The Office of Instructional Innovation and Technology (IIT) at Georgia State University recently hosted the GSU Mobile App Pitch Event and Completion Challenge.

Held Dec. 5 at the Creative Media Industries Institute, the competition invited selected students to pitch ideas to developers working on the university’s next-generation mobile app.

In addition to offering design solutions and customization concepts, students provided feedback on how an updated Georgia State mobile app could enhance student, faculty and staff access to university services and better support daily campus life.

The new and improved app is an initiative critical to in Identity, Placemaking & Belonging pillar of Georgia State’s 10-year strategic plan, BluePrint to 2033.

Participants of the app challenge were selected from a pool of applicants asked to undertake a complete creative design process, generating, refining and presenting design concepts informed by their own user experiences, peer feedback and survey data.

Submissions reflected real student priorities, including ideas for faster access to resources, streamlined navigation to campus services, features to improve academic support, and more effective tools for communication and community building.

Finalists delivered presentations outlining the problems they wanted to solve, the design solutions they developed and the potential benefits for students. They also shared prototypes.

Recognitions for best design and best pitch, as well as first and second runners-up, were awarded.

All participants will be acknowledged with a credit as contributors to the new mobile app and will be eligible to apply for a two-semester paid research internship (totaling $5,000) with a faculty member.

“The mobile app challenge provided an opportunity for students to make a professional impact and connect with others experienced in the fields they are interested in entering while exercising creative thinking, visual design and presentation skills knowledge,” said Fernando Rochaix, associate professor of art history at Perimeter College, who coordinated the event.

“The ideas shared during the pitch event will play an important role as Georgia State continues developing and building a mobile app that supports and enriches student life,” said John Bandy, deputy chief information officer of IIT.

For more details about the GSU Mobile App and its progress, visit strategic.gsu.edu.