Helping students choose the study option that is right for them.

Together with the Australian Government Department of Education and Training, we endeavoured to create a better study selection experience for prospective students. 

Aligning with the Digital Transformation Office’s guidelines, we set sail on a journey to understand and explore prospective students' needs, goals, attitudes and behaviours towards tertiary study selection.

Based on user insights we gained through our human-centred design process, we developed a set of design principles that would guide the vision and direction for the future solution.

Scope

1. Understanding user needs & challenges

In order to capture who are using the current website and what information they are seeking, we used an intercept survey to gather real-time feedback from actual users. With the core audience groups identified, we conducted user testing to understand how users interact with the current website and to identify their core challenges when seeking information about study options.

2. Mapping user journeys & opportunities

We sought to understand considerations and attitudinal factors that exist when prospective students research their future study options. By mapping these user journeys, we highlighted a set of opportunities and recommendations for future function and design.

3. Creating UI concepts

We crafted wireframe concepts that reflect 3 different approaches to searching, browsing, and comparing study options.  These wireframes addressed the opportunities we identified and were tested with core audience groups.

4. Defining the journey

Through focus groups and online testing, we identified that the best way to assist prospective students in decision making is to provide a personalised journey to discover and compare study options.

In order to guide the vision and direction for the future solution, we developed a prototype that captures the thought process of prospective students; one that focuses on discovering and exploring study options based on factors that they care about the most.

5. Exploring communication

We explored language and visual communication concepts to measure the perception of trust, authority, language appeal and relevance. Insights gained from focus groups enabled us to define the direction of language and imagery best suited for prospective students.

Piecing it all together

To guide the vision and direction for the future solution, we developed a prototype that captures the thought process of prospective students.

We're excited to develop a solution to help both local and international prospective students choose the tertiary study best suited for them.