Transforming the Singapore Polytechnic’s SP PACE Program Website to enhance user experience by improving user navigation and course discoverability.
CLIENT/
Singapore Polytechnic
DESIGNED AT/
Ernst and Young
MY ROLE/
UIUX Designer, UX Researcher
CHALLENGE/
Enhance the user experience of the Singapore Polytechnic SP PACE Program website for both current and prospective students by addressing their specific needs, minimising user errors, and reducing the bounce rate.
About
Singapore Polytechnic's PACE (Professional & Adult Continuing Education) offers professional development and continuing education for working adults through part-time, modular courses. To improve the digital experience for students, Singapore Polytechnic partnered with Ernst & Young Digital to redesign the PACE website, creating a modern, user-friendly interface that showcases its dynamic programs.
Discovery
Discovery workshops
Two 3-hour discovery workshops were held to explore SP PACE's goals from the perspectives of stakeholders, educators, and administrators. Card sorting exercises helped categorise information for a more intuitive content structure, while persona mapping exercises identified target groups and their needs.
The main goal was to gather qualitative data for the website revamp and discuss the mission statement, brand attributes, and challenges faced by users and staff.
We sought to discover more about the following questions during these sessions:
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What information is vital for Singapore Polytechnic PACE to share or promote to its users?
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How should information be organised so that they can be easily discovered?
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What are some of the challenges and pain points faced by the staff at SP PACE? What would they like to see improved?
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Who are SP PACE's users and target audience?
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What are SP PACE bran attributes? How does the organisation wished to be perceived?
User interviews
Over 20 user interviews were conducted with various groups, including management, administrative staff, educators, industry representatives and students. These interviews helped us determine scope for the project and to better understand the any challenges and opportunities faced by the participants.
"SP PACE is very helpful and approachable when we need help."
"The website has all the information they need, but just have to spend time looking for it."
"Hard to navigate the site, I don't know what to click to find courses I'm eligible for."
"The website navigation is hard to understand and can be frustrating to navigate."
"Expect to find more information about funding assistance."
"There is a lot of very heavy content, it takes awhile to find what I need."
User personas
To better understand different user types, we developed a series of proto-personas based on SP PACE's various target user groups. This exercise helped consolidate the data collected from our user research, such as user needs and goals.
We also created customer journey maps to visualise user behaviours, preferences, and pain points. This mapping revealed opportunities to enhance user experience and satisfaction, guiding tailored strategies and design solutions for diverse audience needs.
Pain points
The following key pain points experienced by users were distilled from the qualitative user data collected during the workshops and interviews conducted:
Pain point #01: Too many clicks required
Users faced too many clicks to find relevant information, often resorting to Google Search for specific courses. The site’s search function is a global search that lacks intelligence, resulting in irrelevant results.
Pain point #02: Confusing navigation
Multiple navigation bars confused users, making it difficult to find relevant courses or relocate previously found ones due to the absence of a consolidated course listing with filter options.
Pain point #03: Repetition and text heavy content
Several pages have overlapping content, and users find the site overly wordy and dense, hindering information discoverability and digestibility.
Pain point #04: Outdated look and feel
Poor photo quality, inconsistent look and feel is not representative of SP PACE and is not appealing to the target audience.
Pain point #05: Unclear terminologies
Terms used in the navigation are not easily understood by users, be it industry or individuals. Examples include terms such as 'NACE@SP' or 'LMS'
Design requirements
A set of design requirements were created through analysis of the user insights and data gathered from the user research phase. These requirements served as guiding principles to ensure that brainstormed solutions were data-driven and accountable.
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Ample spacing should be provided to help users focus on important information without feeling overwhelmed.
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Key content should be prioritized and emphasized to enhance the user experience.
Keep it simple
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Courses vary widely based on various factors such as duration, level of commitment and outcome. Users often struggle to identify courses applicable to them, and as
a result become easily overwhelmed. -
User touchpoints should be identified so that we may funnel users toward information relevant to their needs.
Make it personal
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All users prefer a simple, easy-to-use interface and are unlikely to spend time learning how to navigate the site.
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Users want the 'least number of clicks' to complete their goals.
Make it easy
The Redesign
Information Architecture
Research revealed that users struggled to navigate and find relevant information due to poor content organization, excessive clicks, and unfamiliarity with SP PACE's programs and eligibility. This disorganisation led to low discoverability, with some programs failing to attract desired traffic and engagement, causing users to lose interest after finding what they needed.
An Information Architecture diagram was created as a blueprint to systematically organise and structure the website's content in a logical, intuitive manner.
Finding #01: Users have trouble finding applicable courses, resulting in poor discoverability
User research revealed that most SP PACE website visitors primarily seek to search for and enroll in courses, aligning with the client's focus on enhancing course discoverability and user engagement.
Based on the created personas, we identified six main course browsing behaviors, guiding the essential information to display on the landing page and the personalisation options needed for users.
Many users reported searching for courses by Googling "SP PACE, [topic]" to find relevant pages, as the website's search function lacked effective filtering.
Another pain point was identifying applicable courses from SP PACE's extensive catalog. Users often clicked on courses only to discover they didn't meet eligibility requirements after reviewing the details.
The search for suitable courses felt daunting due to users' unfamiliarity with SP PACE's program types. Internally, staff noted that some programs were overlooked as users would mistakenly assume their ineligibility, as criteria was not clearly presented
Above: In the old version of the SP PACE site, there was very little indication on the landing page what the various course types were and to whom they were applicable.
Solution: Search for courses via keywords and topics
We introduced a search field for courses on the landing page to help users quickly and easily find relevant courses using keywords or their topic of interest. When they enter a search query using this field, they will be redirected to the course catalogue, where they will be able to further refine their selection based on topic, duration, course type, and more.
Solution: Personalised course recommendations
To support users with browsing behaviours 3.0 (interested in a specific course type), 4.0 (is here to achieve a specific outcome) and 5.0 (does not know what they are looking for), we introduced dropdown input fields where users may indicate their persona and desired outcome to generate a tailored list of programme types applicable to their unique learning needs. Additionally, it helps familiarise users with the diverse range of programme types offered by SP PACE that may be hidden behind unfamiliar terminology (ie. micro-credentials).
Finding #02: Users are often confused by the location of course information, & can't find their way back
The pre-existing site lacked a centralised location for browsing SP PACE's course offerings. Course information was buried under multiple nested categories, requiring 5-6 clicks to access individual course pages.
During interviews, most users struggled to find specific course information, often opting to search for course names on Google instead. Additionally, high user error occurred as users had to backtrack through multiple pages to select a new course category if they changed their minds.
Solution: Comprehensive one-stop course catalogue
To streamline and simplify course navigation, we introduced a course catalog that serves as a master list of SP PACE's offerings. Regardless of the users' entry points—whether through the course search function or personalized course recommendations—they will always be directed to the same catalog page, with applicable filter options pre-selected based on their previous inputs.
Users can also revise their previous searches or inputs directly on the course catalog page, minimizing backtracking and reducing the time and clicks needed to access relevant information.
Solution: Catalogue filter options
To further streamline course navigation, we incorporated robust filtering options into the course catalog. This allows users to narrow down their choices based on various criteria, such as demographics, duration, and price. These filters were informed by user research that identified key factors important to our users when selecting courses.
As a result, during the interview, when users were tasked with locating or re-locating course information pages for specific courses, most of them were unable to do so, preferring instead to search up the course names on Google in order to be directed to their desired page.
Finding #03: Users are overwhelmed by content density & easily miss important information
Users also expressed frustration with the dense information on course overview pages. The lack of visual cues made it hard to find key details like costs, duration, and eligibility without scrolling through the entire page.
Above: In the old version of the SP PACE site, dense course information made it difficult for users to identify key information and register their interest.
Users were also not able to directly register their interest on course overview pages, but had to register at a separate course registration portal which required them to manually locate and select the course of their choice. The inconvenience discouraged many users from completing the registration process.
Solution: Stickied course overview page navigator
To improve readability, we introduced a stickied page navigator that enables users to quickly identify the contents of the course overview page at a glance, easily navigate between sections and access information instantly, and perform important actions.
Additionally, the page navigator serves as a helpful guide for users as they navigate SP PACE's often lengthy and complex course information pages.
Solution: Directly register interest for courses
To address user feedback on the difficulty in finding the course registration call-to-action—often missed because it was located in a separate tab—we integrated the registration call-to-action into the stickied course navigator. This change enhances visibility and allows users to register their interest directly, regardless of where they are on the page.
Additional screens
Desktop
As part of this project, other accompanying pages such as the about page, course overview page, news listing page and news article page were also designed and implemented.
The updated design delivers a contemporary, clean, and professional aesthetic with its light theme and SP’s signature red color. It positions SP PACE as progressive and seasoned, instilling trust and reliability while appealing to professionals of all ages.
Mobile
A responsive mobile version of the website was also designed, with all the same functionalities of the desktop version.
