Why do students of color at RIT have difficulty accessing resources designed to support their success?

Students from African, Latin, Asian, and Native American (ALANA) backgrounds often face cultural isolation and academic challenges in predominantly white institutions. Despite available resources, they are often hard to access due to being spread across different departments. ALANA Chat solves this by connecting students to key resources at RIT, empowering them with the support and knowledge needed to navigate and enhance their college experience.
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Role: Project Manager, Brand Designer, UI/UX Designer & Researcher
Tools: Figma, Illustrator, Tableau

UX Research

What are the gaps between student needs and the resources they are aware of?

Research Goals

We aim to evaluate ALANA students' awareness of available resources for success, their feelings of support at a predominantly white institution, and their sense of cultural support at school.

Competitive Analysis

ALANA Chat is designed specifically for ALANA students at RIT, offering resources and community tools tailored to their cultural needs. Unlike general campus portals, it provides user-friendly support for both academics and social life. To understand its purpose, ALANA Chat was compared to other platforms RIT students use to share and find campus resources.

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User Surveys

Overview: We used Qualtrics to survey 20 students of color at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The students came from different cultural backgrounds and school years.

33%

Of students felt they did not have access to resources for students of color

22%

Of students felt they were not aware of the resources available for students of color

33%

of students felt they did not have a cultural community on-campus

Research Findings

Lack of Awareness
‍Many students are unaware of the support resources available to meet their cultural, financial, and academic needs.

Ineffective Platforms
Internal university systems fail to highlight resources tailored for students of color, blending them with general resources.

External Platforms
‍Using apps like GroupMe or Facebook for community support creates confusion.

Scattered Resources
‍Resources are disorganized, making them hard to find.

Branding

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Prototype

A Space for African, Latino, Asian, and Native American Students

ALANA students often face cultural isolation and academic or financial challenges at predominantly white institutions. Despite the availability of resources, they are often hidden across departments, making them difficult to access. The ALANA Chat prototype addresses this by providing a cohesive, device-friendly interface with a robust filtering and sorting system, making it easier for students to find relevant resources and access support efficiently.

LIVE PROTOTYPE

Takeaways

ALANA Chat continues at the Rochester Institute of Technology

ALANA Chat is my dedicated passion project aimed at alleviating the sense of isolation felt by ALANA students entering university. This project involved overcoming challenges such as gathering data, defining a clear mission, and ensuring a seamless connection between users and the product, with a strong emphasis on research and user-centered design testing.

Next Steps with the current ALANA Chat team:

Feature Changes: Rather than focusing on the chat functionality, the new update of ALANA Chat will re-pivot itself as an archive of RIT resources for students of colors.
Future Collabs: ALANA Chat plans for future collaboration with the Rochester Institute of Technology's deaf community to create a similar system for accessibility-related resources.

Explore More!

ALANA Chat / Resource Website

Beyond the Horizon / Interactive Infographic

Innovation Lab / Collab Platform

Poseidon Project / User Testing Report