Seeing the potential to improve student experience through digital, Curtin University approached Humaan to create a custom UX-first study planner for the Faculty of Business and Law to assist students in exploring and planning courses.
- Digital Strategy
- User Experience
- Responsive design
- User Interface Design
- Vue.js App Development
- API integration
An opportunity for improvement
The study plan was previously navigated by way of complex Excel spreadsheets and multiple page PDFs. This complicated method added to an already overwhelming experience for students entering tertiary education, and often creates additional work for staff who need to walk through each course plan individually with students.
A UX-first approach
After a deep dive discovery phase we proposed a solution that would give students a more intuitive way to plan their course. An automated “self-serve” system would generate an accurate, usable study plan that increased course awareness while reducing administrative efforts and the risk of error.
Harnessing a complex system
We collaborated with a multidisciplinary Curtin team representing key areas across faculties, student experience, student services, university services, and corporate business units. Armed with their unique insights, we undertook a UX led process to devise a new study planner that provides a simple experience while accommodating complex business logic, intricate course data and unique edge cases.
Accommodating real-world requirements
Students can build a full course plan made up of majors, specialisations and electives, with customisations for starting semester, study location (including online-only), and full- or part-time modes of study. Automatic validation of course rules, unit availability and prerequisites relieve users of the need to research rules that the system should already adhere to.
What’s more, the user journey has been customised for students accessing the website on both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring an optimal user experience throughout the entire process.
“We worked with Humaan on a digital student-facing study planner application, for university students studying an undergraduate Business Degree at Curtin University. From the very start, the team at Humaan embraced the design brief, bringing our concept, ideas and hopes to life.
Hannah Wilkinson
The turnaround time for the completion of the project was extremely time-sensitive, with many complexities and moving parts. Humaan took this in their stride and delivered a phenomenal product. It was a pleasure working with the team, and we couldn’t be happier with how the interactive tool is now a reality and is truly helping our students navigate and feel confident. In its first few weeks of being live the Study Planner had over 1300 new students using the tool. I couldn’t recommend Humaan more highly; we will definitely be working with them again.”
Director, Student Engagement, Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor Curtin University
Lightweight and portable code
Created with Vue.js, this project was delivered as a standalone module that requires no server resources — even for features like generating PDFs — meaning the new planner can be embedded anywhere on the Curtin website. It integrates seamlessly with the university’s API to economically retrieve information spread across a number of internal systems.
Intentionally simple, intuitive by design
The design is intentionally simple, borrowing from video game UX principles to encourage interaction and completion. Information is curated and contextual, with tooltips and notes to guide students through the process.
