Effective communication is the cornerstone of student support and engagement in any college setting. But how do we truly understand what students need, when they need it, and how they prefer to ask? To shed some light on these questions, we delved into historical data from an older in-app communication tool used by dozens of our partner colleges. This tool, an ancestor of more modern platforms, featured a basic in-app mechanism for students to ask questions. While not heavily promoted within the app’s UI at the time, it still garnered notable student interaction.

Our analysis primarily looks at patterns and preferences over a specific three-month period (January to March) for a direct comparison between in-app inquiries and emails. For some broader trend analysis (like general types of questions or day-of-week patterns for in-app inquiries), we also refer to a larger dataset from this older app. Let’s explore what these interactions tell us about student behavior.

1. What Themes Emerge from Student Inquiries?

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When students utilized the in-app mechanism to ask questions, their inquiries often fell into several key themes. An analysis of a historical dataset of in-app inquiries highlights these common areas:

A significant percentage of inquiries (around 42.5%) revolved around the app’s Points & Rewards System. Students were keen to understand this feature, frequently asking:

This underscores a strong student interest in incentive-based engagement. Questions about general College Information (e.g., how to register, details about college processes, distinct from app functionality) were also very common, comprising about 25.6% of inquiries. Examples include:

Other notable themes included inquiries related to App Functionality (such as account recovery or requests for more personalization, at 11.9%), with questions like:

And App Content Requests (like wanting their specific college to be better represented, or requesting more events in the app, at 10.6%), for instance:

2. When Do Students Reach Out? Timing of Inquiries

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Understanding when students seek information is crucial for staffing support and designing accessible resources. We analyzed the hourly distribution for both in-app inquiries (focusing on weekday activity) and emails.

How Much Communication Occurs During Office Hours?

When we examine inquiries made during typical 9:00 AM to 4:59 PM office hours on weekdays, a notable volume of in-app activity occurred. These weekday office-hour inquiries represent 42.50%ˢ¹ of the *total in-app inquiries received throughout the entire week (including weekends and all hours)*. Focusing solely on weekday activity, these office-hour inquiries account for approximately 51.9%ˢ² of all in-app inquiries made Monday through Friday. For emails (where hourly data includes all days of the week), 45.45%ˢ³ of total emails were received during 9:00 AM – 4:59 PM office hours.

This data, even when focusing on weekday patterns for in-app use, still indicates that a substantial portion of student needs are expressed outside core office hours. Students are often managing their college-related tasks late at night or early in the morning, as evidenced by inquiries like, “I accidentally deleted the app… How do I get all my points and accomplishments back?” submitted at 3:51 AM, or questions about gift cards arriving after 10 PM. This reinforces the importance of asynchronous support and readily available information.

What About Day of the Week for In-App Inquiries?

Looking at a dataset of in-app inquiries from the older app, we see the following daily distribution:

While weekdays clearly dominate, the fact that just over 18% of inquiries came in over the weekend (e.g., “I still have not gotten my gift card,” sent on a Sunday) further underscores the round-the-clock nature of student needs.

3. Do Students Prefer In-App Inquiries or Email for Communications?

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During a specific January to March period, the volume of in-app inquiries and email communications was surprisingly comparable, especially considering the in-app feature was rudimentary and not a primary focus of the app’s UI at the time.

Looking at the rates relative to user activity during this Jan-Mar period:

• In-App Inquiries per user-day: 0.26%
• Emails per user-day: 0.24%

This suggests that, even with minimal promotion, students were nearly as likely to use the in-app mechanism as they were to send an email when seeking support or information. This implies a potential preference for or, at least, a willingness to use in-app communication channels if they are available and effective.

4. What Volume of Questions Do Students Produce?

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Focusing again on the Jan-Mar period for a fair comparison, the rate of in-app inquiries was 0.26% per user-day, while emails occurred at a rate of 0.24% per user-day. This implies that, on average, it took slightly more user activity (user-days) to generate an email compared to an in-app inquiry during this period. While the raw volume of questions per user-day was not overwhelmingly high, the consistency across channels was notable, especially considering the in-app communication feature was not heavily emphasized. The fact that students still actively sought out and used this channel for diverse questions—from “When is the next education work shop?” to “What if I already registered?”—suggests a latent demand for convenient, app-based support.

Key Takeaways from Historical Data

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Even from this look at an older, less-developed in-app communication tool, several key insights emerge:

• Students Seek Answers: They will use the channels available to them, even if those channels aren’t front-and-center, for a wide range of topics including direct college support and app-specific help.
• Rewards Motivate: Inquiries about points and gift cards were prominent (e.g., “When will I get my gift card?” or “How do I earn points?”), indicating that well-designed incentive systems can drive engagement.
• Needs Don’t Keep Office Hours: A significant portion of student inquiries, whether via an in-app mechanism or email, arrive outside the traditional 9-5 workday and on weekends.
• In-App Communication is Viable: The comparable usage rates of the rudimentary in-app inquiry feature versus email suggest students are open to, and may even prefer, communicating within a dedicated college app environment.

Understanding these past behaviors provides valuable lessons as we consider how to best design future tools to meet students where they are, with the information and support they need, whenever they need it. The clear message is that students are looking for accessible, responsive, and ideally, rewarding ways to connect with their college and its resources.

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Data Notes:

• ᶠ⁴The comparative analysis of in-app inquiries vs. email (Sections 3 & 4, Chart 5) is based on data from January 1st to March 31st of a prior year, which included 72 in-app inquiries, 66 email inquiries, and 27,313 user-days.
• ᶠ¹The thematic analysis of in-app inquiries (Chart 1) and the day-of-the-week analysis for in-app inquiries (Chart 4, and its derived weekday proportion used in the office hours calculation) are based on a historical dataset of 160 submissions from a broader period of the same prior year.
• ᶠ²The hourly distribution of in-app inquiries (Chart 2) is based on a historical dataset of 131 weekday-only submissions from the broader period.
• ˢ¹The office hours calculation for in-app inquiries (42.50%) is based on 68 weekday office-hour inquiries out of the 160 total in-app inquiries (all days/hours) from the broader historical dataset.
• ˢ²The 51.9% figure represents 68 weekday office-hour inquiries out of the 131 total weekday in-app inquiries from the broader historical dataset.
• ᶠ³The hourly distribution of email inquiries (Chart 3) and its related office hours calculation (ˢ³45.45%, based on 30 office-hour emails out of 66 total emails) are based on a historical dataset from a January to March period of the same prior year.