I conduct a lot of usability testing remotely and I need to test on both desktop and mobile devices. It’s tricky to create a realistic environment for testing remotely on mobile devices. I’ve found a method called ‘laptop hugging’ that works really well.

I recently ran an open invite session review for our latest round of usability testing. Normally I run these sessions within our team, but we wanted to involve colleagues across the University in our work to improve the editorial experience. It was also an opportunity for school editors to see the new degree programme editorial […]

We recently started work on a project to explore the presentation of the Invoiced at Course Level route to study for a postgraduate award. This user research and business analysis piece will help us understand how to best present this route to study in future.

I recently did some content improvement work with the Postgraduate Recruitment team that taught me a lot about the use of standout elements and how they influence user behaviour.

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.

In 2023 we collaborated on a project with the Widening Participation team to rework their web content aimed at prospective undergraduate students. Our approach made sure we had a shared focus, we collaborated effectively with subject matter experts, and we appraised our work as we progressed.

As part of the future degree finder project, our team has been exploring navigation options. We wanted to learn how students would interact with our degree finder content without left hand navigation. We found removing this navigation had no impact on their ability to use the site and they used alternative means to get to […]

We recently completed exploratory user research into the prospective undergraduate experience of applying to the University of Edinburgh. In this post, I share insights of an emerging theme – why prospective students want more information about what they can study.

We recently embarked on a series of collaborative design sprints. We host open research playbacks so colleagues can watch videos of students interacting with our work-in-progress. This is a load of extra work, a nice-to-have luxury, right? Actually I think it’s essential, and here’s why.

Our research found clear entry requirements information is crucial to prospective students. But the way the University currently presents this information can be confusing and increases enquiries.