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At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, more than 43,000 students sift through more than 20,000 class sections offered in approximately 5,000 courses to find that magical combination of sections in which to enroll each term. A specific subset of students-new freshmen and transfer students-needs between six and eight hours for their advising and course enrollment during orientation. Having heard from peer institutions that their students could complete the advising and enrollment process in less than two hours, we wondered why it took our students so long.
In an effort to simplify the advising and registration process and provide students with a more intuitive enrollment experience, especially at orientation, the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Office of the Registrar and Office of Undergraduate Advising co-sponsored a project to transform the enrollment experience.
At the same time, design thinking was becoming a dominant means by which to solve complex problems in the private sector. As IDEO's President and CEO Tim Brown said, "The mission of design thinking is to translate observation into insights and insights into products and services that will improve lives" (Brown 2011). The Office of the Registrar made the strategic decision to experiment using design thinking methodologies as a way to solve its problems. By adopting design thinking, the focus was shifted to the user experience so problems and needs could be fully understood and defined.
Using design thinking has helped the Office of the Registrar solve its most complex problems. This article provides an overview of efforts using the methodology, with a focus on usability, to produce an intuitive enrollment experience that aligns with student and institutional goals.
Empathize
As UW-Madison enrollment grows and expectations for the quality of the college experience increase, a number of campus leaders (primarily the authors of this article) decided to get close to the new student course enrollment experience to understand why students needed so much time at orientation to select and enroll in their courses.
First, professional and peer advisors were asked to explain what the orientation advising experience felt like to them. Confusion, stress, and being overwhelmed were recurring themes. We observed the experience by attending orientation and watching students and advisors at close range. It wasn't good enough to sit in the back of the room and...