Unite Students. 2018
Unite Students website
Unite Students is the leading of student accommodation provider in the UK. The business is embarking upon a large digital transformation project, starting from their website redesign.
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Particular attention was given to the redesign of the booking process, from search and information gathering to room selection. The user experience redesign aimed at reducing the cognitive load and frustration of customers, increasing the clarity around available options; to do so, the menu and Information Architecture have been redesigned to help customers with the content comprehension.
The team successfully redesigned the experience to book a room with Unite by reducing the necessary clicks from a maximum of 9 to a maximum of 6. The outcome was a frictionless user experience for our customers and a conversion increase for the business.
My role
During my time at unite I've been taking care of every step of the design process, from research to design, testing and managing the communication with key stakeholders.I was responsible for the design of templates and elements fully responsive with a new look and feel, prototyping and user testing.
Research
Unite Students has collaborated with Natural Interaction, a Bristol-based UX agency, for a comprehensive research project to interrogate our customers’ booking experience. 1423 students took part to the research project, articulated in observed user sessions and video interviews.
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The research phase identified pain points in the past user experience and gave invaluable insight on our customer base needs.
Customers resent paying for time when they are not in the accommodation, e.g. over the summer.
Date flexibility more welcomed by price sensitive, international and post grad students.
Most students expect some kind of saving for booking a longer tenancy.
6th formers expect Universities will place them into halls or aid search and see them as the authority.
Full year/academic year are a comfortable starting point for UK students.
International students want flexibility at the end of the booking.
Information architecture
Unite navigation was poor, while the site itself fell short against the User Experience the business wanted to offer - an issue acutely apparent in the front-end look and feel.
The UX team successfully redesigned the experience to book a room with Unite by reducing the necessary clicks from a maximum of 9 to a maximum of 6, improving the existing flow by dismissing unnecessary steps.
Sketches and wireframe
Brand redesign
Last time Unite Students went through a brand redesign phase, back in 2015, the website and mobile app inherited the style that was designed for their properties - a style suitable for print and interior design, but that could be a poor choice for a digital product.
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It was time for a new, modern, slick brand identity.
UI Design
