Keep up with finances, academics, and enrollment easily.
٭NOT AFFILIATED WITH CSULB
٭PERSONAL PROJECT
Figma
Illustrator
Photoshop
Designed in 4 months
TL;DR...
problem
As a student at California State University - Long Beach, I noticed how difficult it was to navigate Student Center. It is outdated and difficult to find the correct information without going through four different menus. CSULB currently has 40,000 students enrolled and more coming. Every student is faced with Student Center's inconsistencies and difficulties.
→ How can Student Center be redesigned to make accessing important information easier?
Solution
Improve site structure to allow users to easily access important information such as schedule of classes, grades, and degree progress.
The full rundown
From my research and interview with peers I gained insights on what they perceived to be important qualities of Student Center and what they use Student Center for. Three major themes I found were:
To start the process off, I conducted research by conducting surveys and speaking with other students about their experience using Student Center and what they use it for.
Research Questions:
1. What features do you use on student center?
2. How many times do you use student center in a month?
3. What device do you usually use to access student center?
4. Do you find it difficult to switch between pages? If so, why?
5. How comfortable do you feel navigating student center (including menus and page features)? (from 1-10)
I created a persona based on my survey. Utilizing this persona will allow me understand student's motivations, frustrations, and goals when using Student Center.
Based on surveys from users and observations, I created a journey map of a student looking for academic requirements to enroll to better understand the pain points and address them with potential design solutions.
I wanted to clearly identify what is working and what isn't. From the insights I gathered from my interview, I conducted a UX audit on the most frequented pages. This allowed me to pin point issues in visual hierarchy, inconsistencies, and difficulties when using the page.
After conducting the UX Audit and student surveys, I compiled a list of requirements and opportunities should be incorporated into Student Center.
I kept in mind requirements for Student Center including finding essential information and possible opportunities such as removing the hassle of looking through many pages. 2 options that I explored that could remedy the frustration of navigating student center were a AI Helper or a complete redesign.
I looked at opinions people have of chat bots in different forums along with statistics about the usefulness of bots and AI helpers. My key findings were that Chat bots and AI helpers:
A search bar and helper can find the information for them, but not display it in a way that is easy to digest.
My UX Audit informed me that even if I were to add a chat bot, the page will still have usability issues for students who defer the helper. In addition to this, 2 of CSULB's main applications use a dashboard format.
I looked at dashboards used in other websites including Canvas and the E-Refund system at Long Beach.
∙ Other pages that CSULB uses are in dashboard form and have consistent colors and branding
∙ Many websites use blocks to organize information in an easy to digest format
∙ Having sections and quick links grouped on the left allows for easier access to important information
I condensed a lot of the information presented to be easily digestible for students. The dashboard allows users to navigate without opening hidden menus to see important information.
Users were able to find academic information up to 50% faster.
After testing the dashboard with other students, I gained insight on changed that would make using the dashboard easier. This included adding a filter that can be accessed on the same page, tags on the to do list menu, and clarifying which tab the students are on.
