On May 13, Hanyang University (HYU) opened a new service, "Heyoung Campus Hanyang" ("Heyoung Campus" hereafter). This replaced the existing Hanyang Mobile application. The Information System Development Team (ISDT) of the Office of Information and Communications Technology Services (OICT) manages the majority of IT services at the university, including Hanyang Portal, Hanyang Mail, and other IT related services. Last May, they collaborated with the Student Value Creation Division to survey students and discover what people found to be the most inconvenient features of the original Hanyang Mobile application. The ISDT worked together with Shinhan Bank and applied the survey results in developing the new application. The new application includes original features such as the Mobile Student ID, Class Schedule, as well as new and improved services, such as Menu Customization and a new messaging system. Students are now able to customize the main menu and display functions according to their preferences. The application offers different menu settings for students and professors, providing suitable and readable services for each individual user. With the new messaging system, users can now categorize notifications from different platforms, allowing them to receive messages from selected platforms of their choice.

Despite the new changes, however, there have been complaints regarding the intentions and indefinite improvements. What are the reasons for these criticisms and what measures can be taken to address them?

Behind the Controversy

The first glaring issue is the poor functionality of the new application. Despite the changes made by ISDT when creating "Heyoung Campus", many students argued that they can't really point to any notable differences between the two applications. Some even claimed that the functions have gotten worse. The Hanyang Journal conducted a survey to gather student opinions on these change. When asked about the improvements in the application, one student answered, "The only apparent change is the design. Other than that, I couldn't tell which functions were improved."

Secondly, there were complaints that the school didn't provide any information or updates about the new service before it arrived. Many students and professors were confused about the sudden change. This was exacerbated by failing to receive an appropriate explanation on the reasons for the change and the improved functions of the application. According to the survey, 53 percent of students said that they didn't receive any notifications from the school about the proposed change.

Students' Stance

While many students use "Heyoung Campus", some have argued that they are unaware of the new functions and changes that have been implemented. Do Il-kyeong, a sophomore student majoring in English Language and Literature, said that while the change in design or color was noticeable, she wasn't sure why the school suddenly decided to launch this new service. "I mainly use the application to check my grades and check notifications. However, I don't see a big difference between the original app and Heyoung Campus or why the school even bothered to change the service." When asked about how she found out about the application, she said that she downloaded the application after getting a notification from the school. But even when using the new application, she still didn’t receive a full explanation as to the purpose or improved features of the application. "It would've better if the school had explained things to us before launching the service. Then, students would have had an easier time adjusting to the new application and been able to take full advantage of the improved features."

Professors’ Stance

Students are not the only users who have a say in the new service. Professors have also had things to say about this new application. Professor Park Hee-jin from the Department of Computer Science shared his experience with Heyoung Campus. Park usually uses Heyoung Campus for Hanyang Guide Services, such as Academic Calendar, Brain Hanyang or for Class Information Services. Park believes that Heyoung Campus has improved functions that make it more convenient than the original Hanyang Mobile app. The biggest difficulty he faced with the original app was the menu organization. He found it difficult to use the main menu, as the menu formation was consistent for all users, regardless of whether they were a student, employee or instructor.

Professor Park does agree, however, that the school could've done a better job notifying students of the new service. "There are other methods that the school can use to communicate with students. For example, the school could actively listen to students' opinions through the student council, and have the school media or press notify students of the changes. Furthermore, we could create a trial group that can test and give feedback on the services before we launch them to the public." Park emphasizes the importance of communication and collaboration between student organizations and administrative organizations in order to ease the transition to future services.

HYU's Stance

In response to the concerns of students and professors regarding the efficiency of the new application, the ISDT have expressed their awareness of the problem and their efforts in repairing its flaws. Park Ju-won, the head of the ISDT, explained the background and purpose of the application development. "The feedback we received was divided into four parts: areas of improvement, design, efficiency of the smart campus menu, and overall students' needs. Areas of improvement included the organization of notifications, layout of the main menu, design, and unnecessary features. In the process of self-developing the app, we discovered a university application service provided by Shinhan Bank, and decided that the additional features and free maintenance support of this service would act as a great advantage when developing the application."

Despite the school's efforts in identifying and improving the limitations of the original Hanyang Mobile application, many students complained about the poor loading speeds. The ISDT explained that they have reported this problem to Shinhan Bank and reflected on this issue when improving the application. They claimed that the speed has improved since its initial launch. Because services and programs are developed and displayed after being monitored by the ISDT, all requests sent in by students through the application are delivered through a relay server, which is slower than a direct summon. On the other hand, students also complained about the lack of notice in the launching of the service. Park apologized for this and said, "We promise to provide sufficient notice when launching future services, and will make an effort to communicate with student representatives to provide open administration and services."

Conclusion

All new starts bring with them new challenges. Regardless of how evident such changes might be to students and professors, there is no doubt that Heyoung Campus is part of the school's efforts to enhance our available services. Active communication between the school and students, as well as collaboration between organizations is necessary to create essential services that reflect the needs of its future users.