myPLNU: University Student App Research Case Study
Market Research Case Study for Higher Education Sector
Client: Point Loma Nazarene University
Overview
Stitch uncovered insights to help develop a centralized app that met the needs of a diverse student body
Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) partnered with Stitch Marketing Research and Red Door Interactive to onboard the myPLNU app, a digital campus experience designed to serve their distinct campus cohorts, including traditional undergraduates, adult degree completion students, and graduate student candidates.
The app aimed to:
- Centralize the ever-growing digital education platforms and communication channels.
- Foster a stronger sense of community across diverse student groups.
“It has everything I need in one place! This is so helpful!” – Accelerated Undergraduate Student
The Challenges
- Proving the demand for a comprehensive digital campus app, particularly among non-traditional students (e.g., adult learners, part-time students)
- Prioritizing student communication touch points without compromising their established work (or “school”)-life balance.
The Techniques: Three phases of qualitative research.
Phase 1: Individual in-depth interviews with students to understand their school-related communication and engagement needs, challenges, and experiences versus their expectations.
Phase 2: Focus groups with key PLNU administration stakeholders to brainstorm ways to improve, streamline, and consolidate existing offerings into a single app platform.
Phase 3: Qualitative roundtable sessions with student groups to validate communication needs and explore potential use cases for the myPLNU app to inform a more tailored experience for the users.
The Insights
Students are frustrated and isolated, crave a stronger digital community.
- Many students, especially non-traditional students, felt isolated from campus life and unaware of available resources or events.
- Students expressed frustration with communication overload, desiring a simpler, more streamlined platform to prioritize the urgent and important information (e.g., student loan updates or assignment deadlines vs. extracurricular or social events).
- Part-time and online degree candidates reported a strong desire for a “digital campus” that could connect the various platforms and channels used by the university while fostering a stronger sense of community.
The Outcomes: Widespread usership and a developing online community.
With over 24,000 sessions logged throughout the 2023-2024 school year, myPLNU has…
- Successfully strengthened campus community
- Increased visibility of events
- Enhanced students’ connection to crucial university resources
- Improved new student transitions
- Consolidated PLNU’s online systems
Client Commentary:
“For online students in particular, myPLNU is essential to their awareness of resources and their connectedness to the university.”
Mary Kilmer, SSC