UCAN

Description

This design fiction is heavily influenced by the existing UCAS system and its website. UCAN (University and College Admissions Network) - future replacement for UCAS, the current UCAS system works as a charity organization, however, UCAN is set in the near future and is owned by a private company Servco. In this design fiction, the top ten universities in the United Kingdom have already been privatised and charge all students the fees of international students. UCAN design fiction allows students to apply for higher education by creating personal packages according to their needs. However, for home students, the availability of various packages and universities depends on their family’s financial background. UCAN has created a Diversity and Inclusion Programme which aims to bridge the gap between the less advantaged and financially privileged students by enrolling less privileged students into a lottery for a chance to win monetary prizes to be used towards the university experience. This project aims to scrutinize the marketisation and monetisation of higher education, by exploring how financial inequality will impact the educational prospects of future students. To respond to these issues, the UCAN service also strongly resembles an online shop with discount codes available in targeted advertisements on social media. To better visualise the placement of this design fiction, the #ucant movement was designed on Twitter where students express their dissatisfaction with the UCAN application system. The prototype was designed and implemented using InVision Studio.