Fordham University launched a redesigned mobile app on Sept. 1. The updates give the app a cleaner layout and new features designed to improve app usage by students, faculty and staff, according to Charles-Henri Sanson, associate vice president of DevOps.
“The new layout makes it easier for users to accomplish tasks and take action while on-the-go,” Sanson said.
The update was motivated by several goals, including making the app more useful in daily life and adding features requested by the Fordham community.
The designers also aligned the app’s user interface with Fordham’s evolved brand identity. Planning for the update began in March, and after five months of work, the redesign was released to coincide with the unveiling of the university’s refreshed brand, according to Sanson.
The project was completed internally by teams from Information Technology, the Office of the Provost and Marketing and Communications. It was led by Marlyn Soto-Pichardo, director of Application Services for DevOps, Sara Sapienza, digital campus experience manager in the Office of the Provost, Matt Vincent, senior director of Online Engagement for Marketing and Communications and Bobby Espiritu, assistant director of DevOps. Aside from staff time, the redesign did not create any additional costs to the university, according to Sanson.
In conducting the redesign, designers considered student feedback on how the app could be improved. The most notable addition is access to class schedules, complete with building and room numbers, a feature that students had consistently asked for, according to Sanson.
Other updates include longer login sessions, the ability to personalize your dashboard, personalized content based on your role at the university, integration of enrollment and account details and event-driven notifications such as reminders for advising appointments.
Student input was central to the redesign, with Sapienza frequently collecting feedback through student surveys and testing sessions on campus.
“I really like the redesign. I didn’t find the app very useful last year and I barely even used it because it was hard to use and didn’t have very many beneficial features,” said Sierra Rock, FCRH ’28. “But now, I love being able to see my class schedule with all of the class details neatly laid out. I use the app almost every day now.”
Looking ahead, Fordham plans to continue to update the app with features for both students and employees.
“We intend to build on this [update] throughout the semester,” the Office of Information Technology said. “We’re excited to keep enhancing the app with new features and functionality in the weeks ahead.”
Community members are invited to get involved in user research by emailing [email protected].
