The Strategy of User Experience Design to Smart Phone Applications for Egyptian Universities

Abstract

With the development of using digital technology and the growth in the use of smartphones, that is time for Egyptian universities to find solutions to develop their digital strategies through smartphone applications, that have a dual goal in improving the experience of the current beneficiaries of (faculty members - students - parents - a beneficial community) and support university tasks and activities It also enables prospective students to see what is really happening at the university and feel a part of student life before enrolling as a marketing tool for universities, especially with the development of new programs in Egyptian universities. In order for the application to play its effective role, it is necessary to employ the design treatments for the User Interface in order to achieve the usability and provide a user experience that works efficiently and effectively. The research aims to recognize the reality of designing the user experience of smartphone applications for Egyptian universities to identify the strengths and weaknesses it also attempts to setting standards for designing the user experience for smartphone applications of Egyptian government universities. The research problem can be summarized in the following questions: Does the design of smartphone applications for Egyptian universities achieve efficient and effective user experience standards? How to use the design processes for the user interface and interactive design to achieve usability and provide a user experience that works efficiently and effectively for the smartphone applications of Egyptian universities? The researcher used the descriptive, analytical method and the experimental practical approach to achieve the research objectives. Results showed that; User interface design and attractive interactive design affect the perceptions of users, which is reflected in the ease of use and improving the user experience. The Egyptian public universities that have established their own official application to provide their digital services represent 46% of the total Egyptian public universities. Unofficial applications that violate the intellectual property rights of Egyptian universities represent 15% of all Egyptian public universities. Based on an evaluation of the user experience for actual users, we find that 17% of smartphone applications for Egyptian government universities achieve a successful user experience and 83% of them do not achieve a successful user experience. The division of the university's digital services into more than one application that leads to the lack of success of the user experience and lack of reliability. There is no distinct identity linking Egyptian universities ’smartphone applications under one umbrella, the Ministry of Higher Education. The researcher reached to design a pilot model to design a successful user experience for smart phone applications for Egyptian government universities based on an analysis of the actual user experience of users