More than 300 students present projects at 2023 UMSI project expo

More than 300 students presented projects at the University of Michigan School of Information’s annual student project exposition on Monday, April 17. Students skillfully showcased a huge array of applications for information studies in areas including user experience research and design, digital curation and archival practices, data science, and online communities. 

For the first time, UMSI offered an in-person and virtual component to the expo, acknowledging the global presence of students and community and industry partners. The on-campus expo was followed by an online poster fair, complete with customizable user avatars and proximity-based chat features.  

“It’s really exciting to share our work with a community that appreciates the effort we put into the project,” says Anjalee Patel, Bachelor of Science in Information (BSI) student.

Patel teamed up with fellow BSI students Cameron Brown and Jacob Domagalski for the project “BankBlackUSA App Redesign.” Their presentation at expo represents work completed over two semesters for the course SI 487: User Experience Final Project. 

The team members share a passion for finance and equitable banking. They came together around goals to oppose the racial wealth gap by putting knowledge in people’s hands about Black-owned financial institutions and personal financial literacy. 

They collaborated with BankBlackUSA, a grassroots organization dedicated to harnessing the collective economic power of Black communities, to redesign the organization’s app as a resource for those interested in the #BankBlack movement. 

Their redesign includes map and comparison tools to help users filter through local bank options, plus training modules on why banking Black and financial literacy matters.

Patel says this project crystallized for her the power of information to affect change in business. 

“Being able to put such tangible resources in the hands of the consumer and client gets me excited,” Patel says. 

A team of BSI students in SI 422: Needs Assessment and Usability Evaluation presented another much-needed resource with their project, titled “Venus’ Closet.” Venus’ Closet is a mobile app designed to provide an inclusive online shopping experience for people with disabilities, with search filters to help people find functional and fashionable clothing that fits their needs.

“One of the most important things I learned through this project is the designer mindset,” says Jingting Wang, a BSI junior. “As a user experience designer, our job is to find people’s problems and create solutions.” 

Wang worked with fellow BSI juniors Vivian Le and Jianxuan Xu to uncover problems facing people with disabilities as they shop for clothes online. They connected with the Michigan Medicine Center for Disability Health and Wellness and the Disability Network Washtenaw Monroe Livingston to meet prospective users of their app and talk to them about their experiences. The data from these meetings informed personas and storyboards that the students used to develop their design.

A big part of the designer mindset that this team honed in on was empathy. They shared the goal of making accessible for marginalized communities a kind of experience many of us take for granted. 

“During interviews I came to understand more and more what some of the difficulties are for this community,” Xu says. “I feel it’s necessary for everyone to be able to choose clothing they can put on that makes them happy.” 

In addition to designing apps, UMSI students also analyzed how people use them. Master of Science in Information student Pratiksha Badola presented “Russia and Ukraine: The World’s First TikTok War, Examined,” a project completed for SI 698: Master’s Thesis Option Program.

After analyzing 192 viral TikToks across the three most popular Russia-Ukraine war hashtags, Badola found that although TikTok is being used as a source of citizen journalism in the Russia-Ukraine war, news platforms and established influencers still dominate the broader narrative, a phenomenon she coins “algorithmic gentrification.” 

“This matters because when referring to social media as a source of citizen journalism it’s important to unpack how true that really is,” Badola says. 

Badola’s project drew many visitors at the expo, and she says she was glad to facilitate dialogue around TikTok’s uses, benefits and risks. She says the event was also a great way to practice for her thesis defense. 

Many project teams cited the expo as an exciting chance to spark conversation with people from all kinds of backgrounds.

Master of Science in Information students Chad Kamen and Laura Petersen say that many of the attendees whom they had a chance to speak with were unfamiliar with archives. They were happy for each chance to share more about an important side of the information field with their project, “Gateway to Yellowstone: Bridging National Park Collecting Communities.” 

For SI 699: Librarianship and Archival Practice Mastery Course, Kamen and Peterson collaborated with Yellowstone National Park and Montana State University to investigate the possibilities of bringing together disparate institutional and private collections representing America’s first National Park. 

In their research, they leaned on UMSI lessons from classes like SI 580: Understanding Records and Archives and SI 667: Foundations of Digital Curation, plus experiences outside of the classroom, such as Peterson’s work with Project Nota and Kamen’s work with ReConnect/ReCollect. Their project helped bridge connections between their clients, independent researchers and collectors, memory workers, Native American communities and university affiliates, and they provided their clients with a framework to move forward with communication and grant applications. 

Kamen and Peterson say they’re excited to continue generating reflective and engaging conversations that complicate and deepen shared understandings of the archival record.

With more than 100 student projects at this year’s expo, reflective conversations were certainly had among industry and alumni judges. Distinguished awards were presented to student teams in final project and thematic categories. 

Master of Applied Data Science students Thomas J. James, Chauncey Raggie and Asia Paige earned the second prize in the MADS capstone category for their project, “Developing Online Course Recommendations.” 

The team used data about online course titles, course descriptions and job titles to create a system that recommends five top online courses for professional development based on a user’s job title. The recommender system helps youth, entry-level and experienced professionals figure out where to start while searching through large online course libraries. 

“It was a pleasure discussing with expo guests the goals of our project and the positive influence it could have,” James says. “Expo allowed the public audience to share which communities they felt could benefit from an online course recommender system, which is information we will put to use while planning further enhancement of our model.” 

Ideas and inspiration flow back and forth as students present their hard work and attendees engage at UMSI’s annual student project expositions. These scholarly celebrations are meaningful points on the UMSI community’s shared learning journey, and the 2023 expo’s outstanding turnout is a testament to that.