The Computer Science Faculty Universitas Dian Nuswantoro, (Udinus) once again added another accomplishment within its collections. This time, an Informatics student emerged as runner-up in the UI/UX designing category at the 2024 FICPACT held not too long ago.
The 2024 FICPACT, held by the Student Executives of a private university in Central Java, was participated by hundreds of participants consisting of high school and university students. The UI/UX design category at the event employed the theme ‘Mobile Apps Digikom.’ All this information was stated by Calvin Samuel Simbolon, the runner-up who was also an Informatics student at Udinus.
“At the event, I was given a week to redesign an app known as Digikom. It was an app consisting of information systems of a university, which offered more than students’ academic information,” he explained.
Furthermore, he also equipped the app with various features, including contact information of faculty members, university document templates, and an academic guidebook.
“One of the main features is DIGIBOT, a chatbot helping students in accessing information concerning academic matters through text messages,” he continued.
Preparation for the Event
In competing at the contest, there were several preparations done by Calvin. Calvin, a student of the 2023 cohort, revealed that he mainly studied deeply the proper research methods. He did this to not only create a visually appealing app but also a beneficial one.
According to Calvin, a design is considered successful if it can combine both visual and functional values. If one were to combine these two aspects, they would be able to give optimal solutions to users.
“As a good UI/UX designer, the first step I took was analyzing pre-existing apps to understand the features and evaluate how they would fit with users’ needs, particularly students. Then, I conducted user research through an online survey using the Google Form platform. This survey would later be given to a number of students from various universities,” he highlighted.
From the survey results, he admitted that he understood the preferences and users’ needs. This understanding would later serve as a foundation for redesigning the app for the contest.
Upon participating in the contest, Calvin hoped for his confidence and skills to see a major boost. In addition, he also wanted to keep attaining accomplishments for the campus, as well as inflicting positive impacts on the general public.
“As a student, I think that it is important to contribute more to various competitions concerning app design and development, with the hope of further honing my abilities. Moreover, I also aspire to be the source of inspiration for my fellow students to participate in various contests so they can make a name for our campus and provide positive impacts to both the campus and the general public,” he concluded. (Humas Udinus/Ika. Foto: Dok. Pribadi)
