Student Experience Design
Experience design to create better visibility of support services so students feel safe and supported throughout their journey in the university
Project Overview
In line with its ranking as a leading university, the University of the Arts, London offers an extensive list of student services that cater to student experience and wellbeing. However, students' awareness of these services heavily relies on chance interactions and their own curiosity, leading to the discovery of resources much later in their academic journey and missed opportunities.
As a Changemaker, I designed a one-stop resource guide implementing information architecture principles that reduce cognitive load. I also collaborated across university teams to create tailored interventions connecting student services with relevant student groups.
ABOUT
Experience Design, Information Architecture
TIMELINE
July 2022 - July 2023
LOCATION
London, UK
KEY STAKEHOLDERS
Students, different teams that run student services, the comms team, Student Transition and Retention group
Context
The CSM Changemakers are a group of students employed by the Dept. of Academic Strategy to work in partnership with programme and course teams at the College. The Changemakers are invited to co-develop curricula and teaching practices in line with the College and University’s commitment to social justice, including anti-racism, climate justice and ethics.
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There are 9 Changemaker roles at Central Saint Martins, one for each of our programmes. I was selected as the Changemaker for the Culture and Enterprise programme which includes courses such as MA Innovation Management and MBA.
Process
Phase 1: Explore and Empathise
As someone with a natural curiosity, I invested time early on exploring everything the university offered. But I noticed this determination to uncover student services wasn't common. This gap was evident as I kept coming across this one statement in most cross-course student forums, which was: "I keep discovering new services in the university." While this might come across as a good thing at first, as it cues a sense of constant change and updates, however it was often accompanied with a sigh and a sense of disappointment of having lost an opportunity.
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Over time, this frustration emerged as a dominant theme when discussing student experience. I realised addressing the gap in awareness was important to help students maximise their investment here.
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Methods - Research and observations, articulation of gaps, mapping project deliverables
Problem statement that initiated the project
Brainstorm defining the scope and value of the project
Step zero for this project was to create a comprehensive map of all the services, which required me to take a step back and examine the entire CSM student services ecosystem. Mapping the multiple entry points, platforms, and communication channels, including newsletters, proved to be a challenging yet enriching exercise.
Additionally, discussions with other stakeholders revealed existing interventions. However, it became apparent that their timing needed to be rethought, as they often clashed with introductory days of academics, overwhelming students with information.
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Methods - Mapping, presentation of research and insights to stakeholders
Phase 2: Map and Define
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A detailed map capturing all the services, their entry points and platforms used
Mapping out the newsletters sent our and their frequency
Reviewing existing comms around my area of inquiry
During the process, I realised the current approach lacked something crucial - a top-level map of things. Approaching this from the perspective of a student rather than the system, brought out new perspectives of grouping these and ensured that the information is readily accessible and relevant to those who need it.
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In addition to this, I created a secondary layer of interventions, where I assigned a stakeholder to each cluster of services and created information collaterals, that they could use to share more about these services. Thereby equipping them with tools to share about services relevant to the work they do.
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Methods - Information architecture based clustering, student journey map
Phase 3: Ideate and Develop
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Student journey map for highlight the paint points and opportunity spaces
An iteration of the student services guide - attempting to a top-level view of the system
After creating the one-stop student services guide and other stakeholder-specific resources, I sought feedback from students and staff from various teams within the university. I conducted focus group discussions with course reps and course leaders. Additionally, I presented the ideas to other teams in the university.
The focus group discussions provided valuable and constructive feedback, and the course reps were delighted to learn about my project and the work done in this context. They found the intervention to be beneficial as it simplified their roles, with students now coming to them for queries and guidance.
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Methods - Focus group discussions and presentations
Phase 4: Feedback and Evaluation
Glimpses of the Changemakers publication launch and closing presentations
The intervention deeply resonated with everyone from students to senior members of the university executive board and received funding for printing from the Students Union. It was featured in two newsletters and was one of the most interacted-with elements. The booklet was also appreciated by the Deans of Student Experience across all six UAL colleges and further advocated by other student-facing teams, reaching the UAL-wide community of over 20,000 students and staff.
Phase 5: Implementation
Learning Outcome
Through this invaluable opportunity, I learned to master my practice of understanding the user psyche, as the project demanded rigour and reasoning while advocating for student needs with stakeholders who have the power to make decisions. It was this process that sharpened not only my presentation and communication skills, but also my design skills and practice of applying information architecture.
© 2024 by Poojitha Lal
© 2023 Poojitha Lal | Portfolio