Macquarie University

Students found both the onboarding and enrolment experiences confusing and inconsistent. The existing information was fragmented across webpages and emails, and the enrolment system was visually outdated and cognitively demanding, especially for international or first-year students.

To better understand student needs, we conducted user interviews and co-design workshops with staff. This process revealed key pain points, including unclear terminology, a lack of step-by-step guidance, and inconsistencies between EDM content and web interfaces. These issues often left students feeling confused and frustrated during an already challenging stage of university life.

Getting Started Toolkit

We created a digital checklist aligned with the university's email campaigns to ensure consistency and reduce mental load. The toolkit offered a clean, visual guide for new students to complete tasks in a logical order, integrated with links and explanations.

Enrolment Webpage

We redesigned the enrolment page to simplify language, introduce a step-by-step visual journey, and reduce the intimidation factor. Icons and diagrams were used to support user understanding of terminology like “unit selection” and “credit points.”

Usability Testing

We conducted six usability testing sessions with current Macquarie students to evaluate our prototypes and gather feedback. These sessions helped us identify confusing elements in the webpage’s information architecture and layout, uncover cognitive barriers in how users processed the content hierarchy, and collect direct recommendations for improvement.

The checklist toolkit we designed was adopted across multiple departments, leading to a noticeable reduction in student support queries during enrolment and increased confidence among new international students. This project reinforced my belief that impactful design goes beyond aesthetics — it’s about creating clarity, building confidence, and showing compassion. By aligning communication channels and simplifying complex journeys, we helped make a stressful transition smoother for thousands of students.