Driving enrollment with a mobile-friendly website
The School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences (EPPS) at UT Dallas needed an updated website that worked seamlessly on mobile devices and effectively showcased upcoming programs and events.
I led a redesign that helped increase enrollment and alumni participation by addressing key pain points and elevating key calls to action. To maintain a unified look and voice, I developed a detailed branding guide for site administrators.
Challenge
Business problems: Analytics showed that 40 percent of users were accessing the site on mobile devices, but the old site was not responsive. The site was also not following updated university branding standards
User problems: Prospective students found it challenging to understand the differences between EPPS programs and traditional offerings. Critical information was buried, navigation was confusing, and mobile users encountered frequent usability issues. Alumni couldn’t find clear ways to get involved and sign up for upcoming events.
Strategic challenges:
- Navigation reflected internal structure rather than user needs
- No clear calls to action
- Mobile experience was poor despite rising mobile traffic
- Alumni content lacked relevance or engagement hooks
My role
I was the project lead for the 2020 redesign, overseeing stakeholder management with the faculty and administration, content, navigation, design and development.
- Conducted user research to test site navigation (Adobe XD, Optimal Workshop)
- Conducted a content audit to identify gaps and redundancies and build out a sitemap (Excel, Slickplan, FlowMapp)
- Developed IA and UX strategy based on enrollment goals (Adobe XD, WordPress)
- Facilitated collaborative design and content workshops (Adobe XD)
- Created wireframes and page flows (Adobe XD)
- Reviewed content for accessibility issues (SiteImprove)
- Developed a detailed branding guide (Frontify)
- Presented research insights and strategic recommendations to leadership (PowerPoint, Teams)
Process
Research and analysis
- User interviews: Conducted with prospective students, alumni, faculty, and staff to uncover decision drivers and pain points
- Personas and journey mapping: Developed three primary personas — a high school student interested in coming to UT Dallas, an existing student looking for information on a degree plan and an alumnus looking to give back and get involved.
- Content inventory: Used analytics data and readability measurements to evaluate the current site content, identifying redundancies and gaps.
Stakeholder collaboration
- Facilitated alignment sessions with faculty, admissions, and marketing
- Created shared success metrics tied to enrollment and engagement goals
- Defined content governance and editorial workflows
- Balanced academic accuracy with usability and marketing messaging
UX and Content Strategy
- Simplified user flows: Created streamlined, program-centered pathways from interest to application
- Content hierarchy: Prioritized decision-making content such as career outcomes, faculty expertise and application requirements
- Progressive disclosure: Designed layered content to serve both quick-scan users and deep researchers (hunters vs. browsers)
Results and impact
Enrollment growth
- Boosted program inquiries post-launch
- Increased application completion through simplified process
- Improved school visibility via higher organic traffic
Alumni engagement
- Growth in portal use and alumni content interactions
- Increased participation in events and giving campaigns
Organizational benefits
- Established scalable content management workflows
- Developed reusable components for future site sections
- Fostered lasting cross-department collaboration
Lessons learned
- Effective storytelling for admissions growth and alumni engagement requires more than listing programs—it needs to demonstrate outcomes and connections
- Prospective students (and parents) want to see students doing things like having a meaningful internships and getting hands-on experience
- Showcasing successful alumni builds credibility for schools and programs and can increase alumni giving and event participation.
Last call footer
The footer serves as a “last call” with buttons for key calls to action. Since I don’t have access to the current analytics, I’m unsure how effective these buttons are. It would be interesting to see which ones are resonating with users and if having four buttons is too many options.
