Timeline

• September 2019 - December 2019 (12 weeks)

Responsibilities

• Wireframing, crafting visual elements, typography/iconography design

Problem.

THE Course registration process is stressful, inefficient, and confusing for new students, creating operational challenges for administrators and faculty.

Project Overview

The aim of this project was to redesign Wilfrid Laurier University’s course registration process to make it more efficient and user-friendly for students, faculty, and administrators. Recognizing the existing registration process as antiquated, time-consuming, and frustrating, the team’s mission was to introduce a redesigned system that not only streamlines the registration workflow but also minimizes errors and elevates overall usability.

Our vision for the new registration process goes beyond mere efficiency; it serves as a catalyst for enhancing the educational journey for students. By providing a seamless and intuitive registration experience, we empower students to effortlessly access the courses vital to their academic aspirations. Simultaneously, the redesigned system equips faculty and administrators with tools to manage courses more effectively, fostering resource allocation with precision.

The success of this endeavor hinged on the collaborative synergy between the project team and the faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University. Through effective collaboration, we aimed to create a registration system that not only meets functional requirements but also aligns with the institution's commitment to excellence in education.

Tools

• Miro

• Adobe XD

• Sketch

Identified High-priority Features

• Progress bar

• Additional registration step

• Emphasis on important information & dates

• Favourites tab

• Filtering system

• Tutorials

• Iconography

What made each of these features so important?

Each of these implementations were features that were previously lacking or non-existent in the course registration process. A progress bar was implemented to provide students with a visual roadmap of their registration journey, alleviating any potential uncertainty and promoting a sense of accomplishment in registering for courses. The addition of an extra registration step proved to facilitate more detailed and accurate input, reducing errors in the process. While an “extra” step was added, the time spent registering by research participants was cut by almost 50%. Emphasizing critical information and dates ensures that users stay well-informed, promoting timely actions, and minimizing missed deadlines. The introduction of a favourites tab allows students to easily bookmark preferred courses, allowing them to return back to a course later with ease. A sophisticated filtering system empowers students to efficiently search and sort courses based on their own preferences and undergraduate requirements. Video and text tutorials were integrated to guide users through the registration process, providing a supportive and educational resource that the platform previously lacked. Finally, the incorporation of intuitive iconography enhanced visual communication, making the interface far more user-friendly.

Final Prototype

PRoblem solved?

Yes and no...

Throughout this project, as a team we learned a lot about the registration struggles of students and the effects on faculty. As students ourselves, we obviously went through the exact same process and had our own biases and opinions of this process as well. While we felt comfortable that the glaring issues within the university’s website had been addressed, external platforms such as Visual Schedule Builder had many problems of its own. Unfortunately, addressing these usability issues was out of the scope for this project. While the primary focus was on internal improvements, acknowledging the limitations with external platforms highlights the need for a holistic approach to future enhancements.