Driving student engagement and improving efficiency of applications for Global Education Provider
Timeline
10 weeks
Project Context
The client is a a global education provider and through Kaplan’s International Pathways division it facilitates international student admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs at universities, with 90% of applications submitted by agents.
The Challenge
The clients's International Pathways Division had seen a stark increase in number of student applications to UK and US universities since pandemic but the end number of student enrolments has not grown at the same time. This challenge is exacerbated due to their internal inefficiencies
e.g. inability to effectively process applications, with agents spending time repetitively processing applications rather than focusing on value add activities. As the end enrolment hasn’t increased, client staff were spending too much time on students who do not convert.
Scope
Do a data led analysis to understand the key reasons for students not converting and derive a proof of concept driving from it.
Constraints
Multiple student routes- focus of this project was the UK and US direct admit and client UK admit ( 70% students)
Our Solution
As a part of a multi-disciplinary EY team, my team and I created a self-service portal for both agents and students to self-serve from application to enrolment phase of an onboarding journey.
Co-defined project metrics:
1.Enhance student engagement to position client partner universities as the top choice destination for prospective students.
2.Make it easier for students and agents to navigate the application journey
3.Make it easier for client teams to manage and support students’ applications
My role was leading the Research and Service Design in a wider rainbow team
EY Engagement Director
UX Team
Process Team
Capabilities & Requirement
Tech & Data
Lead Service Designer & Research
(My role)
Client Strategy & Transformation Director
Client Process, Capabilities and Requirement and Tech Leads
EY Senior Product Designer (FT)
EY Senior Design Researcher (FT)
Client UX lead
Client Senior Product Designer (PT)
Client Senior Design Researcher (PT)
Client Admission Team Leads
+13 Client Leadership Team
🕵️♀️ My Role & contribution
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Lead Service Designer and UX lead
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Manage stakeholder requirements
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Planning, structuring, and facilitating workshops and collaborative session
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Develop research strategy and questionnaires
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Deliver experience flows and integration of work between process and UX team
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Manage work with product designer and researcher
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Upskill client team members in Service design methodology and system thinking
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Equip the the client design team to take over the concept to execution
🛠️ Relevant Tools: Miro, Figma, Microsoft SharePoint, Word, Excel, Outlook
🤝 Cross-Functional Team Size: 7
👥 Stakeholders Involved: 20
My Approach for the UX team was to deliver:
3.Proof of concept
Concept screens have been developed that align to ‘Moments that Matter’ along the onboarding journey, bringing to life the:
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Conversion focus points
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User experience focus points
Input
+To-be -Process maps and existing tech capabilities
+Tech requirement based on prioritised recommendation
2.To-be Experience Maps & ideation
2 Highly complex, to-be experience, mapped for US and UK admit process. Key conversion and experience focus points called out against the journey, based on the insights from the user research and expert knowledge
Input
+As is-Process maps and existing tech capabilities
+Tech requirement based on prioritised recommendation
1.User Research & Gap Analysis
List of key insights and recommendations, based on quantitative and qualitative user research across agents, students and internal Kaplan staff. A longer list of recommendations has been created based on user research and mapped against capabilities
Snippet from experience maps
Snippet from proof of concept
Snippet from proof of concept
Snippet from insights report
1.ExplorativeUser Research & Ideation
Understanding the service and users and their pain-points through a mixed method - qualitative and quantitative user research and analysis.
Sample: Agents, Students and Internal staff recruited US/ UK entry spread across the globe.
Methods: Stakeholder Interviews, In-depth interviews, focus groups, shadowing, global survey and competitors benchmarking
The research goals were to:
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Identify pain points and inefficiencies in the application process.
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Understand the nature of agent engagement with the Kaplan team.
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Evaluate factors influencing agent's university recommendations.
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Identify ways to make client partner universities the first choice for students
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Assess the effectiveness of Kaplan’s tools and resources for agents.
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Improve communication and support for agents.
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Optimise tools and processes for managing student applications.
I interviewed client agents across their agency size type- Mega, Regional, Longtail & Edtech Agencies and Ex- students from India, China, and the Middle East—regions that represent 80% of the student population. I used open ended questions to identify conversion barriers, evaluate agent engagement, and assess available tools and resources.
Snippets from the insights report
(The images are blurred on purpose)
The key questions asked to Agents?
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What is their current experience with Kaplan and the tools provided to them?
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What expects of the process they found helpful or frustrating?
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How were they engaging with the client team?
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What factors influence your decision to choose a particular university?
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How can client improve to make its partner universities your first choice?
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What factors do you believe make a university attractive to students?
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How can client improve its communication and support for agents?
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What specific changes would enhance your ability to manage and support student applications?
Snippets from the mural notes (The image is blurred on purpose)
Key Gaps Identified during the Research
Communication &Transparency
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Lack of transparency in tracking application progress and status.
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Unclear program requirements leading to confusion and the need for frequent clarification.
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Inefficient communication channels causing delays in responses and updates.
Documentation & Process Efficiency
- Challenges with email document submissions, including version control tracking.
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Insufficient reminders and prompts for deadlines and document submissions, leading to delays.
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Inefficient course search tools making program matching difficult.
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Requirement for separate applications for each university, causing inconvenience and redundancy.
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Manual processing of applications leading to potential delays and inaccuracies.
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Lack of streamlined communication features for repetitive actions
Guided Experience & Support
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Absence of clear time expectations for students.
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Need for comprehensive explanations regarding accommodation, visas, enrolment, pre-arrival, and travel processes.
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Imbalance between automation and human touch affecting user experience.
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Varied levels of parental involvement in the application process, causing inconsistencies in support.
Agent Engagement & Training
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Agents striving to maintain a leading role in the application process, facing challenges without proper support.
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Inadequate training for onboarding new agents.
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Agencies involving multiple departments in application management, causing coordination issues.
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Diverse feedback from agents using their own CRM systems, indicating a need for a unified platform to manage applications effectively.
I interviewed Kaplan’s internal staff through semi structured focus groups to understand operational challenges and internal process inefficiencies. By combining focus groups (to capture collective discussions) with shadowing (for real-time observational insights), I was able to map internal pain points on the journey effectively.
To validate qualitative insights and assess broader trends, I designed and distributed an online survey targeting up to 300 Kaplan agents. This allowed me to ensure that the themes identified in qualitative research were not just anecdotal but reflective of broader patterns.
These insights were priortised with the product, data, and engineering team to identify the 'Moments that Matter' for agents, students and the business.
Snippets from the students requirements mapped during the research
(The image is intentionally blurred)
As-Is process Maps and Capabilities Map
(The image is intentionally blurred)
These are the key opportunity areas, along the journey, to increase conversion and efficiency.
Each opportunity is mapped back to the three project KPIs, ensuring alignment with our strategic goals
Enhance student engagement to position client partner universities as the top choice destination for prospective students.
2.Make it easier for students and agents to navigate the application journey.
3.Make it easier for client admission team to manage and support students’ applications.
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Choose well: Help students find the right college and course fit
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Wait well: Create sense of momentum while students wait to hear back
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Engage well: Build deeper connection with partner universities and students
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Support well: Right support to the right student at the right time to avoid making them overwhelmed
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Better visibility of application status and what needs to happen next
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More support with getting documents and submissions right
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Enhanced supporting content: How-to guides
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Consistent and proactive communication for students and agents
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Accelerate application processing and follow up with users
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Increase user self-service
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Expand automation to reduce manual and repetitive activities
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Standardise process to increase efficiency
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Improve reporting effectiveness, including insights and performance management
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Cognitive decision support for next best action
Front end focus: Moments that Matter
Increase conversion
Back end focus : Moments that Matter
Drive efficiency
2. Defining the User Experience
The insights and UX Focus 'Moments that Matter' were mapped to the end to end experience maps that identified key friction points for agents, employees, and students. By visually illustrating how processes, teams, technology, and customer interactions fit together, I made inefficiencies and gaps clear, leading to ideating conversion and user-centered experience improvements.
The key supporting capabilities for the 'Moments that matter' and the UX recommendations were mapped against the capability model.
(The image is intentionally blurred)
Insight Theme: User Experience & Support
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Comprehensive explanations for accommodation, visa, enrolment, pre-arrival, and travel arrangements are necessary.
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While automation is beneficial, maintaining a human touch is important for a positive user experience.
Insight Theme: Communication & Transparency
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Transparency is crucial for both agents and students to track application progress and status.
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Streamlining communication channels is necessary to avoid confusion from various contact points.
(The image is intentionally blurred)
3.Proof of Concept
Concept Screens were created for each of the UX 'Moments that Matter' which helped to make recommendation more actionable.
All the concept screens were tested through qualitative 1:1 interview usability testing and iterated based on the feedback from the agents, admission officers and students.
(The image is intentionally blurred)
Project Impact
The success of the discovery project has led to the client investing in salesforce as the primary capability for the self service portal.
The proof of concept was handed over to the UX team for implementation.
The key interventions included real-time application tracking through an agent and student portal, structured updates & proactive nudges reducing agent inquiries by 30%, increasing student conversion to 10% and increasing student satisfaction (+15 NPS).
Automating document tracking cut processing delays by 40%.
"Tanya's work has been key for turning the UX project around' Client Admission Director
'She drove the cross work stream integration with 2 senior managers and showed really deep understanding of the whole engagement not just her workstream.The quality of her outputs were great, she was able to evolve and adapt her deliverable to align with the overall programme narrative.' EY engagement Director
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