Ask Clarifying Questions

• What is the target age group for the students?
• Are we only focusing on Indian national scholarships or international scholarships too?
• Are we catering to all educational levels (e.g., high school, undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral) or a specific level?
• Should the platform offer assistance only for application, or should it extend to other areas like application tracking, reminders, personalized scholarship suggestions, etc.?
• Are we considering a specific geographical area within India or aiming at the entire country?
• Are we considering only academic scholarships, or does it include sports, arts, and other types of scholarships?

Identify User Persona

User Personas:

• High School Student: Planning to pursue undergraduate studies but needing financial aid.
• Undergraduate Student: Looking for postgraduate scholarships and internships.
• Postgraduate Student: Interested in research grants and Ph.D. scholarships.
• Parent: Wants to find appropriate scholarships for their child.
• Academic Advisor/Counselor: Seeking to assist students in finding and applying for scholarships.

For the sake of this exercise, let's prioritize the High School Student persona, as they are likely beginning their journey in understanding and applying for scholarships.

List the Pain Points for the Prioritized User Persona

• Awareness: Unaware of available scholarships and educational grants.
• Information Overload: Struggles to parse through vast amounts of information online to find relevant scholarships.
• Complex Application Process: Uncertain of the application process, documents required, deadlines, etc.
• Misinformation: Prone to fall for scams or inaccurate information online.
• Tracking and Follow-ups: Difficulty in keeping track of applied scholarships and their status.

Suggest Solutions for the Pain Points Listed

• Awareness: Create a personalized dashboard showing scholarships that match the student's profile.
• Information Overload: Implement search and filter options based on the type of scholarship, educational level, field of study, etc.
• Complex Application Process: Provide step-by-step guidance on application process, documents needed, and application timeline.
• Misinformation: Ensure rigorous validation of all listed scholarships to avoid scams.
• Tracking and Follow-ups: Introduce tracking features for students to monitor their application status.

Prioritization of the Solutions

• Build a personalized dashboard: High. This is a core feature for improving user experience and engagement.
• Implement search and filter options: High. Essential for helping students to find relevant scholarships.
• Provide step-by-step guidance: Medium. Important for the usability of the platform, but can be developed after the primary features.
• Rigorous validation of scholarships: High. Critical for establishing the platform's credibility and user trust.
• Introduce tracking features: Medium. Useful feature, but not immediate as it can be developed after core features are in place.

Metrics

• Active Users: Number of daily and monthly active users.
• Engagement Rate: Frequency of interactions with the platform, such as searches, applications, and logins.
• Conversion Rate: The proportion of visitors who apply for a scholarship.
• User Satisfaction: Conduct surveys to measure user satisfaction and collect feedback.
• Retention Rate: Measure the number of users who return to the platform regularly.

Summary

The platform aims to simplify the scholarship search and application process for Indian high school students. By providing a personalized dashboard, relevant search and filter options, and step-by-step guidance, the platform addresses pain points such as lack of awareness, information overload, and the complexity of the application process. Additionally, by rigorously validating all scholarships, the platform ensures users won't fall victim to scams. Future developments should include application tracking for further usability. The platform's success will be measured using metrics like active users, engagement rate, conversion rate, user satisfaction, and retention rate.