Background:

Information systems $($IS$)$ educators at universities face a number of challenges in the current environment, including dealing with declining enrolments, preparing students for the changes in the profession, and updating the curriculum to integrate new ideas and technologies. These challenges make sharing IS education$-$related knowledge and practices especially critical.

Scenario:

A large university recently announced that the number of applicants for Master's degree programs in Information Systems $($IS$)$ declined by $55\%$ in $2021,45\%$ in $2022,$ and $40\%$ in $2023.$

There are some speculations and assumptions about the reasons, but the university does not use a traditional problem$-$solving approach.

Use the design thinking technique to solve the issues.

Write the report using the following steps. Responses to each step will be assessed:

$1-$ What is the business problem?

$2-$ Do a $"5$ Whys$"$ to find the main cause $($dig deeper$).$

$3-$ Who are the Users $($main user identification$)?$

$4-$ What is the User$-$centered problem statement $($Problem statement from the users $\text{'}$ perspective$)?$

$5-$ Do $"$As$-$Is$"$ analysis: What is their current struggle today? Their daily work? Their needs?

$6-$ Do $"$to$-$be$"$ analysis: Propose some User$-$centric Ideas to solve their problems.

Format requirements:

Please mention each question followed by an answer

Each student may find different "users," which is acceptable in this approach

To answer Q$5,$ try to deeply analyze the current situations that "users" may face

To answer Q$6,$ try to come up with at least three solutions.

Page limit for the report: Minimum three pages$-$ Maximum five pages

The font should be Times New Roman $12$pt and double$-$spaced.