Optimizing Pratt Institute's mobile website for graduate application process

project overview

Ensuring easy access to graduate application requirements on mobile website

About Client

Pratt Institute is a top-ranked college with opportunities in art, design, architecture, liberal arts and sciences, and information studies. Pratt offers nearly 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Since its founding in 1887, Pratt has prioritized diversity and inclusion, welcoming students from all walks of life while developing and sustaining pathways to more equitable workplaces and careers.

Project Overview

The Pratt Institute website recently underwent a major redesign. However, stakeholders are concerned that the information prospective students need before applying to a program is not easily discoverable on the website at the moment.

We conduct an eye tracking test to understand how prospective grad students find the information they need to apply to a graduate program on the pratt.edu mobile website.

Timeline

6 Weeks | Fall 2022

Client

Pratt Institute

Project Type

UX Research / Eye Tracking

Teammates

Eesha Parasnis | Priyanka Gangwal | Vanshika Shah

Methodology

Understanding how prospective grad students navigate to the information they need to apply to a graduate program on mobile

Google Analytics

Analyzed the following metrics: number of sessions, page views, sequence of pages visited

Time Frame: 1 January 2022 - 5 October 2022

Hotjar Heat Maps

Analyzed real-time recordings, website page clicks, mouse movements, and scrolling patterns.

Time Frame: Last 30 days

A/B Test Plan

We used Google Optimize to create our A/B Testing variations. It allows running some experiments that are aimed to help increase visitor conversion rates and overall visitor satisfaction.

Limitations:


The time frame is short to provide quantity and quality data for the website.

Hotjar could not track the Map and Zip Code Calendar, making it difficult to understand how users use and interact with them.

Tobii Pro

The eye tracking test was conducted using the Tobii Pro program, to observe the position of the eye to understand where the participant is looking and help understand visual attention.

Zoom

We used Zoom to record participants Retrospective Think Aloud (RTA) in which participants watch a video replay of their gaze and explain the thoughts and feelings they had at the time.

Excel

We used Excel to synthesize and analyze the gaze plots, heat maps and video recordings findings. We also calculated the System Usability Scale of the mobile website.

Figma

We used Figma to create prototypes and present our clients with our findings along with highlight reels, user journeys and recommendations to make it easy for them to understand.

research questions

Gaining insights & uncovering pain points

What is the flow prospective grad students take on the mobile website when researching programs?

How do users navigate to information about the application requirements and reach to the application form?

How do prospective students learn about the credibility and information about Pratt Institute?

Tasks Given

01

Duration & Core Courses

Browse through the programs Pratt offers and find a program you are interested in. Find the duration of the course and the required courses for the program.

02

Application Requirements

You’re now interested in applying to the program. Find the required application materials and the application deadline.

03

Apply to a
Program

Apply to the program of your choice from the previous tasks. Stop once you get to the application portal.

04

Assess
Pratt Institute

You have heard about Pratt Institute and want to learn more about whether it is a reputable institution or not. Navigate to the information you would look at to assess Pratt Institute at a first glance.

mobile website users overall behavior and observations

How do prospective graduate users interact with pratt.edu mobile website?

what works well

All participants completed all the tasks

Use the hamburger menu


All participants clicked on the hamburger menu instead of using the homepage/footer to look for information relating to all the 3 tasks.

Website is visually appealing


Participants expressed they like the layout, the size of the buttons and the feedback provided by the interactive elements.

Still lacking
that's what they said

"Visually appealing layout, but I really had to dig to find certain information like the deadlines and the application portal which was frustrating.”

01 Content Organization

Key Insights
insight 1.1

5/7 participants found the content on program pages overwhelming and not easily digestible.

A reel showing how a participant is unable to focus or track the content
It felt like there is so much information. It is annoying to scroll so much to find the application requirements for my program.
I didn't read through a lot of the info on the program page because it's in long paragraphs.
recommendation 1.1

Organize content in collapsible sections.

This will give users a high-level overview of the content of the page, as well as control over  which topics they expand to learn more about.

Current Design
Recommended Design
insight 1.2

Users pay attention to the headings, but they do not spend time reading through each paragraph.

Our heat maps showed that users tend to focus more on the headings on the ‘Application Requirements’ page, and have to scroll a lot.

recommendation 1.2

Use bullets, sub headings, and bold text to make content more readable.

It's much easier to read things online if it's bulleted and spaced out more.

02 Complex Information Architecture

Key Insights
insight 2

Users have to navigate through multiple pages to complete an action due to missing content on program pages

E.g. getting to the application requirements or the application portal.

I felt like I had to click through a lot of different things to get to what I wanted, felt like there are many different ways to get to the same thing but it doesn't really feel connected.
quote
This click [referring to the Apply Online link] will be the fourth click on a link that has the verb ‘Apply’ in it already. That to me is too many clicks to get to where I want to go. I've gone through four different pages leading me to apply.

Navigating through to find information about programs & applications

recommendation 2

Highlight program details, and add link to requirements page

Highlight program duration, core courses, and deadlines along with a link to requirements on the program page.

It would be easier to have all the application information on the programs page.

03 Unclear Information

Key Insights
insight 3

It’s unclear to users which courses are core and which are electives

A reel showing how a participant is assuming if a course is a core subject or an elective
I am assuming that these are the primary courses [while looking at the Plan of Study page] and I assume I chose a linear program, I’ll have to go back to see if there are any other courses.
recommendation 3

Clearly specify which courses are core and which are electives

In case a program has no electives, make that clear as well.

Current Design
Recommended Design
client feedback

The client was happy!

"Give them the information that they need upfront. I think you guys made a lot of really great recommendations there. I also think it's really interesting."

The final stage of our project was presenting our findings and recommendations to Pratt Institute. In the end, we received positive feedback from the client and they expressed interest in implementing the recommendations for their website.

Our group presenting with the client
Conclusion + What's Next

Simple but effective improvements

Learnings

It is necessary to understand the user's goals to know which information is the most important. Identifying what causes confusion and realizing when to weed it out allows for ultimate ease and functionality.

Biggest Takeaway

It was rewarding to conduct eye tracking tests and analyze data for a the mobile website that so many users will benefit from. These recommendations are just the beginning. I would like to still improve upon the UX flow on further user testing.

Next Step

The next step, if I were to continue working on the project, would be to to explore other areas of the website by conducting more eye tracking tests along with retrospective think aloud sessions.