UX & PRODUCT DESIGN · WEB · CONVERSION · 2024
The Case for Small
Redesigned Loyalist College's website to reframe a smaller campus as a competitive advantage for international students seeking real connection.
THE CHALLENGE
The Challenge
Failing every audience — simultaneously
Loyalist College's website was failing multiple audiences at once: prospective students couldn't find program details, international applicants were navigating without guidance, and staff couldn't locate critical documents. Compounding this was a full rebrand, significant tech debt, and a legally mandated go-live date that eliminated any buffer for iteration. The redesign had to serve every user type without compromise — and ship on time.
THE APPROACH
The Approach
Research-led decisions, constraint-aware design
I led all UX discovery: designing and facilitating a stakeholder survey, benchmark analysis across competitor institutions, and a 20-person persona workshop spanning domestic students, international students, staff, parents, and community members. Rather than treating constraints as blockers, I mapped WordPress plugin limitations early with the solutions architect — redirecting those resources to higher-impact surfaces like the homepage and the program detail page. Every IA and navigation decision was grounded in workshop insights and 6 months of Google Analytics data.
The Process
Discover
Stakeholder survey to align on goals and audience priorities. Benchmark analysis across 5 competitor institutions. 20-person persona workshop with domestic students, international students, staff, parents, and community members to surface distinct pain points per audience.
Define
Synthesized workshop findings and 6 months of Google Analytics data into a delivery report for stakeholders. Key decision: surfaced international student pathways into utility navigation — a direct response to discovery showing this audience was the most underserved and highest priority for enrollment growth.
Design
Wireframed 7 core page templates (homepage, programs list, program detail, life at Loyalist, media centre, news/events, policies). Designed around WordPress plugin constraints identified with the solutions architect — enabling resource focus on the program detail page, the most complex and highest-traffic template.
Deliver
Validated wireframes with stakeholders and handed off to the UI designer for rebrand application. Established a Google Analytics framework for post-launch monitoring under the maintenance contract, enabling ongoing iteration based on live user behaviour.
The Outcome
This project reinforced that the most impactful UX decisions happen before a single wireframe is drawn. Mapping WordPress constraints with the solutions architect early meant we could invest in what mattered most — not scramble to adapt late. The workshop also showed me that international students were a more urgent audience than the brief had prioritized; surfacing that through data, not opinion, is what got stakeholder buy-in. If I were doing this again, I'd push harder for a post-launch research round to close the loop on the IA changes. Created distinct navigation paths for international vs domestic students, implemented breadcrumb wayfinding, and highlighted campus life, costs, and testimonials — all within WordPress plugin constraints and the college's new brand identity.
