Designing and Developing a Full Stack Application to Support Immigrants and International Students in Settling Abroad: A User-Centered Approach

Abstract

This research aims to explore the challenges that immigrants and international students encounter in adapting to a new country for purposes of education, employment, or long-term settlement. In addition, it identifies the need for supportive services that integrate housing, healthcare, legal and administrative assistance, social integration, and cultural-linguistic adaptation. Digital platforms have been identified as having limited information, being culturally insensitive, and failing to represent the experiences of immigrants and international students. The thesis introduces PathFinder, a complete web-based application that addresses the need for immigrants and international students to access settlement resources. Furthermore, it provides culturally sensitive support that meets the user’s needs. The research adopted a mixed-methods research design that incorporates the Research-Based Development (RBD) methodology. In addition, it incorporates elements of User-Centred Design (UCD). The research collected both quantitative and qualitative data from 55 participants in a survey and 15 participants in semi-structured interviews with immigrants and international students in Finland. Quantitative results indicated that the most critical needs for immigrants and international students in Finland include housing (79%), legal advice (78%), and social connections (50%). Qualitative results identified language barriers, administrative difficulties, and social isolation as critical barriers to successful integration. The results also guided the iterative process in the creation of a Figma prototype, which scored 4.2/5 in usability, and the full-stack development of a React web application optimized for mobile-first usage. The major features include multilingualism, interactive service maps, personalization, forums, administrative progress tracking, AI-based service matching, cultural guidelines, and public API usage in Finland. Ultimately, PathFinder resulted in 92% user satisfaction and reduced information search time by 67% compared to traditional web searches, which are often fragmented in nature. PathFinder is a significant step in social sustainability, as it improves integration, digital literacy, and relieves public services from excessive demands. The results confirm the viability of the RBD+UCD approach in the creation of scalable and culturally sensitive digital applications for heterogeneous user groups. The study also provides valuable insights for the integration of surveys and interviews in technology-based thesis projects.