Schedule Builder
Digital adoption tool content for in-app guidance to assist students with registering for classes.
Background
Our team had the opportunity to develop in-system guidance using the digital adoption software, WalkMe to build content on multiple platforms. One platform in particular that stood out from the rest in providing transformational business impact was our registration platform, Schedule Builder.
Our registration platform was notoriously tricky to navigate from a user (student) perspective. Students, faculty, and staff complained about the difficulty of use and how it hindered students from registering for classes. The decision to build in-system guidance was an easy choice since the platform was third-party and we were unable to make changes natively in the system.
Pain Points
Users were not completing mandatory tasks efficiently.
Students would regularly abandon their needed courses in their shopping cart without registering.
Users were confused by website elements.
Students were confused on how to select their campus, course status, special approval sections, instructional method, and how to schedule their break times.
Users can complete the process, but it is inefficient.
Defining the Problem and Our Findings
A major business objective for digital adoption guidance was to reduce the time & confusion for students registering for classes. Our approx. key performance indicator averages about 3 minutes saved per walk-thru play. Walk-thru guidance has been played over 122,130 times, for a time savings of over 6,107 hours for our students. Another objective was to reduce support tickets by explaining confusing elements in the system. Our approx. KPI averages about 1 minute time saved per tooltip hover. Tooltip interactions had been viewed over 21,346 times, for a total savings of over 356 hours saved.
Helping students register for classes easily empowers students, staff and leadership to achieve their strategic goals. In-app guidance within the registration platform helps decrease the call volume to our contact center for student support related to troubleshooting the platform. This provides more student autonomy and alleviates the load of advisors needing to meet with students in-person to complete registration manually.
Tracked event data confirms the Register button was clicked over 107,426 times. 85% of users who interacted with the “Send to Shopping Cart’” pop-up guidance completed the goal of registering for that semester. Spring ‘23 experienced nearly a 6% increase in statewide student headcount, aligning with the College’s current strategic plan metrics to increase student enrollment & retention.
Conclusion
Our team had shown the value of digital adoption across multiple applications used by students and staff. By integrating in-system guidance within our framework, Ivy Tech has improved optimization with enrollment and administrative processes, resulting in efficiency and reduced costs. Endorsing digital adoption enables us to stay agile and responsive to changes at the College, leveraging data-driven insights to work proactively, rather than reactively. This tech-savvy approach not only enhances higher education, but also positions the College competitively, attracting both students and staff seeking innovative and digitally equipped learning environments.