Seneca student home
Enhancing the Student Experience: A Redesign of Seneca Student Home
I redesigned the Seneca Student Home to transform a cluttered, fragmented portal into an intuitive digital ecosystem. By auditing the information architecture, I reduced cognitive load and surfaced high-priority tasks like academic progress and financial updates to create a streamlined, student-centered experience.
Timeline
This 13-week project began with a month of user research and discovery to identify core pain points. The following weeks were spent on iterative wireframing to simplify navigation, concluding with five weeks of high-fidelity UI design and usability testing to validate the solution.
Background
Seneca Student Home is a central hub that suffered from severe visual overload and buried functionality. My objective was to replace this complexity with a modern interface that prioritizes efficiency, making essential tools easy to find and improving daily engagement for the campus community.
The redesign followed a comprehensive UX methodology, moving from data-driven discovery to iterative visual execution. This structured approach ensured that every design decision was rooted in actual student needs and validated through rigorous usability testing.
Discovery & Audit
The project began with a thorough audit of the existing Seneca portal to identify friction points such as visual overload and buried navigation. Student surveys and a competitive matrix provided the data necessary to prioritize essential tasks like grade tracking and schedule management.
Strategy & Structure
Research insights informed a restructured information architecture that prioritized core student tools. User personas and journey maps were developed to ensure the navigation flow addressed the specific requirements of both new and returning students.
AI-Assisted Iteration
Structural changes were translated into wireframes using AI-enhanced prototyping tools. This allowed for the rapid generation of multiple dashboard layout variations, which were then manually refined to ensure a clean grid and intuitive visual hierarchy.
Validation & Testing
The final high-fidelity prototype was built using a cohesive design system and subjected to usability testing via Maze. Testing confirmed that the redesign significantly improved task completion speed and overall user satisfaction.
The final interface transforms the Seneca Student Home into a streamlined digital workspace characterized by high-density utility and visual calm. By prioritizing immediate access to critical data, the solution replaces a fragmented legacy system with an "obvious," user-centric experience.
Centralized Dashboard
The redesigned home screen serves as a high-utility hub, surfacing essential student data such as academic standing, financial status, and upcoming schedules. By consolidating fragmented information into a single, unified view, the interface eliminates the need for exhaustive navigation.
Reorganized Navigation
A simplified information architecture replaces the original cluttered menu system. Key administrative functions were categorized into intuitive buckets—Academics, Finance, and Personal Records—ensuring that students can locate specific tools with minimal cognitive effort.
Visual Clarity & Hierarchy
The UI utilizes a clean grid system and distinct typography to establish a clear visual hierarchy. High-priority notifications and deadlines are emphasized through purposeful use of color and spacing, transforming a formerly overwhelming platform into a scannable environment.
The redesign successfully transitioned the Seneca Student Home into an efficient, task-oriented hub. Post-design testing demonstrated significant improvements in speed and user performance across all primary administrative categories.
Increased Task Efficiency
Usability testing through Maze revealed a 100% success rate for key tasks. Users accessed their weekly schedules in just 2.6 seconds and viewed grades in 3.6 seconds, validating the effectiveness of the new centralized dashboard for immediate data access.
Streamlined Financial Navigation
Reorganizing the financial sector led to a 90% direct success rate for account viewing. By consolidating tuition and fee information into a single module, the redesign eliminated previous navigation "loops," resulting in a 0% give-up rate during testing.
Enhanced User Satisfaction
Quantitative data and qualitative feedback showed a high level of user approval, with participants noting the interface was cleaner and easier to navigate. Notably, 100% of testers successfully identified their academic standing within seconds of landing on the dashboard.