Che Simpson

Overview

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a leading Australian public tech university in central Sydney, known for innovation, industry links, and practical learning, ranking as Australia’s top young university and in the global top 100. It offers diverse degrees in business, design, engineering, health, IT, and more, emphasizing hands-on skills, research, and preparing graduates for real-world impact with a strong international focus. Its campus is centrally located in Sydney’s tech hub, featuring modern architecture and collaborative spaces, driving change across various sectors.

Problem

The legacy UTS Student Portal faced significant usability debt, failing to meet the expectations of a modern, tech-savvy student body. The fragmented interface created high friction for users and excessive operational overhead for the university.

• Operational inefficiency: A lack of transparency in application tracking led students to lodge redundant applications, creating a massive administrative burden for faculty staff.
• Recognition of prior learning (RPL): The RPL workflow was manual and opaque, resulting in a high volume of support inquiries.
• Technical & design debt: The portal was non-responsive, failed WCAG accessibility standards, and lacked a scalable design system for future growth.
• Brand misalignment: The UI did not align with the UTS Digital Style Guide, leading to a disjointed brand experience.

Solution

My objective was to design a high-performance, accessible, and responsive dashboard that reduced administrative friction while improving the student experience.

• Accessibility first: Ensure compliance with WCAG 2.2 standards to support a diverse student body.
• Transparency: Provide granular visibility into course and RPL application lifecycles.
• Scalability: Move away from rigid legacy navigation toward a flexible, modular architecture.

I designed a centralised, user-centric dashboard that prioritizes critical information and self-service capabilities.

• Unified application tracker: Added comprehensive application management displaying real-time status updates, progress bars, and historical records for both course and RPL applications.
• Communication hub (inbox): Proposed an intuitive messaging system featuring smart filtering (unread/read status) and chronological sorting to improve student-university touch-points.
• Intelligent alert system: Introduced high-visibility banners to communicate critical deadlines and urgent status changes, reducing the need for manual follow-ups.
• Navigation re-design: Orchestrated a shift from legacy horizontal menus to a responsive card-based UI. This modular approach improved discoverability on mobile devices and provided a scalable framework for future feature sets.

• Reduce administrative load: Streamline the visibility of application “rules” and status, significantly decreasing duplicate submissions.
• Modernise identity: Deliver a UI that seamlessly integrated with the UTS Ecosystem, ensuring a cohesive brand journey from prospective lead to enrolled student.
• Future-proof design: Establish a responsive, accessible foundation that supports the university’s growth and digital transformation goals.