AusPost Digital ID
Phase One
Collage of images. One screencap of an email mockup, a photograph of RMIT building 10, a hand pointing to cards in a card sort activity, a section of a journey map, a photograph of two people sitting while performing a card sort.
The Project
At the time of this brief, Digital ID was a recently introduced app created by Australia Post to store identity documents such as Drivers License or Proof of Age cards, for use in retrieving parcels from the post office, or for purchasing alcohol in bottle shops or pubs. The Digital ID implementation team approached RMIT Masters of Communication Design students to design service streams for encouraging more university students to sign up for Digital ID. We were given free-reign to develop any potential service solutions as long as the solution would allow for more enrollment of students into the ID system.
Target Audience
Both my partner for this activity and I were overseas students in the program (she from India, me from the United States). As such, we were used to carrying around all forms of identity documents (overseas passports, visas, foreign drivers licenses, etc.). The experience of having to carry around a passport on the chance that a colleague or friend would ask us out to the pub for a drink after work was a stressful concept to both of us--as neither one of us had any desire to lose our passports (but do both enjoy a cheeky after-work drink).
We both decided immediately to sign up for Digital ID. Only upon beginning the onboarding process itself did we learn that a person needs to provide multiple forms of identification to sign up. While a foreign passport would be accepted, we would need a secondary ID to enroll (such as an Australian driver's license).
As a result, we focused on international students for this project. Being from overseas, we have experienced what it is like to move to Australia as students.
Knowing the stresses of carrying a passport every day as proof of identity or needing to produce a visa or confirmation of enrollment (CoE) to open a bank account or amend a phone plan are experiences specific to international students.
Our participants were from:
China, Germany, India, Kenya, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam.
EDUCATION LEVEL
We had a diverse mixture of undergraduate and graduate students.
TIME IN AUSTRALIA
Some of our participants had arrived in the country as recently as February; others had been in the country for more than one year.
OUR GOALS + METHODS
A description of the goals and methods used in the research phase of this project. These methods included: interviews, card sorting, and affinity mapping.
Our card-sorting activity was conducted as part of the one-on-one interview process, and asked students to rate from “most difficult to attain” to “least difficult” the following items:
Housing
Bank Account
Phone
TFN (Tax File Number, an essential document for anyone hoping to work while studying)
Healthcare
Utilities
Myki/Transport (the Melbourne public transport payment card)
Car
Card Sort Findings
After conducting a number of card sorts with students across the RMIT University spectrum, we collated our data into an affinity map, as well as a related Google Doc. From this streamlined data, we ascertained the following:
Description of card sort findings related to difficulty, the use of moving agencies, university aide, and opportunities.
The primary learning from the "difficulty” question posted in the activity almost unanimously pointed to housing being the most difficult item to attain—this fact wasn’t entirely surprising given Melbourne’s competitive housing market as well as the number of additional hoops that both students and professionals living in Australia living on visas must jump through in order to rent property.
What did provide significant learning were the more anecdotal stories told to us as a result of the card sorting exercise. Every person we spoke to told us a story (or multiple) of having an unpleasant experience because they had not anticipated needing their visas or CoE for transactions. Transactions such as opening a bank account (which requires CoE and visa, as well as a passport) or changing a phone plan (which requires the same set of documents). We identified this as an opportunity for Digital ID to provide additional documentation storage for international students, because who really wants to carry around approximately 15 pages of paperwork, every single day?
Willingness to Use
Another major learning from our interviews was the relatively high willingness to use Digital ID among international students. 75% of students interviewed expressed an interest in using the product.
“I have to carry so many documents”
“Don’t want to lose my passport and be stuck in Australia”
“I wouldn’t have to carry anything”
We further refined the willing and unwilling to use mindsets and attributed characteristics to each as a first step in developing our personas.
Arriving Student Concept
Phase one of this project focused on the “willing to use” mindset identified in our interviews.
Focusing on the willing to use mindset, we developed the first delivery concept, targeting arriving international students.
THE CONCEPT
Introduce the concept and allow students to sign up prior to entry to the country via their university’s student portal
THE DELIVERY
Allow for the inclusion of documents specific to international students (i.e., CoE and visas)
THE PAIN POINTS ADDRESSED
E-mail, social media (awareness)
Student portal
Persona and Journey Map
Description of the persona (Phoebe) used in the arriving student concept phase.
We developed a persona that we named Phoebe, a composite of four of our ‘willing to use’ Digital ID interview subjects.
STUDENT ONBOARDING VIA E-MAIL
Sending an e-mail to students upon their acceptance of their study offer informing them on how Digital ID™ would benefit them upon arrival and instructions on how to upload their documents online would create a new user pool with every intake of students (2x annually).
Partnering with universities and utilising their online portals for onboarding would increase the Digital ID™ user base without having to produce an additional app or web platform.
The example below shows an announcement for Digital ID™ in the RMIT Student Portal.
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
Documents
Increase documents accepted, with an emphasis on specific documents like visas, CoE, and student cards.
ONBOARDING
Utilise current university student onboarding processes to help streamline moving for international students.
PARTNERSHIPS
Partnering with universities to offer verification services through their student portals.
AVAILABILITY
Partnering with universities to offer verification services through their student portals.