Universität Hamburg: Testing the website of an international-facing programme
Their challenge:
The team at Universität Hamburg wanted to better understand how users interacted with the MIBAS programme pages they had recently redesigned and rewritten. They were also curious about users’ experiences on their application platform, distinct from the course website.
What we did:
We carried out a two-phased research approach to inform our insights report:
We first conducted user testing interviews with prospective postgraduate students from Italy, France, the Netherlands, and the UK. None of the participants were German speakers, and only one had English as a first language, which allowed us to also comment on the programme pages’ content and readability.
We also conducted automated user tests with participants who were asked to simulate being part of the target audience – prospective postgraduate applicants.
These two groups looked at the MIBAS programme pages on the main Universität Hamburg website, narrating their opinions, reactions, and navigation choices as they went through. Live user testing participants also tried beginning an application for the programme on the STINE application portal.
Following our discussions and testing with students, we were able to guide the University’s team on next steps, to make sure their programme pages were in line with user needs – and to help them lobby for a change or update of their application platform. We focused on key user information needs and tasks, and the impact of different factors such as entry requirements, costs, module details, course outcomes, etc. on their decision.
Our recommendations focused on four areas, crucial in driving recruitment and conversion:
Structure of information, to make sure prospective students access the information they need as early and easily as possible in their journey.
Use of language, to strengthen both reputation and readability, and ensure accurate and natural-sounding translations of every piece of content
Substance of information, to improve clarity, transparency, and attractivity
Application journey guide, to help users through a confusing journey