WebReg
A redesign of the UC Irvine registrar allows students to experience an end-to-end course registration process with consolidated features to maximize student success and reduce academic friction.
role
design lead
duration
jan - mar 2023
team
Rosalind G., Michelle L., Violet H., Neeraja K.
tools
Google Drive, Figma, Zoom
overviewcourse registration chaos.
WebReg is the registrar system for the University of California, Irvine, serving over 33,000 undergraduate students annually. The UCI Antrepreneur Center's WebReg Hackathon challenged competitors to revamp the outdated interface and provide valuable feedback to improve the course registration process.
Despite the platform's vital role in university life, students have long expressed dissatisfaction with its inefficiency, unappealing design, and lack of centralized features. As a result, the interface can make a frustrating experience each quarter and even delay a student's four-year plan.
How might we design a one-stop-shop experience for the course registration process that prioritizes accuracy, accessibility, and aesthetics?
A look at the original WebReg that has been utilized by UC Irvine students for the past 60 years, including myself and my teammates. It boasts an overly complicated registration process that leaves room for mistakes, a schedule of classes that is entirely separate from the enrollment menu, and many unnecessary fields of entry that confuse new users.
researchstudents are confused and frustrated.
During the hackathon, organizers allowed each team to pose two supplementary questions for the user survey, in addition to the 13 standard questions whose data was accessible to everyone on hack day. Our team garnered 62 responses out of a total of 669 for our survey.
Through the survey, we aimed to learn more about how students interact with WebReg, what their ideal experience entails, and what they consider to be the most difficult parts of the enrollment process. The results reflected what we hypothesized: the current WebReg was substandard and a hinderance to student success.
Our Findings
Average rating of WebReg: 2.56/5
495/669 students expressed having trouble when using WebReg
> 500 students want to see a Schedule of Classes & Waitlist Notifications in WebReg
researchunderstanding the user.
Based on the survey results, my team and I conducted five user interviews with undergraduate students at UC Irvine. I was responsible for constructing the user interview guide which we used to conduct one interview over Zoom each. I posed several questions to learn more about the users behaviors, including:
Can you recall a time when you experienced difficulty using Webreg? Tell me about it.
Do you need to use other tools in conjunction with Webreg for course registration or scheduling? If so, what are those?
If you can picture it, what does the ideal Webreg experience look like?
research“ughhh, why is this so hard?!”
The consensus among all 5 interviewees, as well as the survey results, underscored the common challenge of registering for classes. Students tolerated the existing WebReg interface due to the lack of alternatives. Nevertheless, this necessary inconvenience has given rise to a multitude of issues for students, causing undue frustration in a fundamental aspect of their academic life at UC Irvine.
Commonly discussed problems included: a lack of clarity when viewing waitlisted classes and restricted classes, having to use multiple different platforms such as Google Calendar, RateMyProfessor, and AntAlmanac in conjunction with WebReg, and the long-winded process to add, drop, or switch classes.
“In the past 8 quarters, there has always been a problem with Webreg. Whether it’s I did not have the appropriate course code, information, etc., or classes filled up so quickly I couldn’t catch up.”
“The hardest part of the whole [course registration] process is making sure the course codes match up. There is a very large margin of error.”
“Sometimes websites for major restrictions are not updated, so I can’t sign up for a class even though the schedule of classes didn’t say specify these restrictions. It makes the process very uncertain.”
ideationour persona, carly.
Carly
She has spent her college career being frustrated with the class registration system at UC Irvine. It accomplishes basic needs for her such as adding and dropping classes, but not without many issues like logging her out prematurely or not allowing her to add classes with no explanation. She has to use various other platforms to help her organize each quarter during the stressful registration period. Her top concerns throughout college were if she was on track for graduation, how to plan an enjoyable course load for the quarter, and getting into the classes she wanted.
ideationidentifying key features.
My team member and I collaborated to consolidate the research data. Utilizing an affinity map, we identified numerous categories that illuminated user pain points, requirements, and actionable features. These valuable insights served as our compass for shaping our design choices as we progressed.
wireframevisualizing the concept.
With only two days left and 30 other teams competing for a spot in the semi-finals, we immediately got to work using paper and whiteboard sketches to map out our user flow and create low-fidelity frames based on our research.
wireframebringing sketches to life.
Our transition from medium to high-fidelity designs was completed in just 16 hours. We focused on perfecting the core functions of the product, such as adding and dropping classes and enrolling in waitlisted classes. We also worked to ensure visual consistency and flow between the numerous features, such as the map and enrollment events tabs.
As the design lead, my responsibilities included spearheading the minimal viable product in a timely fashion and providing direction for the team. I assigned frames and features to each team member to construct including myself; I worked on pages such the landing page, schedule of classes, and confirmation page.
Landing Page Before & After
Checkout Page Before & After
wireframemeasuring user success.
At the end of Hack Day, we were ecstatic to learn that we were one of five teams to move on to the final round of the competition.
With an additional five weeks, our next step was to engage in usability testing for our high-fidelity wireframes. This testing would help us find areas of improvement and gain better insight into users' thoughts and behaviors. My team and I conducted five usability tests with students at UC Irvine, and we used the feedback we received to make several changes to our second iteration of WebReg.
Before
“I did not realize that clicking ‘check out’ means my schedule is confirmed.”
After
My team and I reevaluated much of the verbiage on the interface, including the original “check out” button, to streamline the registration process and eliminate confusion. “Register” made it much clearer how users should proceed after loading their desired schedule.
Before
“I would like to be able to see important upcoming dates during the enrollment period, such as my enrollment window or when the add/drop deadline is.”
After
We decided to prioritize the “Upcoming Dates” section, after being told it was much more valuable than the disclaimer. We implemented the new feature on the home page for users’ easy access.
prototypethe final product.
After nine weeks, five semifinalists, and a nerve-wracking presentation that left us with clammy palms, my team and I were honored to be named
the 1st place winner amongst 30 competing teams!
centralized toolbox
Map feature for easy navigation
Study list for tracking academic progress
Accessibility tab for improved user experience
Notifications for important updates
integration
Browse and add courses from the Schedule of Classes to your personalized Course Planner, eliminating the need to switch between multiple applications
optimize mode
Customized schedule creation for students to optimize course selection for each student’s unique situation
Cross-checks with Degreeworks to fulfill requirements efficiently
References each course's quarter availability
Considers prerequisites, GE, and major requirements
conclusionwhat’s next?
If given the opportunity to revisit the WebReg redesign, I would prioritize:
Conducting more in-depth research on inclusive design, particularly for a college campus.
Engaging with more stakeholders, including faculty and staff, the Office of Information Technology, and even the Dean, to gain insights into business and stakeholder goals and opinions.
Developing more comprehensive features, such as a live chat with counselors and a functional mental health resource hub.
conclusiontakeaways.
As I heard our team name being announced for the first place prize, I thought back to the day I registered for this event over nine weeks ago. I remembered how little faith I had in myself as I saw my name among the more than one hundred registrants.
However, with a little faith, trust, and lots of caffeine, I was reminded that hard work pays off. This experience was an unforgettable way to round out my college career, and I am privileged to have had the chance to lead this amazing team. Here are some takeaways I gathered from this event:
A Little Confidence Goes a Long Way
Though I trust the many nights I’ve spent studying design principles and working away on Figma, imposter syndrome still hits like a truck. However, I learned that to ask others to have faith in you and your work means that you must believe in yourself first.
Iterate. Iterate. Iterate.
Not to reiterate what’s already been said (harharhar), but design truly is an iterative process. Given that we were graced with nine weeks to work on this project, I was able to explore the iterative nature of design with usability testing and the addition of many new functions.
