Feature Brief

Context

This feature will help users to compare professors, subjects and grading patterns from external resources into a single platform and make informed decisions about the course selection.

Problem Statements

I am a user who faces challenges in collecting and comparing information about courses and professors from different online sources including Reddit and Rate My Professors. This makes

Goals

• To provide the users with a unified platform to access and compare information from external sources.

Hypothesis

(Feature): Have a search bar with a toggle button that lets you search by course or by professor.

(User behavior): The user will increasingly rely on our platform as their primary source for course information, reducing their need to visit the external sources for same information.

(Metrics): 10% increase in user engagement and 20% decrease in outbound clicks to external sources

If we <achieve/enable X>, then <user behavior Y changes in this way> leading to positive metrics <Z>. Include guesses for the size of the win on specific metrics, using past launches as a baseline.

Vision Narrative

Enhance decision making: John, a student planning his next semester. Our goal is to make this process easier for John and others like him. By bringing together external sources like Reddit and Rate My Professors into our platform, we aim to create a one-stop shop for course and professor insights. We envision John and students like him using our platform to confidently choose their courses, leading to more successful academic journeys.

Rough Scoping & Timeline

• V1: Complete research, design and development for initial integration of Reddit and Rate My Professors data

• Later Versions: Continuously improve and expand external source integrations, focusing on user feedback and additional sources

• Project Size: This is a small-sized project.

• Rollout/Testing Plan:

  • A/B Tests.

  • Roll out to a select group of users for beta testing before a full release.

Key Trade-Offs & Decisions

• User Privacy : Need to address concerns about user data privacy when integrating external sources.

• Legal & Ethical Compliance : Ensure compliance with copyright, terms of service and guidelines when displaying content from external sources

Concept Mocks

Include some mocks or a prototype to illustrate the concept. (Add links)

Feature Proposal

Proposal

Detailed Requirement:

• Create a dedicated “Review Other Tab” section in Nebula Trends main page. Integrate Reddit and RMP data to provide a consolidated view of courses.

• Results:

  • Help users make better course and professor selections

  • Allows users to search and filter content to find relevant information

• UX:

  • Create a user friendly and easy to integrate UI

  • Highlight user reviews, ratings and trending topics

Risks & Mitigations

• Risk: Data Inaccuracy

  • Mitigation: Implement mechanism to cross-verify data from multiple sources and prioritize more reliable information

Open Questions

Research