Career Services Website Design
Website Design
Project Duration:
January-October 2023
My Role:
Lead UX Researcher
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Led entire user experience research process from project inception to implementation.
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Conducted comprehensive competitive analyses, Tree Testing, A/B testing and in-depth user interviews, Prototype & Usability testing sessions with 50+ users to ensure design concepts aligned with user needs and expectations (remote & in lab).
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Managed a team of 3 UX researchers.
Project Overview
The Product
Graduate Career Services at ISU plays a crucial role in supporting graduate students as they transition into their careers after graduation. The services provided encompass assistance in preparing job application materials, refining skills, navigating the interview process, and offering guidance in negotiations. This comprehensive support ensures that graduate students are well-equipped and prepared for the challenges and opportunities that come with entering the workforce.
The Problem
The Graduate Career Services website faced challenges in achieving its goals due to deficiencies in user-friendly navigation, resulting in difficulty for users to find information effectively. Additionally, the website lacked responsive design, making it less accessible and user-friendly across various devices.
The Goal
To optimize the user experience, ensuring that graduate students can efficiently navigate, engage with, and benefit from the diverse range of services offered by Career Services, ultimately supporting their successful transition into the workforce.
Competitive Audit and Content Familiarization
As a foundational step in our UX project for Graduate Career Services, we conducted a comprehensive competitive audit, examining other websites with similar functionalities. This allowed us to gain insights into industry best practices, identify potential areas for improvement, and inspire innovative design solutions.
This competitive audit yielded valuable insights that translated into a concise list of best practices, framed as do's and don'ts.
Simultaneously, we obtained access to all the website content stored on CyBox, enabling us to familiarize ourselves with the extensive array of information available. To systematically organize this wealth of content, we employed an affinity mapping approach. Through this process, we meticulously categorized each element under relevant topics and sub-topics, creating a visual representation of the content structure.
User Research
After clustering and then systematizing the website content, the next crucial step in enhancing the Graduate Career Services website was to engage with its real users. User research became the compass guiding our journey, providing invaluable insights into the diverse needs, preferences, and expectations of our audience.
We implemented Treejack Testing for user testing to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of our website's information architecture. This method allowed us to gain valuable insights into how users perceive and navigate the content hierarchy, ensuring an optimized and user-friendly experience. By leveraging Treejack, we aimed to align the website's structure more closely with users' expectations, ultimately enhancing overall usability and findability.
Tree Jack Testing on Optimal Workshop
35 Users
5 Tasks
Initial Mock Up Based on User Research
What's Next?
1. A/B Testing + Think Aloud Protocols
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to ensure users find navigation intuitive
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N = 8​
2. Mock up full design based on findings​
3. Hand design off to developers​
A/B Testing
We opted for A/B testing to assess the intuitiveness of the navigation, gauging how users interact with different prototypes. Simultaneously, we included Think Aloud Protocols to gain real-time insights into users' thoughts and interactions. This combined approach allowed us to comprehensively evaluate the user experience, ensuring a holistic understanding of navigation intuitiveness and providing valuable context to enhance the design.