A PRELIMINARY DESIGN THINKING APPROACH TO REQUIREMENTS GATHERING FOR A MASTER’S ADMISSION INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: A CASE STUDY OF TOP FIVE UNIVERSITIES IN FUJIAN PROVINCE

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the current situation of master's degree admission and user requirements for the information management system by following the Empathize and Define stages of Design Thinking. Based on semi-structured interviews of qualitative design with 15 key informants, including students, admission staff, and tutors, an empathy map was created, and the functional and non-functional requirements were determined. The findings revealed that China’s National Unified Entrance Examination for Master’s Degrees was found to suffer from issues of unfairness and inefficiency, while the admissions information management system faces problems such as instability, inconvenient operation, and incomplete information. The contribution of this study relies on its suggestion for improving both the admissions test and the admissions information management system.