Source: Own Illustration
In this series, the IT Center’s UX team reports on its work. When developing interactive systems such as websites and apps, not only HTML, CSS and JavaScript play a decisive role, but also usability and user experience. Put simply, this refers to the question of whether a system supports its users in achieving their goals effectively, efficiently and satisfactorily and what perceptions and reactions result from using a system.
At the IT Center, we also focus on the usability and user experience of our systems. User tests such as the annual satisfaction survey on the RWTHapp are a key tool that we use for this. You can find this year’s results here.
General Information on the RWTHapp Satisfaction Survey
The RWTHapp satisfaction survey took place for the second time this year. From April 28 to May 9, interested students were able to take part in the survey and did so in large numbers – with a total of around 3000 clicks, 2390 people completed the questionnaire in full. They answered questions about awareness of the RWTHapp, the most frequently used features of the app, device and operating system and, above all, the user experience of the RWTHapp.
As expected, the sample consisted primarily of very young people; only five per cent of participants were over 30 years old, with over half stating that they were between 20 and 24 years old. 37 per cent of participants were female, which roughly corresponds to the 33 per cent of female students at RWTH Aachen University. The survey was also primarily completed by newer students, with just under a third stating that they had been studying at RWTH for more than six semesters. You can find out more in the blog post.
Results of this Year’s Survey
The majority of participants stated that they had heard about the RWTHapp for the first time from other students, be it fellow students, tutors or the student council. Many also searched for “RWTH” in the app stores by chance and came across the app.
Over 99 per cent of participants stated that they used the app on their smartphone, with only a few people using the app exclusively on their tablet. Nevertheless, around a third stated that they had also installed the app on their tablet. Half use a device with an Android operating system (51%) and half use iOS or iPadOS (55%). Alternative operating systems are also occasionally used. It is important to note that the RWTHapp can also be found in the F-Droid Store, but only via the direct URL and not via the F-Droid search.
Number of people who rank the named function among the top 2 RWTHapp functions
When asked about the three most used features of the RWTHapp, 83 per cent named the canteen and 69 per cent the calendar. RWTHmoodle (33%), grades (23%) and the start page (21%) follow a long way behind. The data cannot answer whether the less frequently mentioned features are not used at all or are just not among the three most frequently used features of the participants.
As in the previous year, the usability and user experience of the RWTHapp were rated as average to good, with the results in the usability area being better than in the user experience area. On the school grading scale from very good (1) to unsatisfactory (6), the RWTHapp achieved an average grade of 2.3, as in the previous year. The criticism of the RWTHapp is also largely in line with that of the previous year. Frequent points of criticism are the performance of the RWTHapp and the incomplete integration of RWTHmoodle. Requested features included adding and editing appointments in the calendar and additional calendar views. You can also see all the data in the RWTH Zahlenspiegel 2024.
What Happens Now?
Feedback from the satisfaction survey plays a key role in the further development of the RWTHapp. Nevertheless, not all feature requests can be implemented. This includes, for example, the complete integration of RWTHmoodle into the RWTHapp. Due to the large number of plugins and the resulting diversity of the application, it is not possible to integrate and maintain all functionalities in the app. However, there is an official Moodle app that offers more Moodle functionalities for the smartphone.
We are already working on other feature requests, for example, there are already initial drafts for an expansion of the calendar feature and we are also constantly trying to improve the performance problems of the RWTHapp. We are always grateful for your feedback. If you encounter errors or performance problems in the app, you can report them directly in the RWTHapp under Menu > Settings > Give us feedback. Describe the problem you have encountered in as much detail as possible and ideally provide an email address so that we can contact you if we have any queries. Alternatively, as always, you can contact our IT-ServiceDesk if you have any problems with the applications managed by the IT Center – by email at servicedesk@itc.rwth-aachen.de or by phone on 0241 80 24680.
By the way: If you are interested in taking part in the IT Center’s usability tests, you can sign up to our usability mailing list.
Responsible for the content of this article are Denise Pascale Fries and Janin Iglauer.
Leave a Reply