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Table of Contents

Executive Summary Pages 2-3

Introduction Page 4

Needs Assessment Pages 5-6

Audience Analysis Pages 7-9

Methodology Pages 10-11

Usability Test Questions Page 12

Usability Test Results Pages 13-15

Suggestions & Recommendations Pages 16-20

Conclusion Page 21

Actual Tests Appendix A




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Executive Summary
A division of Westminster College's Admissions office, the transfer student office focuses on
recruiting students to Westminster who are currently enrolled in accredited colleges and
universities or returning students. This office is continuously looking to improve their number of
recruitments and has faced some challenges in doing so. One of their means of recruitment is
the transfer student section on Westminstercollege.edu. Through this website, the office hopes
to invite transfer students and promote their enrollment in the college.
At Website Solutions, we have conducted a detailed research and facilitated usability tests on
the content and navigation of the current transfer student website. You will find our report in the
following order:
x An assessment of needs
x Analysis of the website audience
x Usability tests conducted
x Results of usability tests
x Suggestions and recommendations

Our Team
Jeff Vander Steen
A current student at Westminster's MPC program, Jeff Vander Steen is also a transfer recruiter
at Westminster's office of admissions. Jeff's extensive knowledge of the target audience and his
experience in recruiting spearheaded our project in focusing on the efficiency and the content
that is provided for transfer students through the Westminster website.
Jeff helped our team focus on the main challenges students face using the website and
provided insurmountable resources by having an insight on the transfer process.



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Maryam Pedraza
A communication specialist by trade, Maryam Pedraza provided a high-level look at the process
in which the transfer website was viewed and used. This broad and comprehensive view
allowed for a creation of a detailed usability test that appealed to a multi-layer audience.
Maryam's focus was the design and administration of the tests to allow for an unbiased and raw
data that helped us create our final recommendations.

















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Introduction
Our firm has spent the last month testing and researching the effectiveness of navigation and
content for the Westminster transfer student site.
In the following pages you will find a detailed analysis of the audience, the details about our
tests and its results, and our recommendations.
Our goal is to provide a clear picture of the current state of the transfer student site and its
utility, and provide insight on how it can be organized more effectively.
Based on the feedback we have received from our usability tests, we have found that students
searching for transfer information are facing certain challenges navigating through the site. Our
testers expressed frustrations about not finding the proper information easily and the amount of
effort it took to locate information pertaining to them specifically.
We recommend creating a section specific to the transfer students, without containing any
freshman information.
We also recommend the ability for the articulation guide to be search-based and filtered to allow
for easier access to the information students need. You can review a more detailed report on
our recommendations on 16.








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Needs Assessment
Westminster College is a non-profit private college, which is located in Salt Lake City,
Utah. Founded in 1875, the college became a four-year liberal arts institution in 1949, offering
baccalaureate degrees in the arts and sciences.
The college offers more than 70 baccalaureate degrees in four main academic areas:
education, nursing, business and arts and science. Westminster has had great success helping
transfer students in completing their bachelor degrees and helping them pursue careers in their
fields of study or masters programs. Even with this success, the college is concerned about
keeping momentum with transfer students due to their recent decrease in enrollment.
Westminster has a thriving transfer population. With the goal of 300 transfer students per year,
the transfer office has faced some challenges with students never completing their application
and in turn decreasing the number of transfer recruits.
For Westminster College to continue its success with the transfer population, they must
start with making impactful first impressions. For transfer students, the first impression is often
the website. They often visit the website on their own or with the instructions from a recruiter.
This first impression can often lead to confusion and loss of interest. This is why our team
decided to collect some specific data about how these prospective students navigate the site
and consume the data it provides.
The website offers plenty of useful information to prospective students, but not in an efficient
order or format. Currently, all admission information is lumped in the same section as freshman
and transfer students, which is often the cause of confusion.
Currently this section of the website has two primary audiences:
x Freshman students
x Transfer students
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Although the content is available to both of these audiences, it is not clearly titled or properly
organized. We hope our findings provide a glimpse at some of the challenges transfer students
face using the website, and we plan to provide specific solutions to improve this process.






















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Audience Analysis
Westminster's transfer page is used by incoming transfers and the admissions staff.
Those who are utilizing the website have a basic interest in the college. They often use the
website on a desk level searching for information. The students who use this page are often
attending community colleges (specifically Salt Lake Community College) and are working on
an Associates or pre-requisites that are required for their bachelors. Transfer students are at
different points in their academic careers and can be categorized in two groups: traditional and
non-traditional.

Student Demographics
The traditional transfer students are 18-25, both male and female and attend an outside
college. This type of transfer student typically will have a part-time job (not necessarily in their
career path) and has outside support ranging from parents to financial aid. They do not always
select a major prior to transfer to the college, and may need guidance through the transfer
process.


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The non-traditional transfer students are 26 and older, both male and female and have
attended a college. (Any student with a family of their own would be considered a non-traditional
transfer.) Their education background will range from very little college experience to having a
bachelor's degree. This type of transfer is usually working a full-time job or has a family. They
usually have selected a major prior to their transfer and do not need much guidance through the
transfer process. Their biggest challenge is finding an institution that will fit their schedule.


Information
Students who visit the transfer website are in need of two types of information:
Must Have Information: This includes basic information that is needed for the transfer process,
starting with the application. All transfer students are required to submit transcripts from
previous colleges (national and regional,) and an application. They also need to know how to
register for classes once they have been admitted and if they received a scholarship or not. All
of this information is vital for transfers while changing colleges.
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Nice to Have Information: This information includes open house events, majors, college visit
dates etc. Not all students will look for this information when using the site, but those who do,
get their quick questions answered without having to reach out to the admissions office.
Although the transfer population is wide-spread, it is important to provide general guidelines for
transfer students only. This will require a section for admissions specific to transfer students.
Considering our audience and their current use, we have developed a usability test to address
the audience more efficiently.


















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Methodology
Our team studied the transfer website in detail and with one of our members actively recruiting
transfer students, we designed a set of tests to measure and define our feedback.
In order to offer specific suggestions, we created two sets of tests that would provide specific
and tangible data to help us create effective recommendations. Each test was designed to
address and explore the use of content and navigation of this site. We also researched two
other institutions transfer website to understand what elements worked for them.

x Transfer student website usability test. This test included 10 open-ended questions
specific to the transfer website. Each tester was given a specific task to locate two items
using the website: requirements for transfer students, and a list of articulations. We were
also able to take additional notes while observing the tests being conducted. This test
allowed us to truly understand the navigation process. We were able to observe our test
subjects from the beginning stages of the search and understand how they navigated
the site. The open ended questions on the test allowed them to express their feedback
openly and provide an insightful view for us. The website usability test was administered
to four Westminster undergrad students and two prospective transfer students at an
open house. Our team felt that this group provided important insight due to their age,
academic background, and knowledge of the admission process.

x Focus Group. In a small group of four, we facilitated a discussion about the site and the
information it provides. All participants fit the transfer student demographics, but had no
prior knowledge of Westminster. The objective of this focus group to gain a more broad
knowledge about how college students seek and use information from college websites.
We discovered general themes in the feedback, such as the importance of precision in
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content and navigation. We felt that this audience can address some key feedback for
the overall site. Their lack of knowledge about Westminster allowed us to gain insight on
how prospective college students gather information about potential colleges and how
we can help Westminster improve their number of transfer student recruits.





















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Usability Test Questions
1. Have you visited this site before?
Previous familiarization with a site can skew first impressions.

2. What do you think the purpose of this site is? (ie. selling, informing, entertainment, etc)
If they think it is a selling site, but it is actually a content information site, question what made
them think the purpose was different than it really is.

3. Could you tell what the page was about?
If they sound confused, ask specifically what they thought it was about, and what those
indicators were.

4. How intuitive and helpful is the navigation system?
If you are using any kind of javascript or floating menus, this question is crucial to find out if
there were any problems from a visitor's perspective. Oftentimes there are.

5. When reading about the transfer process are you confused or concerned about any of
the steps?
We have issues with students thinking that they need to send in a SAT or ACT score.

6. Would it be more helpful to have guides that will show you what will transfer from your
college to Westminster, and if so what major(s)?
We currently only list what will transfer for LE's.

7. Can you find our list of majors?
Not clearly labeled, but is available.

8. Is there any section through navigation, where you wish you had more information?
Parts of the page focus on less important information while others receive less. (Scholarships)

9. Do you have trouble separating what is for freshman and what is for transfers?
A lot of information about both freshman and transfer on the same page, but both have different
requirements.

10. If you could change one thing on the site, whether it is major or minor, what would be at
the top of your list?
Specific feedback

Focus Group Discussion Talking Points
x How would you improve this site?
x What information do you need when you look at transferring to other schools?
x What is the most effective way to gather transfer information to colleges?




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Usability Test Results
Answers to Usability Test Questionnaire
All participants provided detailed information to our open ended questions. We have categorized
their responses into two categories:
Word Cloud:
This word cloud is a compilation of all the written responses from our participants. The
prominent words in this word cloud were the words most repeated in the responses.











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As you can see in the visual graph above, the most prominent theme in the responses was the
word confusing. The participants felt that accessing specific transfer information was at times
confusing, since it included transfer information as well. The second prominent theme is
accessibility. The participants expressed frustration with their ability to access information. This
included how they searched, what was included, and the type of information provided.

Pie Chart:



This chart maps out the responses from our participants and their response percentages.
Only 20 percent of our respondents felt that the transfer site was intuitive. 10 percent felt that
the transfer student information provided was clear.
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80 percent of respondents felt that specific guidelines should be set for transfer students without
including transfer information.
100 percent of our participants suggested that changes need to be made to the transfer student
portion of the website, and 80 percent suggested the A-Z index to include a transfer student
section.
Feedback from Focus Group
We asked our participants to do a basic review of the transfer student website at Westminster
and provide some general feedback about the process. These participants had no prior
knowledge with the site. We used the following topics for discussion:
x How would you improve this site?
x What information do you need when you look at transferring to other schools?
x What is the most effective way to gather transfer information to colleges?
The individuals in our group collectively agreed on creating two separate transfer and freshman
admission sections. They felt that the process of navigation was challenging and they were
directed to a page that was not useful.
They shared that often times the way the information is organized can invite or deter them from
exploring a website further. All four participants commented on their inability to utilize the A-Z
index. They shared that when navigating through college web site the index is often their first
step for searches.
The participants also expressed a certain level of confusion when searching the Westminster
site, since they were uncertain about the information provided. They felt that at times references
to freshman information created doubt about the accuracy of information they were viewing.
Overall, consistency and content was ranked as the highest priorities when looking for
prospective institutions.

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Suggestions and Recommendations
Why Make Changes?
Based on the feedback gathered, every single user felt that the existing process for transfer
students to gather information is cumbersome and challenging. With a significant decrease in
transfer student numbers, revamping this particular section of the website will prove helpful.
Since this site is the primary source of information for many of the transfer students, and often
their first impression of admission, it is imperative that they feel that the information is concise
and beneficial. Below is a list of our recommendations based on our research.

Navigation
1. A-Z Index: 80 percent of our respondents recommended the use of the A-Z index as a
search option. Currently, when you select the index, there is no designated section for
transfer students. Please see images below:
Current State:

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Suggested State:

2. Search Optimization Function: a few of our respondents used the search function on
Westminster's website and were often unsuccessful in locating content about transfer
students. At times the search will locate content and other times it did not. We
recommend a closer look at the search function to ensure it is optimized in searching
for transfer related key words.

3. Specific Transfer Students Information: 100 percent of our participants felt that
changes need to be made to the application portion of the transfer site. They suggested
a designated section that houses transfer student information only.
Current State:



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Suggested State:

Content
1. Related Links: Currently, the related links portion of the website houses no
relevant information to transfer students. We propose either the elimination of the
links completely or replacing it with content that is relevant to transfer students
only and moving it to the right hand side for better visual appearance. This will
allow visitors to access all text content in one side of the page only.
Current State:





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Suggested State:


2. Articulation Guides: all of our respondents were asked to search and find
Westminster's articulation guide. While many of them experienced difficulties
finding the information, majority of them recommended creating a filter-based
articulation guide, where they can look for specific courses. This will allow
students to filter the information to find what they are looking for without having to
search through a PDF file.

Current State:


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Suggested State: The University of Utah's transfer student website is a great
example. It uses a filter system which allows students to search for specific courses
and majors. We have included a few of their screenshots for your review. You can
view the site in its entirety at http://admissions.utah.edu/undergraduate/transfer






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Conclusion
Westminster is a wonderful academic institution. With the high unemployment rates and many
students returning to pursue a degree, Westminster is an obvious choice. Great faculty,
beautiful campus and flexible schedules are a few of the factors students are drawn to this
institution.
In order to capture a higher percentage of these returning students, especially transfer students,
our team conducted a preliminary research on how to make the existing website resources for
transfer students more effective.
Although the current website is useful, we found that just a few low cost enhancements can
provide a better experience for prospective students and help the transfer student office
experience more success in their application numbers.
Summary of our findings:
x As it stands now, visitors find the transfer student information complex to comprehend
and access.
x A few minor adjustments such as a specific section for transfer students and a search
option through the A-Z index can impact the site drastically.
x Adjusting some of the content to help facilitate easier articulation search can increase
the speed in which students access information and will enhance the visitor experience.

We believe the current transfer recruiting site is helpful, but we feel that these few minor content
and navigation adjustments will make the site more effective and competitive. We hope you find
this information helpful and we thank you for the opportunity to assist you in your recruitment
process.


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Appendix A
Actual Tests