Grad School case study
Supporting prospective and current graduate students in exploring degrees, preparing materials, applying for graduate school, and checking their application status
Content strategy
Information architecture
UX research
“I appreciated how clearly we communicated back-and-forth about expectations for the project, including who would do what and how the deliverables would look. I thought it was very helpful early on in the project to have a meeting that went over the project proposal and ensured that we all understood and agreed on the work to be done; then, I appreciated the check-ins throughout the semester to make sure that the recommendations you gave would be in a format I expected without creating additional work. Overall, I found the recommendations and synthesis so illuminating and valuable, and I’m so glad we did this project. I hope to be able to work with you on a similar project in the future!”
Goals and scope
Through targeted resources—from program exploration and application guidance to academic tracking, funding administration, career preparation, and wellbeing support—the Graduate School website is a comprehensive hub designed to guide students through every phase of their graduate journey.
Goals
The goal of this project was to improve the overall user experience of the Graduate School website by:
- Understanding students’ needs and pain points through user research
- Creating action-focused content so students can complete important tasks with ease and less confusion
- Updating content to reflect current graduation requirements
- Improving site navigation and organizing pages so that the most important information is easier to find
Scope
The Center for UX collaborated with the Graduate School team to:
- Develop information architecture recommendations for the main site navigation
- Organize and edit content on several pages to be more user-focused, with attention to plain language
- Develop research strategy and scripts
Methodology
UX research
We conducted an internally developed heuristics evaluation as well as usability tests with prospective students to understand how the functionality and content on the Graduate School website meet their needs, and observe how they find content and use the website. We used insights from research and the heuristics evaluation to develop content and design recommendations.
Information architecture (IA)
We analyzed content hierarchy and organization based on user feedback from usability testing and card sorting sessions. To improve the website’s information architecture, we reorganized page content and made priority content easier to find, including wayfinding via breadcrumbs so users know where they are on the website, added jump-to-section links at the top of web pages to ensure users can access specific topics quickly, reduced unnecessary links that pull users to other pages, and reorganized content to align with the application process.
Content strategy
We conducted a card sort with the targeted audience to understand their expectations for how the content is organized on the website. Based on those insights, we developed a recommended Information Architecture of the website, including the main navigation and its sub-pages. We also rewrote content on the Master’s Degree, PhD, and Admissions pages based on user feedback to use plain and action-focused language for complex processes and policy, helping users complete important tasks more easily and with less confusion.
Design
We designed a wireframe of the Admissions and Application page based on insights gathered from research to better guide students through the application process — choosing a major, applying, tracking their application, and accepting their offer.
Deliverables
Overall usability is strong, with clear opportunities for refinement. Based on student feedback and our analysis, below are key recommendations and deliverable highlights.
Improve navigation structure and pathways
While users could typically find what they needed, many workflows were not always obvious. Clearer navigation labels, more direct pathways, and better-structured menus would improve ease of access.
Improve content clarity and IA
In response to student feedback highlighting confusion from unclear terminology and dense content, we recommend simplifying language, consolidating related content, and improving visibility of key information.
Enhance guidance and visual hierarchy
We recommend strengthening calls to action and improving visual hierarchy to guide users through key content better.
