The University of Arizona, a top Research 1 institution with over $1 billion in annual research expenditures, sought to improve its degree search system for both first-year and prospective transfer students.
As the Product Designer and Co-Facilitator, I led the redesign of the degree search and transfer planning experience within arizona.edu, overseeing the full design process from wireframing to prototyping, and performing usability testing to validate the design. In collaboration with a colleague who led the facilitation efforts, we worked closely with students and advisors through workshops to ensure the solution addressed their expectations and challenges.
Overview
Core Problems
Slow
The original Advanced Degree Search offered multiple filtering options but sacrificed speed, making it difficult for users to get results quickly.
Limited Search
The landing page only linked to individual college websites, offering minimal search options and limiting users' ability to explore degree options.
Fragmented Data
Each college maintained its own degree information, with varying levels of detail and inconsistent formatting.
Slow > Engage
Enable transfer students and advisors to quickly understand how community college credits contribute to degree paths.
Fragmented > Unify
Provide a single, consistent source of degree details, streamlining the experience for students, advisors, and staff.
Observe
Through workshops with 16 community college transfer students, 9 enrolled students, and 8 academic advisors, I gathered key insights that helped me better understand their current experiences and validate our assumptions.
Students and advisors participated in a Design Studio to define their ideal experience for finding a degree and understanding credit transfers. After brainstorming and dot-voting on their top ideas, we synthesized the results into an ideal user flow, which was validated with further feedback to ensure it met real user needs.
Reflect
Balancing the ideal features with budget
Through collaboration with stakeholders and the development team, we identified and mapped critical features within budget, achieving 90% of the ideal user experience.
Constructing Mid-fidelity Wireframes to Define All Details
Create
Landing Page
Search Results
Degree Details
Results
Increased
Applications
Mobile
Accessible
Data
Insights
Higher
Engagement
43% more time spent exploring degrees, reducing bounce rates
Improved
Satisfaction
Positive user feedback and higher satisfaction scores
Faster
Search
Reduced degree search times, enhancing user experience
Advisor
Efficiency
Streamlined tools for advisors to support students better
Informed
Decisions
Clearer degree and transfer information led to better student choices
Accessibility
Compliance
Achieved WCAG AA compliance, meeting accessibility standards for all
Results were obtained through post launch surveys, google analytics, and historical university data
