User Experience (UX)
The following design example is redefining a prospective student's journey to enrolling at a higher education institution.
01
Problem Statement
The application and orientation process for prospective students was way too long and confusing, relying on a legacy system that lacked functionality, personalization and performance. This led to user frustration and a noticeable decline in enrollment. The goal was to redesign the experience, creating a user-centric, modern application that was intuitive, efficient, and accessible to all.
02
Solution
A survey of 220 students and prospective applicants was conducted to gather insights into the values, behaviors, and attitudes that influence their choice of a university. Additionally, interviews were held with eight students and six admissions professionals to capture first-hand experiences and gain deeper qualitative insights.
We designed an experience that improved application rates, removed redundancies and friction points, and seamlessly scaled across multiple brands.
03
Key Takeaways
We conducted a thorough review of the experience and conducted many stakeholder and user interviews.
Findings:
40% of applicants abandoned the application within minutes of starting.
59% needed guidance when selecting a program.
15 minutes was the average time required to complete the application.
63% of visitors accessed the application on a mobile device.
The 65+ questions required to apply felt overwhelming to users.
04
Result
Higher application completion rates – Reduced questions from 65 to 20, shifting non-essential ones to orientation, cutting completion time from 15 to 3 minutes.
Mobile-first, single-page design – Optimized for 63% of users on mobile with a streamlined, single-page application.
No redundancies or duplicate accounts – Unified student records at account creation, preventing duplicates and enabling seamless re-entry.
Better data integrity & compliance – Addressed friction points, aligned with technical/business needs, and ensured WCAG & ADA compliance.
Scalable across brands – Implemented a design system for brand consistency and analytics for rapid feature optimization.
User-focused experience – Persona-driven flows with live chat, text, and call support to reduce friction.