About UArizona
Founded in 1885, the University of Arizona (UArizona) is a renowned land-grant institution with top-ranked graduate programs, including the No. 1 Management Information Systems program. As a leading Research 1 university, UArizona invests $687 million annually in research. This commitment to research significantly influenced the project, ensuring the design process was deeply informed by student needs and academic priorities.
Project Challenge
UArizona sought to create a new degree search and transfer planning feature to help prospective students track majors, transfer credits, and connect with advisors. I joined the project to streamline the user experience, replacing an outdated system that created friction for students and advisors, making it challenging to engage early in the enrollment process.
Results
The redesigned degree search and transfer planning portal transformed the student experience by making it easier to explore degree options, manage transfer credits, and connect with advisors. The streamlined design reduced complexity and improved interactions, leading to higher engagement and a smoother enrollment process for prospective students and academic advisors.
OBSERVE
Students and advisors at the center of research
The Research Process
Empathy Mapping
Students and advisors described their needs, behaviors, and emotions when they begin searching for a degree
Persona Creation
Empathy map learnings were used to created personas that were validated with students and advisors to ensure user alignment
Journey Mapping
Students and advisors mapped the degree search experience to identify points of gains and pains
Synthesizing Learnings
All learnings were visually synthesized to clearly describe the journey with points of pains and gains
Defining The Ideal Experience – Finding a Degree
Enrolled students described their ideal experience when searching for a degree and then dot voted for the favorite ideas
Defining The Ideal Experience – Transferring Credits
Community college students described their ideal experience when trying to understand how their earned credits transfer to a degree at UArizona
Synthesizing The Ideal Experience of Finding a Degree
Identifying key patterns and insights
REFLECT
Finding balance between
the ideal experience and budget
Identifying key features and architecture
Through collaboration with client stakeholders and the development team, key features within budget were identified and mapped
CREATE
