Designing an experience for all student types,
raising the enrollment bar for the community college
St. Charles Community College was redesigned as a recruiting resource for the community college, located just outside of Saint Louis, Missouri. As enrollment numbers decline, state funding for education has become more outcome-based. St. Charles needed to reposition its messaging to display its return on investment while also defining and appealing to several student demographics, including mobile-first new students.
Methods
UX Planning
Focus Groups
Stakeholder Interviews
Multi-phased User Testing
Competitive Analysis
Sitemapping
Brand Development
Content Development
Art Direction
Focus Groups & Interviews
Focus groups and user interviews are one of the most direct and useful research tools if executed correctly. The key is to come to the table prepared to drive the discussion, yet be able to listen - let the conversation pivot - and not introduce bias.
Sitemaps
Sitemaps are the blueprint of an application or site. Content hierarchy needs to intersect with user flow for the best organization. SCC had several different student and stakeholder types to reach, so the sitemap had to cater to each type.
Art Direction
Research uncovered what type of media and functionality both potential and current students would be most engaged with, from the type of content St. Charles should create to driving visual direction for the site. Even down to photography - students want authenticity, not just beautiful landcapes or staged photos.