — Want someone with you when you sit down to complete the FAFSA? Let their experts walk you through every single question in real time so you know you are doing it right. Don’t know where to go for help? They provide phone numbers and URLs for over 5000 colleges and the free government hotline — so help is a click away. Need an official document and don’t know how to get it? They’ll explain why you need it and how to get it. Auto reminders! Never miss a deadline. They’ll remind you when your aid applications are due. Getting started is free. Users can learn how much money they may be eligible for in the “Getting Started Mission” form. Plus, they also have infos in their blogs & help sections that are full of key information users need to get through the process. They are always free and accessible.
