Identifying User-Desirable Centralized Scholarship Information System Features: A Survey Among Indonesian Scholarship Seekers

A scholarship could improve the life quality of a person with limited resources. However, the information about the offers was often scattered among the internet and made it difficult to meet the needs of scholarship seekers. Furthermore, the government and private sector who provide the grants also have difficulty finding the best applicants. There are only a few studies about building a centralized scholarship information system based on the user experience. The main goal of this study is to enhance the centralized scholarship information systems user experience by offering a set of features that the user needs. We carried out literature reviews and administered a survey to 204 individuals throughout Indonesia. We identified the needs for 7 key features, which are listed as prioritized through weighted scoring: scholarship selection preparation study features, List of All Scholarships by Level, Discussion Forum with Fellow Awardees, Comparison Table Between Scholarship Programs, Scholarship Program Opening Notification & Registration Progress Recommendations for Scholarship Programs That Suit User Needs, Mentor Assistance/Consultation Session. We also found 6 additional features that are mentioned by some respondents that are considerable: articles, community, information about scholarship destination countries, competition maps, templates, and preparation checks. Our findings have the potential to assist researchers and practitioners in enhancing the user experience during the development of a centralized scholarship information system.