Redesigning Srishti's Signup Portal
This project is a deep dive into how we redesigned the Srishti Signup portal.
We conducted a UX sprint to solve the problems with the current signup system and fix them.
Overview
The all-new Srishti signup portal is a one-stop solution for all the problems Srishti students faced with their signup processes. From shortlisting courses, calculating credits, performing the signup, requesting unit swaps, and writing emails to deans.
This application is a concept that solves the problems faced by Srishti students and the admin team during the signup process.
My Role
Sprint Moderator
UX Designer
Team
Eshwar V, Jayesh R, Samriddhi V, Sakshi D, Sinchana P
The Context
Signup portal is how students at Srishti sign up for the courses they like at the beginning of every year. The whole signup is an ordeal for many. The process includes the students having to scan through long documents of courses on offer and check if they are eligible to sign up for those courses. Then they have to shortlist courses and ensure their credits tally, and none of the courses they have chosen overlap with each other. After all of this, the students endure a very stressful process of having to use a very outdated webpage to select and save their signup options. The final process of signup is not made any easier by the poor infrastructure of the website, which means it almost always crashes.
How might we
Create a platform that integrates all parts of the signup process and create a stress-free signup system.
Solution Highlights
The new signup portal is an all in one platform that allows students to access their unit lists, student planner, upcoming signups and grievances all at one place.
All in one dashboard
Redesigned planner
Dark mode - For Fun
A powerful planner
Unit Lists
Signup Page
The Problem
The current sign-up system is fragmented. It has too many components that a student needs to keep track of. The students first receive a list of units from the college; they are expected to go through it and shortlist the courses that they like. But just then they realize that not all the courses in those lists are open for them to sign up. Then they receive a separate list of units they are eligible to sign up for or the units that are compulsory.
Once they shortlist the units, they need to plan their whole academic year, ensuring there are no overlaps or credit shortages in their major or minor category courses. Not only do they need to select their courses, but they also need to prepare a few backup options because some courses are capped.
The actual sign-up is, however, the most problematic and stressful part where the students need to keep track of when each sign-up is and refresh the webpage to make sure they can select their courses and save them. There is also a whole other layer of the students not getting the units they wanted and having to request their peers for the same, or sometimes writing emails to deans to request them to be enrolled in certain courses.
These are all the overview of problems that came up in our initial research.
User Journey Map & Idea Generation
Empathy Mapping
To further identify the areas of frustration for the user we used an empathy map to analyse the user feelings and actions
User Persona
Analysis of the current portal
The current signup portal is built on a very very old web platform. Although it is straightforward it is not very functional and certainly not easy to use. The actual signup list is a very crammed table that uses really small radio buttons to get users to select their courses and a small "Save" button at the end.
Consolidating the Research
Insights
Students are provided with a long exhaustive list of courses, the process of identifying and shortlisting the events that they can signup for is painstaking task.
The students need to constantly switch platforms/mediums for various components of the signup process, this is friction that the students need to endure.
The interface of the current signup portal is outdated and also uses a lot of un-functional elements for critical tasks such as selecting a course/unit.
Most students face difficulty in trying to calculate their credit tally and ensuring there are no overlaps in the units they choose.
The portal needs a overhaul in how it allows people to access the signup list and how it takes inputs.
Many students manually need to reach out to friends or deans to request them for a unit swap or even be allotted to a unit
The process of dealing with not getting a unit or course is not just painful for the students but also for the admin because they need to reply to countless emails and reply.
Many students don't know about what happens in a course because the course abstracts are really vague and prefer to have some information about what actually happens in class.
Goals of the Solution
A Redesigned Signup Portal that…
Allows users to access all the units open for them to signup right from the portal.
Allows users to sorts and filter the courses to narrow down their search quickly.
Has an integrated academic planner that lets students plan their academic year and automatically track overlaps and credit tally.
Has signup component that allows users to view all upcoming signups and reduce their frustration and stress by counting down to the signup.
Already has selected the users preferred units in the final signup list and help them save time.
Lets users request unit swaps with their peers from within the platform.
Guides the users about their credit requirements, credit breakups and limits within the platform.
Has a fresh redesigned interface that is delightful to use and helps users signup seamlessly.
The Fun Stuff
Ideating and Iterating
We started working on ideating the possible ways in which we can integrate and create a seamless signup system.
Below are some sketches of the ideas and iterations we came up with.
Working towards the solution
Ideal User Journey Map
Laying the foundations
Information Architecture
Prototyping - But with Paper
Given that it was a UX sprint we were urged by our facilitator to try out paper prototyping. It sounded fun and we had never done it before. While we probably lost the whole objective of paper prototyping (saving time). We put in extra effort to communicate our design.
We used cardboards, paper, glue, OHP Sheets, velcro and host of other tools to pull this off. We definitely had fun.
Some task we asked the users to carry out are listed below.
Filter and identify a major unit.
Favourite a unit.
Add two units to your planner.
Identify the credits shortage you have from your planner.
Create a second preference planner and signup for it.
Unit List
Academic Planner
Signup Page
Interactive Components
Feedback Time
User Testing Insights
From conducting user testing we understood that the users would prefer a more familiar format of search and filter options in the unit list and planner page. Users mentioned the difficulty in wrapping their head around the whole 2nd and 3rd preference signups. A few users mentioned trouble in understanding what the indicators on the top did.
Creating an effortless experience
Final Designs
Using the insights from the user testing phase I constructed the final designs on a digital platform to communicate the final idea to our college management.
Splash Screen
Refreshed Login Screen
Dark mode - For Fun
Refreshed Login Screen
Timer Based Signup Screen to avoid rapid re-loading
Signup Page
Unit Lists
A powerful planner
Swap Units
Learnings and Reflection
The above work was the culmination of 3 weeks of work, a 2-week intense workshop where we learned how to host and manage a UX sprint, and another week of documentation and development outside the class. This project helped me realize the value of getting various members of an organization to participate in the process of solving a problem.
I was also introduced to the fact that not all organizations will be invested in redesigning an internal portal or platform just because it is outdated or becoming hard for people to use it, simply because there is no money in it.
I would like to thank my team members and my facilitator who made this project and learning possible.
