Balikpapan - Another proud achievement has been accomplished by students of Institut Teknologi Kalimantan (ITK). A team from the Digital Business Study Program, Class of 2024, successfully won 2nd Place at the national-level Action UI/UX Competition organized by HIMADASA Universitas Negeri Surabaya (UNESA). 

The team consisted of Amelia Ramadhani Putri (20241005), Febriyanti Nur Hidayah (20242028), and Muhammad Hafidz Ardan (20241056), under the supervision of Luh Made Wisnu S., S.Kom., M.T. They gained recognition through their innovation titled “GROO: A Data-Driven Digital Marketing Application for MSMEs Utilizing Artificial Intelligence.”

The national competition, held in Surabaya, East Java, became a platform for students from various universities to present creative digital solutions in the field of UI/UX. In the competition, the ITK team introduced an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based application concept designed to help MSMEs better understand market data and develop more effective digital marketing strategies. 

Amelia Ramadhani Putri, as the team leader, explained that GROO was developed in response to the challenges faced by many MSMEs in utilizing digital marketing effectively.

“Many MSMEs actually have great potential, but still struggle to understand market trends and digital promotion strategies. Therefore, we tried to create a solution that is simpler, adaptive, and user-friendly,” she said. 

During the development process, the team implemented the Design Thinking approach, starting from user needs research, interviews with MSME owners, to designing an application focused on user experience. The testing results showed that GROO achieved a System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 85, indicating an excellent level of usability. 

Beyond being a competition, the event also served as an opportunity for the team to strengthen their critical thinking, problem-solving, and digital design skills in creating impactful solutions for society. 

This achievement once again demonstrates the innovative spirit of ITK students in developing technology-based creative works that are relevant to societal needs and the rapidly growing digital industry.