Right place, right time

February, 2025 | OneIt - University of Iowa

For students like Jerad Nylin, last year’s launch of a new student mobile app made locating classes, paying bills, and finding support faster and easier. 

“I relied on it for checking my schedule, scheduling advising appointments, and applying for graduation,” says Nylin, who helped test the app before graduating in December. “I always have my phone with me, so being able to complete tasks on the go was much more convenient.” 

The P3-funded app debuted in August 2024, focusing on features that undergraduates, especially, need to succeed. 

“We talked with students and campus offices about where we could create value,” says Adam Martensen, former product manager for the app. “We didn’t want to recreate existing tools but instead pull them together and help students get to the right place at the right time.” 

The app uses a vended platform from Modo. The current version displays a student’s schedule front and center, with an integrated campus map and course-specific tutoring info. Other dashboard features include commonly used MyUI links and key academic calendar deadlines. 

Rollout began with August’s OnIowa! program for first-year students. About 75% of OnIowa! participants downloaded the app during the program, and 99% of adopters used it during their first weeks on campus. As of early February, the iOS version has seen more than 12,700 downloads, the Android version more than a thousand.  

“We find that the items we personalize get much more engagement,” Martensen says. He and colleagues hope to build in more personalization, letting users identify favorite items, tapping user-specific data from systems like the engagement record or career path, and further customizing the app’s popular campus dining tools. 

“The more students can choose what they see based on year in school and personal interests, the more useful the app will become,” says Tricia Brown, senior director of internal communication in the Office of Strategic Communication (OSC). She hopes the app will reduce reliance on email and other less-effective communication tools. 

Anyone can download the app, but students will remain its focus for the foreseeable future. Martensen anticipates new tools for graduate and professional students, and perhaps college- or department-specific resources. Data integration with the university’s events calendar is currently in the works. 

Nylin would like to see NiteRide scheduling added to the app. He also suggests a digital student ID—whether through the app or as freestanding option for phone wallets—that could replace a physical card. And as a user who’s blind, he emphasizes the need to keep the app accessible for all students. 

“I hope future updates will make the app an even more comprehensive one-stop hub,” he says. 

Principal project partners include ITS, OSC, the Division of Student Life, and the Office of the Provost. Martensen says the app has opened new opportunities for units to connect and collaborate. 

“We met with nearly 30 groups to develop plans for the initial launch,” he says. “That process helped understand program goals and build buy-in while keeping our focus on the experience users want.”