Summary

I led the redesign and implementation of a new application process and admissions pages to optimize Coding Dojo’s application funnel, which led to a 30% increase in conversion rate (those completing the application).

Role: Product Manager/UX Designer
Company: Coding Dojo
Industry: Education Technology B2C

Final Design

Final Design

Problem Statement

How do we decrease the number of potential students dropping off in the admissions funnel?

 

Where We Started

Where Were Applicants Getting Lost?

Increase in time spent on the first page of the application process then previous averages - 50%

Users first click wasn’t on the application form - 32%

Decrease in applications then previous year - 22%

Application Page Original Design

Application Page Original Design

 

50% Increase in time spent on the first page of the application process

Discovery:

The initial data point reviewed was the amount of time the user was spending on the first page of the application form without moving forward in the process. This could account for the increased amount of time that was being spent on this page. User research was needed to understand exactly the “why” so much increase in time was being spent on the page.

At this point, I thought that conducting a series of usability tests would be the best method to identify why this was happening. I recruited a group of 10 potential students that had not applied yet. The group went through tasks such as “where the would initially go to submit an application” and “where they would go on the page to find more information about the program”. The usability tests uncovered some crucial data points.

Findings:

  • The form was almost undiscoverable, with the user being distracted with what they thought were call to actions across the page

  • The page was too long and took away from the action we wanted the user to take which was completing the form

  • There were too many competing elements on the page that took away from the potential applicant converting

Entire Page (First Version) and Areas Competing for Applicants Attention

Entire Page (First Version) and Areas Competing for Applicants Attention

 

32% Users first click wasn’t on the application form

Apply_Now_Form.png

Findings:

To assess the drop off of completed applications I went through the data of users first clicks on the application page. A key highlight was that over 30% of users were clicking on the blue “Apply Now” when landing on the page.

After interviewing both potential and current students their thought process was that this was a button that was clickable to take them to the next steps or the application page instead of selecting the Application Form to start the process.

Final Re-Design & Outcomes

Final Re-Design

42%

Increase in email captures

30%

Increase in completed applications

Key changes:

  • Made the form its own page and open up in a new tab

  • Clarified visual hierarchy - Removed all unnecessary elements that were competing for the user's attention

  • Increased the size of the form itself to bring it to the user's attention

  • Added two areas where their potential applicant can understand where they are in the process