The Student Association Platform
Building a connected student community
The University of Sheffield’s English Language Teaching department (ELTC) welcomes thousands of international students every year. The social and welfare teams goal is to improve the student experience and make their time at university an unforgettable experience.
The Student Association platform aimed to create a digital space that enhances student engagement, support, and collaboration. By applying user-centred design and interactive elements, I developed a platform that meets the diverse needs of the student body.
- Objective: Develop a user-friendly platform that enhances student engagement and provides robust support services.
- Scope: Design and implement interactive features, support resources, and feedback mechanisms.
My role: Team of one web designer/developer
User Research and Needs Analysis
Understanding Requirements
- Student/staff Interviews: Conducted detailed interviews with students to identify their goals, preferences, and pain points. As well as staff to understand what their needs were for managing and maintaining the platform were.
- Data Analysis: Analysed the collected data to uncover insights and trends that informed the design of the platform’s features.
Identified Challenges
- No central system particularly aimed at our international students or information about our facilities as they differed from the main university campus.
- Students were unable to access key information about the English language department.
- Students felt lost and confused about where to go to access information.
- Some students were missing out on vital information about wellbeing and social activities ran by the coordinators.
UX Design & Development
Creating an Engaging Platform
The platform was developed with a focus on usability and accessibility, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable user experience.
- User Interface Design: Created a clean, intuitive interface that allows students to navigate the platform with ease.
- Accessibility Features: Incorporated features such as text-to-speech, adjustable font sizes, and high-contrast modes to accommodate all users, as this was for a language school.
- Prototyping and Usability Testing: Developed prototypes and conducted usability testing to refine the platform based on student and staff feedback.
Before
After (Concept)
Refining the Solution
Design Iteration for a Better Experience
There was an old internal domain that students were able to use however the main function was to serve as a resource hub for teaching staff. Because of this, the information became very scattered and disorganised resulting in a very low interaction with the page. No deliberate navigation or design flow.
Resources were lost within pages upon pages and the students online experience diminished as a result. The analytics showed that in the last 3 years the student login activity had dropped by over 95%.
The new internal secure website was redesigned for international students at the ELTC. The new platform prioritises ease of navigation and accessibility, providing students with a central hub to access essential information about internal activities, student welfare advice, university accommodation, and a campus tour guide.
