Student intranet
New student intranet project
Project type: End-to-end app and branding
Role: UX Lead (Designer/Researcher), Project Lead
Industry: Education
Tools: SharePoint, Figma, Miro, Notion
The assignment
Following the merger between our university and an institution comprising both higher eduction (HE) and further education (FE), we discovered that FE students lacked a dedicated intranet.
FE students relied on their VLE, email, posters, and in-class announcements for key information - methods that were inconsistent, fragmented, and ineffective for timely communication.
As both Project Lead and UX Lead, I led the design and development of a new SharePoint intranet tailored to FE students’ needs. Working within the constraints of existing university systems, I guided the project from discovery through to delivery, creating an interim intranet to meet urgent needs, followed by a fully functional site designed to improve access to information, communication, and student engagement.
Interim solution
To address the immediate communication challenges, I developed an interim intranet to provide students with quick access to essential information while the full site was being designed and built.
This temporary solution included key links to help and support services, campus information, and access to essential systems students used daily.
Even though it was a stopgap, to continuously improve the user experience of the interim intranet, we added enhanced functionality such as a news section, major incident alerts, and an IT notice board.
Research
Survey
To explore FE students’ goals, needs, and challenges I conducted a survey with the aim of understanding what mattered most to them during their time at college and identify areas where the intranet could provide meaningful support and guidance.
Key findings
FE students felt neglected in comparison to HE students with regard to social events
FE students' worried about balancing college and personal life and being able to complete assignments on time
FE students wanted more independence now that they've left school, with options to self-serve
FE students expressed frustration that their college digital experience was poorer than at secondary school
FE students wanted timely notifications and alerts about transport issues and campus closures
FE students are already thinking about career skills and employability and want to prepare themselves for the world of work
Stakeholder insights
Stakeholder workshop: Objectives
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Gather insights from staff across departments about how information was being communicated/shared with to students
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Uncover challenges and pain points
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Understand stakeholders' long term (3–5 year) vision for communication and engagement
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Focus on how to support FE students in preparing for adult life, helping them build independence, confidence, and life skills alongside their studie
1-2-1 stakeholder interviews: Objectives
I conducted around 30 one-to-one stakeholder interviews with college staff to:
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Understand their requirements and expectations for the new student intranet
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Find out what content and features were needed
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Understand where existing information was currently sat and dependencies on other systems
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Learn about any challenges they faced in communicating with FE student
These interviews provided a detailed understanding of staff pain points and priorities, helping shape the site structure, functionality, and content strategy.
Key findings
There was no reliable way to share information with students
Over-reliance on course tutors to share information with students meant that important information was often missed and/or received late
There were multiple ways for students to report their absence, making this a daily labour intensive task
Students don't regularly check their emails
Community engagement is difficult
The college was lacking an intuitive, user-friendly safeguarding hub - essential for the mandated care of under 18 college students
Content review and app analysis
To ensure we weren't simply transferring old problems into a new platform, I carried out a content review of the existing (previous) app content, including usage analysis, to:
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Identify what content to keep: usage statistics showed which features students used most and regularly engaged with
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Identify outdated, redundant or low-value content that added clutter
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Support evidence-based decisions by providing data to back up content changes rather than relying on assumptions
Design and Development
Information architecture
For the Information Architecture phase, I determined that a traditional card-sorting exercise would likely be too challenging for 16–18-year-old students. Instead, I developed the IA using insights gathered from the stakeholder interviews and the student survey, ensuring that the structure reflected both organisational priorities - such as safeguarding - and students’ real needs and goals.
Proposed information architecture for student intranet
Homepage simplification challenge
The problem
The old app’s homepage had 22 tiles, with no visual hierarchy or structure, forcing students to scan every option to find what they needed.
The solution
Based on student feedback from card sorting, app usage analysis and survey, I reduced the number of tiles to focus on the key apps and resources students use, and information and resources students need whilst on-the-go around campus.
The validation
To validate the proposed information architecture, including the reduced homepage tiles, I ran a treejack exercise with students to test how easily they could find key content. The results showed that students could locate information quickly and confidently, demonstratuing that the simplified, grouped navigation was intuitive and effective.
The tricky part
Some colleagues would understandably have been disappointed that their homepage tiles were being removed, so this required careful communication. By clearly explaining my design rationale and sharing evidence from research and Treejack testing, I was able to provide reassurance that students could still find what they needed. This evidence-based approach helped build trust and secure buy-in across the institution.
Homepage grid tiles design on new app
Page templates
As part of the design phase, I created a set of page templates to ensure consistency and flexibility across the new intranet. These included templates for standard content pages, long-form articles, parent gateway pages, and news articles - each designed to accommodate different types of information and use cases while maintaining a clear, accessible layout.
Style Guide
I developed a Style Guide which defined the visual and functional design standards for the site, including:
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Writing style (tone of voice, age-appropriateness, etc)
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Page structure and templates
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SharePoint web-parts and when to use them
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UI design principles
The Style Guide serves as a reference for anyone creating or maintaining content, ensuring a cohesive and user-friendly experience across all pages.
Validate & Test
Treejack
To validate the proposed information architecture before development, I carried out a Treejack test with students to assess how easily they could locate key information within the proposed structure.
Results showed that students could find information quickly and confidently, confirming that the revised navigation was clear and intuitive. These findings provided strong evidence to support the design approach and effectively communicate its rationale to stakeholders.
User testing
I opted to carry out in-person usability sessions to ensure these younger students felt at ease and to encourage more open, natural feedback.
The goal was to test the intuitiveness of the intranet’s design and content structure, uncover pain points and areas for improvement, and inform further design iterations. I asked students to complete tasks and share their thoughts as they navigated the site. The feedback gathered provided valuable insights that helped refine the layout, navigation, and language to create a more intuitive and student-friendly experience.
Outcomes and Achievements
The finished product: iteration 1
Old homepage > New homepage
No navigation > new navigation
Old content page > new content page
Numbers
20,000+
downloads in the first few weeks post-launch
127
in the App Store's Education chart. As well as the number of downloads, Apple's algorithm considers quality and engagement metrics such as retention rate, ratings and reviews, and crash history, to ensure that high-ranking apps aren’t just popular, but also provide value to users.
1
Award for Outstanding Professional Contribution to Innovation, Efficiency and Student Experience