Designing and Testing User-Club Systems to Improve Club Organization and Participation in High Schools and Colleges

Contemporary high schools have seen a significant rise in student-led clubs, whether they are academic, sports, or special-interest related. In them, students are able to collaborate with other like-minded peers and develop their unique hobbies and interests. However, in many of these high schools and especially those of ours, we have observed a lack of motivation and participation associated with poor club organization and communication. Inspired by existing software utilized by these clubs and building upon their features, we have designed and implemented a user-club system intended to help a myriad of clubs in high schools and colleges to manage their club events and membership [4]. Two experiments were conducted to test the effectiveness of two different applications designed to help high school clubs manage their events and membership. For the first experiment, 10 participants tested a user-club system, and for the second experiment, another 10 participants tested an application. Both experiments showed positive results, with participants providing feedback on the applications' functionality and convenience. However, a few participants reported issues, indicating that refinement may be necessary for optimal usability. In the first experiment, most participants reported improvement in their club's participation and member interest, but a few reported little to no improvement, suggesting that the system may not be effective for all types of clubs. Further testing and refinement are necessary for both applications to determine their effectiveness for different types of clubs and user populations.