Increased
Optimizing University Website for Student Engagement & Credibility
L.D.R.P Institute Website Revamp — August 2023
Increased
Optimizing University Website for Student Engagement & Credibility
L.D.R.P Institute Website Revamp — August 2023
My Role
Sole UX Designer — UX Research & Visual Design
Timeline & Status
2 Months,
In Development since October 2023
2 Months,
In Development since October 2023
Overview
L.D.R.P. Institute Of Technology and Research, an Indian university, offers a vibrant range of undergraduate and graduate programs.
There were multiple areas on the website which would increase conversion amongst potential students, raise the credibility of the university and most importantly make the college resources easily accessible amongst the students.
I led the end-to-end design direction of the web experience for
addressing these issues and played a pivotal role in defining the university’s future credibility.
HIGHLIGHTS
An end-to-end updated experience for existing and potential students to make the university resources easily accessible.
0.1
Homepage event concept.
0.2
Engineering Department Page
0.3
Blog Page
CONTEXT
An opportunity to increase the effectiveness of current website
The message was loud and clear
Easy access to resources and events was the biggest request from the students. Above all else, it was necessary to have high task success rate for students.
1.0
Students Requests & Complaints
THE PROBLEM
Problems with current university websites
A pile-up of constraints
After performing competitive analysis, I found out there were 5 common issues with every competitor which can be leveraged to have a credible and effective website.
The decision was made to integrate possible features into the current website — which came with its own set of
unique constraints and challenges:
1.1
Highlighted Issues
THE CHALLENGE
Revamp design of the website and ensure resources
are not only intuitive but also easily accessible.
P.S: All of this while being high on caffeine
RESEARCH
Getting insights from the users
The students were not happy
After survey, heuristic evaluations, competitive analysis, user interviews and usability tests amongst 12 students, I got to know that students wanted to have features like Events, Grades, Syllabus, and study resources which were not accessible to them.
Some more of their qualitative data are presented below:
8 out of 12
Participants were stuck on blocker issues such as finding reviews & syllabi
10 Students
Failed to find events, student reviews and enroll docs
Every 3rd
Participant rated the overall experience as very poor
5 out of 8
Tasks were being quit by a student because the information was hard to get
75 secs
Avg time spent by participant on navigation bar surfing for tasks. Maximum was 2 mins!
3.0
Qualitative Data from Interviews
8 out of 12
Participants were stuck on blocker issues such as finding reviews & syllabi
10 Students
Failed to find events, student reviews and enroll docs
Every 3rd
Participant rated the overall experience as very poor
5 out of 8
Tasks were being quit by a student because the information was hard to get
75 secs
Avg time spent by participant on navigation bar surfing for tasks. Maximum was 2 mins!
PRIORITIZING ISSUES
Now that we got issues sorted...
Let's prioritize issues to tackle
After conducting user interviews and research survey,
I prioritized issues for most usability issues.
4.0
Prioritized Solutions
DESIGN DECISIONS
Based on research and goals, I designed solutions that tackled users' most frequent pain points and improved task success rates by 30%.
DESIGNS
Embarking to Craft Visual Stories
Still high on caffeine!
1: Eliminating repetitive links and giving a creative touch to the navigation menu
6 out of 10 Students failed the tasks as the navbar was overflowed with pages
5.1
Older Version
Everything on single page.
Fully reliant on user-discretion to follow instructions
carefully.
Too much cognitive load — links overloaded on the navigation menu.
5.2
New Approach
Ensures that links are placed under the appropriate category.
Clever use of white space — low cognitive load.
2: Making the events easily accessible amongst the students
7 out of 10 users struggled to find university event information which was buried in a corner of the website.
5.3
New Approach
University events are now presented under departmental homepages, ensuring clear separation and easy accessibility for each department's specific events.
3: Enhancing navigation clarity with the help of horizontal menu
8 out of 10 Students were unable to identify the vertical navbar. Resulting into task failure
6.1
Older Version
Fully reliant on user-discretion to notice the navigation menu.
Unclear navigation, causing task failures.
6.2
New Approach
Ensures that links are easily discoverable and accessible to the users.
Clear way to represent page elements on the screen.
4: Including every page and link useful for students in the footer
6 out of 10
Students desperately expected links to be present on footer.
6.3
Footer Differentiation
5: Providing easy access to the docs,
Ensuring 100% increase in task success rate
80% task failure rate to access the necessary documents required for admission on previous version of website.
7.1
Older Version
UI looks like dead end, Users cannot differentiate between the links and the text.
Unclear writings, causing task failures.
7.2
New Approach
Ensures that documents are easily discoverable and accessible to the users wrt their department.
Clear way to represent and access documents.
FINAL JOURNEY
Let's see how student's first impressions look like
Rudo's Perspective: A student's first web experience
IMPACT
Marking a substantial leap in user-friendliness?
After revamping the designs and incorporating modern behavioral patterns, conducted an usability test amongst the students with updated prototype.
Key Learnings:
Finding opportunities within categories
Viewing categories from different perspectives helped me
take new approaches to tackle constraints.
Cross-functional team should be involved from the start
By integrating content strategy and technical considerations upfront, I ensured the project progressed seamlessly.
Simplicity was about reducing complexity, not quality
If a simplified design led to a more intuitive and error-free
experience, it was worth the experience.
User needs can be as unpredictable as the weather – be prepared for anything
User behaviors can be conflicting, they don't know what they need unless they face issue with current experience.
DESIGN DECISIONS
Based on research, I designed solutions that tackled users' most frequent pain points and improved task success rates by 30%.
DESIGN DECISIONS
Based on research, I designed solutions that tackled users' most frequent pain points and improved task success rates by 30%.
FINAL JOURNEY
Let's see how student's first impressions look like
Rudo's Perspective: A student's first web experience
Optimizing University Website for Student Engagement & Credibility
L.D.R.P Institute Website Revamp — August 2023
Optimizing University Website for Student Engagement & Credibility
L.D.R.P Institute Website Revamp — August 2023
My Role
Sole UX Designer
— UX Research & Visual Design
Overview
There were multiple areas on the website which would increase conversion amongst potential students, raise the credibility of the university and most importantly make the college resources easily accessible amongst the students.
I led the end-to-end design direction of the web experience for addressing these issues and played a pivotal role in defining the university’s future credibility.
My Role
Sole UX Designer
— UX Research & Visual Design
Overview
There were multiple areas on the website which would increase conversion amongst potential students, raise the credibility of the university and most importantly make the college resources easily accessible amongst the students.
I led the end-to-end design direction of the web experience for addressing these issues and played a pivotal role in defining the university’s future credibility.
HIGHLIGHTS
An end-to-end updated experience for existing and potential students to make the university resources easily accessible.
0.1
Homepage event concept.
0.2
Engineering Department Page
0.3
Blog Page
HIGHLIGHTS
An end-to-end updated experience for existing and potential students to make the university resources easily accessible.
0.1
Homepage event concept.
0.2
Engineering Department Page
0.3
Blog Page
CONTEXT
An opportunity to increase the effectiveness of current website
The message was loud and clear
Easy access to resources and events was the biggest request from the students. Above all else, it was necessary to have high task success rate for students.
1.0
Students Requests & Complaints
IMAGE
THE PROBLEM
Problems with current university websites
A pile-up of constraints.
After performing competitive analysis, I found out there were 5 common issues with every competitor which can be leveraged to have a credible and effective website.
The decision was made to integrate possible features into the current website — which came with its own set of
unique constraints and challenges:
No Events for Alumni
Difficult Navigation
Outdated Website Content
Websites Lack Trust
No Virtual Tours
THE CHALLENGE
Revamp design of the website and ensure resources are not only intuitive but also easily accessible.
THE CHALLENGE
Revamp design of the website and ensure resources are not only intuitive but also easily accessible.
RESEARCH
Getting insights from the users
The students were not happy
After survey, heuristic evaluations, competitive analysis, user interviews and usability tests amongst 12 students, I got to know that students wanted to have features like Events, Grades, Syllabus, and study resources which were not accessible to them.
Some more of their qualitative data are presented below:
8 out of 12
Participants were stuck on blocker issues such as finding reviews & syllabi
10 Students
Failed to find events, student reviews and enroll docs
Every 3rd
Participant rated the overall experience as very poor
5 out of 8
Tasks were being quit by a student because the information was hard to get
75 secs
Avg time spent by participant on navigation bar surfing for tasks. Maximum was 2 mins!
3.0
Qualitative Data from Interviews
IMAGE
PRIORITIZING ISSUES
Now that we got issues sorted...
Let's prioritize issues to tackle
After conducting user interviews and research survey, I prioritized issues for most usability issues.
4.0
Prioritized Solutions
DESIGNS
Still high on caffeine!
Embarking to Craft
Visual Stories
1: Eliminating repetitive links and giving a creative touch to the navigation menu
6 out of 10 Students failed the tasks as the navbar was overflowed with pages
5.1
Older Version
Everything on single page.
Fully reliant on user-discretion to follow instructions carefully.
Too much cognitive load — links overloaded on the navigation menu.
5.2
New Approach
Ensures that links are placed under the appropriate category.
Clever use of white space — low cognitive load.
6.1
Older Version
Fully reliant on user-discretion to notice the navigation menu.
Unclear navigation, causing task failures.
2: Enhancing navigation clarity with the help of horizontal menu
8 out of 10 Students were unable to identify the vertical navbar. Resulting into task failure
6.2
New Approach
Ensures that links are easily discoverable and accessible to our primary users.
Clear way to represent page elements on the screen.
3: Including every page and link useful for students in the footer
6 out of 10
Students desperately expected links to be present on footer.
7.0
Footer Differentiation
IMPACT
Marking a substantial leap in user-friendliness?
After revamping the designs and incorporating modern behavioral patterns, conducted an usability test amongst the students with updated prototype.
Finding opportunities within categories
Viewing categories from different perspectives helped me take new approaches to tackle constraints.
Cross-functional team should be involved from the start
By integrating content strategy and technical considerations upfront, I ensured the project progressed seamlessly.
Simplicity was about reducing complexity, not quality
If a simplified design led to a more intuitive and error-free experience, it was worth the experience.
User needs can be as unpredictable as the weather – be prepared for anything
User behaviors can be conflicting, they don't know what they need unless they face issue with current experience.
WHAT DID I LEARN?
Key Learnings
DESIGN DECISIONS
Based on research and goals, I designed solutions that tackled users' most frequent pain points and improved task success rates by 30%.
DESIGN DECISIONS
Based on research and goals, I designed solutions that tackled users' most frequent pain points and improved task success rates by 30%.
FINAL JOURNEY
Let's see how student's first impressions look like
Rudo's Perspective: A student's first web experience
Increased
Optimizing University Website for
Student Engagement & Credibility
L.D.R.P Institute Website Revamp — August 2023
Increased
Optimizing University Website for
Student Engagement & Credibility
L.D.R.P Institute Website Revamp — August 2023
My Role
Sole UX Designer
— UX Research & Visual Design
Overview
There were multiple areas on the website which would increase conversion amongst potential students, raise the credibility of the university and most importantly make the college resources easily accessible amongst the students.
I led the end-to-end design direction of the web experience for addressing these issues and played a pivotal role in defining the university’s future credibility.
My Role
Sole UX Designer
— UX Research & Visual Design
Overview
There were multiple areas on the website which would increase conversion amongst potential students, raise the credibility of the university and most importantly make the college resources easily accessible amongst the students.
I led the end-to-end design direction of the web experience for addressing these issues and played a pivotal role in defining the university’s future credibility.
HIGHLIGHTS
An end-to-end updated experience for existing and potential students to make the university resources easily accessible.
0.1
Homepage event concept.
0.2
Engineering Department Page
0.3
Blog Page
HIGHLIGHTS
An end-to-end updated experience for existing and potential students to make the university resources easily accessible.
0.1
Homepage event concept.
0.2
Engineering Department Page
0.3
Blog Page
CONTEXT
An opportunity to increase the effectiveness of current website
The message was loud and clear
Easy access to resources and events was the biggest request from the students. Above all else, it was necessary to have high task success rate for students.
1.0
Students Requests & Complaints
IMAGE
THE PROBLEM
Problems with current university websites
A pile-up of constraints.
After performing competitive analysis, I found out there were 5 common issues with every competitor which can be leveraged to have a credible and effective website.
The decision was made to integrate possible features into the current website — which came with its own set of
unique constraints and challenges:
No Events for Alumni
Difficult Navigation
Outdated Website Content
Websites Lack Trust
No Virtual Tours
THE CHALLENGE
Revamp design of the website and ensure resources are not only intuitive but also easily accessible.
THE CHALLENGE
Revamp design of the website and ensure resources are not only intuitive but also easily accessible.
RESEARCH
Getting insights from the users
The students were not happy
After survey, heuristic evaluations, competitive analysis, user interviews and usability tests amongst 12 students, I got to know that students wanted to have features like Events, Grades, Syllabus, and study resources which were not accessible to them.
Some more of their qualitative data are presented below:
8 out of 12
Participants were stuck on blocker issues such as finding reviews & syllabi
10 Students
Failed to find events, student reviews and enroll docs
Every 3rd
Participant rated the overall experience as very poor
5 out of 8
Tasks were being quit
by a student because the information was
hard to get
75 secs
Avg time spent by participant on navigation bar surfing for tasks. Maximum was 2 mins!
3.0
Qualitative Data from Interviews
IMAGE
PRIORITIZING ISSUES
Now that we got issues sorted...
Let's prioritize issues to tackle
After conducting user interviews and research survey, I prioritized issues for most usability issues.
4.0
Prioritized Solutions
DESIGNS
Still high on caffeine!
Embarking to Craft Visual Stories
1: Eliminating repetitive links and giving a creative touch to the navigation menu
6 out of 10 Students failed the tasks as the navbar was overflowed with pages
5.1
Older Version
Everything on single page.
Fully reliant on user-discretion to follow instructions carefully.
Too much cognitive load — links overloaded on the navigation menu.
5.2
New Approach
Ensures that links are placed under the appropriate category.
Clever use of white space — low cognitive load.
6.1
Older Version
Fully reliant on user-discretion to notice the navigation menu.
Unclear navigation, causing task failures.
6.2
New Approach
Ensures that links are easily discoverable and accessible to our primary users.
Clear way to represent page elements on the screen.
4: Including every page and link useful for students in the footer
6 out of 10 Students desperately expected links to be present on footer.
7.0
Footer Differentiation
3: Enhancing navigation clarity with the help of horizontal menu
8 out of 10 Students were unable to identify the vertical navbar. Resulting into task failure
2: Making the events easily accessible amongst the students
7 out of 10 users struggled to find university event information which was buried in a corner of the website.
5.3
New Approach
University events are now presented under departmental homepages, ensuring clear separation and easy accessibility for each department's specific events.
5: Providing easy access to the docs, Ensuring 100% increase in task success rate
80% task failure rate to access the necessary documents required for admission on previous version of website.
7.1
Older Version
UI looks like dead end, Users cannot differentiate between the links and the text.
Unclear writings, causing task failures.
7.2
New Approach
Ensures that documents are easily discoverable and accessible to the users wrt their department.
Clear way to represent and access documents.
IMPACT
Marking a substantial leap in user-friendliness?
After revamping the designs and incorporating modern behavioral patterns, conducted an usability test amongst the students with updated prototype.
Key Learnings:
Finding opportunities within categories
Viewing categories from different perspectives helped me take new approaches to tackle constraints.
Cross-functional team should be involved from the start
By integrating content strategy and technical considerations upfront, I ensured the project progressed seamlessly.
Simplicity was about reducing complexity, not quality
If a simplified design led to a more intuitive and error-free experience, it was worth the experience.
User needs can be as unpredictable as the weather – be prepared for anything
User behaviors can be conflicting, they don't know what they need unless they face issue with current experience.