Usability BootcampHow we transformed Admission sites by

adopting user-centered design

Val FoxBentley UniversityOffice of Digital Engagement

HighEdWeb New EnglandMarch 18, 2013

Business school in Waltham, MA• 4,000+ undergraduate students; 1,400 graduate students• 20 undergraduate majors; 10 masters programs

Digital Engagement Office• 7-person team• Supports ~80 sites

“It doesn’t matter what I think about your website”

Our Users

Photo source: webcoursesbangkok.com

I need to find info quickly

I don’t care about your org structure

Design for me NOT you!

If you don’t make this easy, I’ll leave

Don’t talk to me in language I don’t understand

Making a case for users begins with NOT talking about users.

Admissions

Did NOT want to talk about users or a new website.

Admissions

Don’t make us change our web process.

We love our site!

We don’t have time to focus on this

project.

Did NOT want to talk about users or a new website.

Admissions

So we offered them what they DO want:• Increased lead pool• More applicants• Increased yield rates

Wake Up Call

20% of prospective students said they would remove a school from consideration because of a poor web experience

Source: Noel Levitz2011 E-Expectations Report

Wake Up Call

Wake Up Call

Wake Up Call

Mobile traffic was doubling every 8-10 months

Source: Google Analytics

Admissions

We need a mobile site by Fall!

We can learn Drupal 7

This is one of our top priorities

Admissions

Design a new site!

Traditional Development

Requirements

Design

Development

QA

Launch

User-Centered Development

Analysis

Design

Development

QA

Launch

Prototype

Test

Requirements

But won’t all this take longer?!

100x more expensive to make a change post-release (for traditional software)

Nielson Norman Group

User-Centered Development Cycle

Analysis

Design

Development

QA

Launch

Prototype

Test

RequirementsFocus GroupsOnline SurveysPersonasAnalytics

Focus Groups

Photo source: cartoonstock.com

Focus GroupsBest for: Sourcing qualitative feedback

Who: • Prospective undergraduate students • Parents (undergraduate)• Prospective graduate students

Source: • Undergraduate Tours• Graduate Open House

Goal: Gain an understanding of• Priority content• College research process• General web usage • Influencers

Photo source: tamarabustos.com

Focus GroupsSet up: 1 hr sessions at our research lab

Groups of 5-6 students/parentsPaid $50 each + pizzaFacilitator and note taker

Cost: $2,500

Time: 4 weeks

Output: Summary of findings > shared w/team

Bring personas to life:“Don’t tweet me after I apply, that’s just weird!”

“My mom loves helping me with the research process, it’s her way of ‘bonding’ with me.”

Center for Marketing TechnologyBentley University

Online Surveys

Online Surveys

Best for: Quantitative feedback• Purpose of site visit• Able to complete purpose of visit• Why (or why not)

Who: 500+ site visitors to our Admissions sites

Online Surveys

Tool: iPerceptions “Plus” account • Data export• Unlimited data collection• Device-specific• Adjustable invitation rate • Multi-language

Cost: $20/mo

Approach: 4 standard + optional questions

Online Surveys

Standard Questions:

Rate your overall site experience (1-10)Primary purpose of visit (multi-choice)Were you able to complete purpose of your visit (yes/no)• If yes > what did you value most• If no > why not

How likely are you to recommend

Optional Questions:

Visit frequencySource (how you arrived at site)Demographics

Online Surveys

Output: Summary shared via PPT doc

Key Learnings:

Qualified visitors are most demanding

Content = meat + potatoes

“Information too vague”“Couldn’t find average SAT scores”“I want detailed information on the grad program curriculum”

Photo source: chefmom.sheknows.com

Personas

Source: Forrester ResearchAgency: Primacy

PersonasDefined as: Hypothetical user developed through interviews &

observations of real users

Use for: Create a common understanding of target audience

Must: • Sound like a real person• Include compelling narrative• Call out key attributes & high level goals• Enable design decisions• Include scenarios

Personas

Source: Forrester ResearchAgency: Primacy

Photos of Kelly’s items give a feeling for her lifestyle

Infographics convey Kelly’s device usage & tech proficiency

Personas Lend to ScenariosPersona Prospective graduate student

Goal: Find a part-time MBA program in Boston area

Scenario: • Searches for “Boston MBA programs”• Reaches Bentley.edu > Academics > Graduate

Programs• Sees MBA programs but labels aren’t clear• Visits each program page to learn more but gets

frustrated with time spent

Analytics

AnalyticsTools Google Analytics: Free

CrazyEgg: $228/year for “standard” account

Best for:

Revealing behavior – NOT intent

Google Analytics: comprehensive site analytics

CrazyEgg: ad-hoc reporting for specific pages

Google Analytics

Pre-launch: Tracking out-of-the-box stats:• Site visits & visitors• Pageviews• Pages/visit• Bounce rate• Top pages• Traffic by source

Results: No actionable insightsNo ownership

Google AnalyticsPost-launch: Set up Admission profiles w/dashboards

Tracking KPIs via automated reports• Conversion rates by form• Conversion rates by source• Cost per visit (search keywords)

Results Weekly review w/stakeholdersOwnership & accountability

Analytics Insights for AdmissionsOutput: Key user insights:

Google Analytics• High priority content• Top paths to content• Content gaps (top search terms)

CrazyEgg• Overall site experience• Task success/failure & rationale

User-Centered Development Cycle

Analysis

Design

Development

QA

Launch

Prototype

Test

RequirementsFocus GroupsOnline SurveysPersonasAnalytics

Design teamStakeholders

User-Centered Development Cycle

Analysis

Design

Development

QA

Launch

Prototype

Test

Requirements

User Testing

Usability Testing

Best for: Finding specific problems (prototype or live site)

Who: 8-10 students for each Admission site

Set-up: Facilitator + note-takerCamtasia Studio (screen capture)

Cost: $99/license – Camtasia$15 gift card - tester

Usability Testing

TasksTested:

Site navigation (find a major or program)Sign up for a tourFind application deadlinesFind link to applyFind info for accepted students

Output: Summary of findingsDesign modifications before handoff to dev

Total cost: $400

Launch of BOTH sites Nov-Dec 2012

bentley.edu/undergraduatebentley.edu/graduate

Results

Results: Year-over-year online leadsUndergrad: 6% increaseGrad: 11% increase

Year-over-year mobile traffic: 2.4x higher

Year-over-year mobile trafficBounce rate: Dropped by 10% to 42%Pages/visit: Slight increase

Total cost: $2,800

Stay in touch

• Twitter:@ValerieFox• www.slideshare.net/FoxAtBentley• www.bentley.edu/DE