Team
3 UX Designers
Role
UX Designer
UX Researcher
Tool
Figma
Photoshop
Duration
5 Weeks
Context
The course catalog is the main official source for course information, but it provides general, surface-level information.
Probelm
Students often struggle with uncertainty and anxiety during course registration, resulting in frequent course withdrawals and unsatisfying academic experiences.
Our research findings uncovered 3 main causes behind students’ uncertainty and dissatisfaction.
Scattered Information and Low Accessibility
Fragmented course info across platforms leaves students rushing to gather details before registration closes.
Information Lacks Depth and Reliability
Students can mostly find vague course descriptions or subjective reviews, making it difficult to get reliable insights.
Lack of a Centralized System for Course Data
Course materials aren’t well kept when faculty change, making resources inconsistent and hard to find.
The issue lies in the lack of a centralized, transparent system for managing course information, causing confusion, inefficiency, and unequal access for students.
Through journey mapping, we discovered that what seemed like a registration problem actually affects the entire learning experience, from preparation to engagement.
Design Goal
Centralized course hub featuring an innovative review system that surpasses traditional feedback and drives continuous improvement.
All in one information hub of past course information for easier access
Multi perspective and netural information for better decision making.
Unify fragmented course information through a consistent, structured content system.
Design Solutions
All in one hub for course information,
Timely and multiple perspectives from 4 key sections
Other Features
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Research
SURVEY
We began with a survey of 46 valid responses to understand what factors students value most when making course decisions and how accessible each of these factors is.
Students face a dilemma: the easily accessible information lacks depth, while the insightful course resources are hard to find and time-consuming to access.
INTERVIEW
Following the survey, we conducted interviews with 5 students and 2 faculty members to identify pain points and uncover deeper needs within the registration process.
Easier access and systematic management
Switching between multiple platforms to find and filter course information, making the registration process slow and frustrating.
Need for less biased, more comprehensive, and updated information
Balanced and Constructive Feedback: Students seek reliable information for decision-making, while faculty need actionable feedback less affected by bias.
Multiple Perspectives: They value diverse insights like skills, workload, and experience to build a fuller understanding of each course.
Timely Information: Up-to-date details are essential as courses and instructors change frequently.
Past course materials are more valuable than reviews
For students, past syllabi and student work clarify the learning experience and expected skill outcomes.
For faculty, these materials help showcase courses to future students and guide new instructors in designing their syllabi and teaching plans.
COMPETITORS ANALYSIS
The internal school platform’s format proved more effective and aligned better with what users are looking for.
Easier access and navigation
More trustworthy content
Stronger data privacy.
But conventional review formats can be generalized and biased at times
Numeric ratings vary by individual perception and can be misleading with limited responses.
Lacking actionable feedback, making it difficult for instructors to improve course design.
Ideation
We started with HMW and affinity map to sort the key problems we are going to solve and brain storm all the possibilities.
How might we improve access to credible and timely course information, helping students make informed and confident decisions during registration?
Through analysis and prioritization, we defined four main sections that cover the majority of user needs.
A centralized course hub that helps students access diverse insights and fosters constructive feedback for continuous improvement.
Past students work
Comprehend what skills can be learnt intuitively.
Syllabus
For holistic understanding the workload and strcture.
Reviews
Understanding the real learning experince and teaching quality.
Past students info
Save more time for students who want to reach out or connect.
Iterations
Key Iteration 1: Landing Page
Smooth the navigation flow to allow user land to the information they need faster and more intuitively.
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Key Iteration 2: Course Review Section
A new framework that minimizes bias and provides continuous, constructive insights for both students and faculty, helping optimize the course and learning experience over time.
NEW REVIEW FRAMEWORK
Positive natural language + Voted number
Minimizes negative impact on professors and bias while offering context-rich feedback.
Phase 1
Interface
IA
USER FEEDBACK
Prototype B required less clicks and access to information faster.
Showing all content at once caused information overload.
Phase 2
Slider format to reduce information overload.
Only 3 reviews are shown at once per section, reducing visual clutter and improving focus.
Design Systems
Reflection
Thinking out of the box
We approached the problem from a systems perspective and challenged the traditional rating model. Instead of focusing on what went wrong, we reframed feedback to highlight what can be improved, shifting from metrics to meaningful, forward-looking insights.
Real world has more limitations
Designing a great user experience isn’t enough, real-world constraints like policy, labor, and institutional processes shape what’s possible.
Future improvement
Because our interviews focused on art and design students, the features are tailored to their needs. Moving forward, we’ll need to adapt the system to support a wider range of majors.