Our prospective postgraduate taught student journey map is shaped by three high-level phases we identified in the user research we did in the process of designing and delivering the new University degree finders. It’s an at-a-glance summary for student recruitment and marketing colleagues.

The user journey for students applying for a project-based PhD is distinct from those looking for a self-directed PhD, so we’ve mapped each separately with an accompanying commentary on what we learned from our user research.

In the lead-up to opening applications for 2025 entry to undergraduate programmes through UCAS clearing, we collaborated with colleagues in Student Recruitment and Admissions (Admissions Operations) to make improvements to the web content and forms that applicants use to apply for clearing places via our website. Initial insights during the clearing period suggest that our […]

I’ve been looking at future work in recent months while the team have focused on rolling out our new service. We still have a lot of improvements to bring to the prospective student online experience, and we want student recruitment marketing and admissions colleagues to help us prioritise what we do next.

We’re running an open invite event on Microsoft Teams to share what we learned through staff engagement and user research about the University’s flexible study options. This includes the part-time intermittent (sometimes called ‘Invoiced at Course Level’) route to a postgraduate award and its overlap with other flexible study options. Join us to learn more […]

I recently facilitated a series of workshops to redesign content that explains the postgraduate research (PGR) applying process. This process is complex, but these workshops gave us space to work through the content in detail and, crucially, draw on the subject matter expertise of our user researcher.

Is detailed programme information important to prospective students? Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Yes, and analytics and user research show us the marketing value of making this information accessible online.

I joined the Prospective Student Web Content Team in September 2023, and immediately headed out on campus with everyone to conduct usability testing with new students. It was a great way to immerse myself in the Team’s user-centred approach and learn about a technique that should be part of every content designer’s skill set.

We’re running an open invite event on Microsoft Teams to share what we learned through the user research conducted during the summer of 2023. Join us to better understand the experience of prospective postgraduate research students, with the majority focus on PhD.

We’ll use an extended slot at this week’s Web Publishers Community to update on our progress so far this year, covering: timelines, content design and collaboration, user research and usability testing.