Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Website Revamp
Project Brief
The objective of the project is to improve on the existing information architecture of an educational institution's website such that the users of the website can achieve their goal. We were provided with three user personas– potential students, current students and working adults looking to up-skill themselves.
Why Revamp?
The initial contextual inquiry with our users revealed that the existing website did not communicate the creative culture of the school, nor did it relay enough relevant information for users to make decisions with. This affects the conversion of potential students applying to NAFA.
User Research Process
- Contextual Inquiry
- User Interviews
- Content Audit
- Competitors Analysis
- Card Sorting
- Tree Testing
- Rapid Prototyping
- Usability Test
The unconventional main navigation of the existing website viewed on desktop.
Card sorting with
our users
Key insights:
Students don't access the main website as they have their own student portals (three, in fact). So they were confused as to what the 'My NAFA' icon meant.
Working adults and current students frequently grouped financial categories together.
Challenges
With the initial research findings, we found it hard to focus on which users to solve for as they had overlapping needs. We were interested in the current student's problem of the many portals but we were aware of the time constraints. So we chose to focus on fulfilling the basic needs of potential students, which were the other two personas.
Designing the Solution
After conducting the card sorting exercise with our users, we worked on the redesign to solve two key problems: appealing to potential students with good design and accessible, relevant information.
Validating the Solution
We did two rounds of usability testing to ensure the new design was effective in achieving the goal. We iterated based on the feedback and succeeded in appealing to potential students.
Learnings
We learned about prioritising problems to solve, and also how useful card sorting is in understanding our users' expectation of grouping information.
