London South Bank University: discovering what students want

Located in the heart of the UK capital, London South Bank University features more than 25,000 students from over 130 countries.

LSBU recently developed an impressive and versatile digital platform to manage many university processes. The system was capable of providing a portal for current students, but what did they want from it?

Pickle Jar Communications was hired to conduct in-depth audience research with the student community which would give the University a clearer idea of which features to offer, and what content to create for the portal. This involved reviewing existing site analytics and insights, reviewing content through heat-mapping tools and other techniques, and researching sector best practice.

We also gathered insights directly from the students, carrying out telephone interviews, surveys and conducting online observations to learn what interested and concerned them.

The process itself took six weeks from commission to completion.