September 2020 update

​I did not get the chance to write or draw much this month because of the gong show that is the start of the academic term (in the times of COVID-19 - a very different year for everyone involved). But this post is not about disruptions. Today is a day where I celebrate the accomplishments in my work in user experience design over the past year. My title does not have the term "User Experience Designer" in it but it turns out that the need for good design creeps up in various places.

When I first started my role as a program advisor/administrator in university, I was flooded with inquiries from students in the program regarding degree requirements and course registration. It is understandable since the program has complex degree requirements (there are five degrees offered through two Faculties / four Departments so the requirements for each degree are unique, and there are many requirements to fulfill), but I was forced to think about how to improve my students' degree navigation experience: if everyone is asking me the same question, something must be unclear...

It dawned on me that the questions kept coming to me because the information was not easily accessible. So I decided to make the information more accessible by doing two things:

• The program's website had a FAQ page but it did not contain the frequently asked questions. So I started to add the frequently asked questions onto that page. (Now I feel like there are too many Q&A's in there!)
• I started holding orientations for students newly admitted into the program twice a year, as it was the perfect opportunity for me to do: one-to-many advising. There, I can communicate the pitfalls (e.g. what can prevent someone from graduating, what can prevent someone from registering for courses) early so that they can be avoided.

Over the past year, the number of emails arriving in my inbox that have to do with degree requirements and course selection decreased by 40% (that's... pretty darn close to HALF). An added bonus: a larger proportion of the questions I receive tend to be the questions that need to be directed to me (i.e. the best kinds of questions). Although there are more things I can do to further improve the degree navigation experience for students, at this moment however, I think I'll bask in this favorable outcome.