Student Engagement

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SSEI User Experience Research & Design Team

We are a small team comprised of staff and students collaborating to gather student input and conversation regarding their experiences at JHU. We are working on ways to elevate the student voice, identify opportunities for improvement, and inform product decisions. As we implement changes to the student experience, we are incorporating the student perspective at every step of the process. Here are some of our methodologies:​

• conducting quantitative research using surveys, card sorting, voting​
• ​visiting JHU campuses and conducting on-the-fly interviews​
• ​holding longform interviews and usability tests via Zoom​
• convening focus groups for design thinking exercises​

What We Do

We spend a significant amount of time speaking and working directly with students to learn about pain points, ideate, and validate designs. Our scope is primarily the experience students have with digital touchpoints across JHU. For instance, many of the features available on the latest edition of the Digital Experience Platform are there because students have explicitly requested them.

Key Insights

• Students value transparency in everything: Requirements, deadlines, their odds of landing chosen courses, and each other’s experiences.
• Mobile functionality is very important, as students are often not sitting at computers.
• Word-of-mouth and First Year Mentors are extremely valuable in learning about resources and processes during an overwhelming time.
• Tailored content and the ability to personalize allow students to weed out the noise and stay focused on their goals.

Quantitative Research Methodology

We also conduct research using qualitative methods such as general surveying, post-interaction surveys, or card sorting. Statistics help us analyze the efficacy of our features and processes.

Key Insights

• Students seek support from a variety of sources, including advisors, peers, and school websites – but SEAM is rapidly becoming the most critical resource.
• 69% of users are satisfied with their DXP dashboard experience, and comments indicate they would like to see more features added such as important deadlines and registration/waitlist modules.
• 65% of students would most like to be able to chat online with a live agent when seeking support, and almost half indicated text messaging as their second choice
• 70% of surveyed students have needed to open a SEAM case at some point in the past

Visit the DXP project sharepoint site to learn more about how we’ve translated research insights into design and development.

Join Our Team

If you are interested in getting hands-on, collaborative experience with UX research and design, and are genuinely motivated to enhance the student experience at JHU – this is absolutely the team for you!

Here are some testimonial quotes from prior year interns: