Optimizing a mobile-first Student Portal to reduce friction and support volume
Optimizing a mobile-first Student Portal to reduce friction and support volume
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My Role & Stakeholders
My Role & Stakeholders
1 UX designer (me),
1 UX designer (me),
9 program team colleagues,
9 program team colleagues,
1 COO,
1 COO,
and a few hundred program participants.
and a few hundred program participants.
I managed the full design cycle from user research and cross-functional workshops, through prototyping and post-launch optimization
Problem Statement
Problem Statement
The Student Portal generated a high volume of support requests surrounding "what's my next step?"
The Student Portal generated a high volume of support requests surrounding "what's my next step?"
User research revealed critical usability gaps that increased support costs and created barriers that conflicted with our organizational values of inclusive, accessible pathways to economic mobility.
Process & Activities
Process & Activities
User interviews and an analysis of 100s of informal support requests revealed where communication was breaking down - and a solution that had emerged.
User interviews and an analysis of 100s of informal support requests revealed where communication was breaking down - and a solution that had emerged.
Usability testing with 4 program participants and design feedback from the internal team helped to incorporate that solution into the portal experience.
Usability testing with 4 program participants and design feedback from the internal team helped to incorporate that solution into the portal experience.
User Research & Behavioral Analysis
Conducted user interviews and analyzed support ticket patterns to identify specific pain points in program navigation, translating findings into actionable design requirements that addressed both user needs and operational efficiency
Mobile-First Design Systems & Information Architecture
Redesigned the portal's information architecture with mobile-first wireframes and prototypes, creating intuitive progress tracking and instructional content that reduced cognitive load and improved accessibility for users with low tech-literacy
Post-Launch Optimization & Data-Driven Iteration
Conducted multiple rounds of design iteration in the months following launch, incorporating real user interactions and support team feedback to continuously refine the user experience
Key Insights (aha! moments)
Key Insights (aha! moments)
There's another need underlying the question of "what's next?"
There's another need underlying the question of "what's next?"
Our new design limits our program team's visibility to the portal - and we need to fix that.
Our new design limits our program team's visibility to the portal - and we need to fix that.
A hidden message behind "what's next?"
Participants didn't just want to know their next step - they wanted reassurance that they'd done everything right and hadn't missed anything that could derail their progress.
They craved confirmation to ensure they had done everything within their control to be on the right track.
An unintended consequence of more progressive disclosure
Increased reliance on progressive disclosure created navigation challenges for our Program Team, who needed to reference Student Portal screens while supporting participants.
I created and maintained a living document of portal screens as a source-of-truth reference for the team (pictured below).
Outcomes & Impact
Outcomes & Impact
Support request volume decreased! Results from a qualitative post-launch survey pointed to fewer support requests and issues across the program experience.
Support request volume decreased! Results from a qualitative post-launch survey pointed to fewer support requests and issues across the program experience.
Program Team reported decreased support volume associated with
What’s my next step?
Zoom, Slack, and PayPal setup
Completion of program steps out of order
Navigating the Student Portal
Positive feedback from Program Team
“Since (the) Student Portal improvements, very few Free Agents are getting to stipends with missing docs!”
- Success Coach
“Once in a while students need help turning on their camera, but not as often as before.”
- Instructor
“I probably come in contact with the Slack question more than anything, and it isn't very often.”
- Instructor
What about quantitative outcome metrics?
During this project, our team was in the early stages of setting up analytics tracking in Zendesk - quantitative metrics showed no significant change in support requests post-launch. However, qualitative feedback from the program team indicated substantial improvements in participant experience and operational efficiency.
Reflection
Reflection
When something is "saved for later," consider whether it's also ok to "save for never."
When something is "saved for later," consider whether it's also ok to "save for never."
This project taught me the importance of prioritizing features strategically, as several UX improvements planned for 'future iterations' were never implemented due to shifting organizational priorities.
This experience reinforced the value of designing solutions that can be implemented incrementally, ensuring core user problems are addressed even when scope limitations prevent comprehensive feature sets.
I learned to be more aware of project size and advocate more assertively for user needs throughout the entire project lifecycle - including during QA phases - while balancing user impact against technical constraints and business goals.
Additional note
Additional note
What's with the the scribbles?
What's with the the scribbles?
The hand-drawn lines found throughout my portfolio are representations of the way my design projects have woven through the design process - so far, different each time and never linear.
View another case study,
View another case study,
You can reach me
You can reach me
via LinkedIn, email, or Calendly.
via LinkedIn, email, or Calendly.
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