Expectation
Explore programs → Review details → Apply
in
Reality
At Georgia Tech, a clear funnel became a maze
that turned simple tasks into treasure hunts
The Problem
GT's homepage was the front door to a 2.7M-visitor
digital ecosystem, but it was failing to guide students forward.
15+
Average clicks to
apply
68%
Dropped off after 10% scroll
16s
Average session duration
Essential details (programs details, admissions requirements, and costs) were buried under cluttered navigation and fragmented across inconsistent, inaccessible sites.
Future Proofing Georgia Tech's
Digital Front Door
Team
2 UX Researchers
1 Content Strategist
1 Product Manager
Timeline
Jan 2024 - May 2025
(18 months)
Methodology
Heuristic Evaluation, Behavioral Analytics, Info Architecture, User Interviews, Focus Groups
The Design Challenge
How might we design a unified experience that helps students move effortlessly from exploration to enrollment?
Scale of the Problem
Decades of unchecked growth left Georgia Tech with over 300 inconsistent websites, creating a confusing, inaccessible user experience that damaged trust and efficiency.
Fragmented Infrastructure
5 CMS versions (Drupal 6–10, Mercury, CampusPress)
No staging environments or version control
Incomplete Analytics
GA4 not implemented across 7 properties
No unified KPIs or success metrics
Operational Gaps
No shared ownership of student journeys
Disconnected branding and inconsistent maintenance
My Role
Leading comprehensive UX research to establish redesign foundations
I led the end-to-end research strategy to unify insights across multiple websites and departments.
I analyzed behavioral data to establish the problem, conducted competitive and heuristic evaluations to inform redesign foundations, and led iterative usability testing and path analysis that exposed deeper funnel friction.
While the project encompassed the entire digital ecosystem, this case study focuses on the homepage research.
Impact at a Glance
Our research informed a homepage-first redesign that centralized key actions, unified the IA, and set the foundation for a campus-wide CMS migration.
2.3x
Scroll engagement
increase
3x
Time on page
increase
+180%
CTA click
increase
+52%
Program exploration
increase
Results from Phase 1 Homepage Refresh
Establishing Context
Building Alignment Before Action
We conducted stakeholder conversations with content editors, developers, and communication leads across 50+ decentralized websites, surfacing deep structural issues across the CMS ecosystem.
These revealed broader infrastructural challenges, but the real gap was the lack of shared KPIs. So we first defined common metrics.
Conversion
Clicks to key pages (Degrees, Admissions & Tuition)
Are students able to find what they need?
Engagement
Scroll depth and time on page
Are students seeing enough content to make informed decisions?
Findability
Reduction in redundant entry points and navigation layers
Are pathways clear and logical?
Our Approach
Parallel Research Workstreams
Rather than jumping to solutions, we designed a phased research approach that would establish the problem quantitatively, inform solutions with competitive insights, then validate changes through testing.
Phase 1 : Complete
Homepage Redesign
Used analytics to quantify the problem, competitive analysis and heuristics to define solutions, then validated through metrics. Result: improved engagement and CTA visibility.
Phase 2 : In-Progress
Program Discovery Funnel
Homepage success exposed navigation friction beyond the front door. Used usability testing and path mapping to identify systemic IA issues and create a roadmap for optimization.
This case study focuses on Phase 1's completed homepage work, with insights from Phase 2 that shaped future recommendations.
Reading between the Clicks
Quantifying behavior with GA4 + Clarity
Next, we collected analytics data from the top 50 entry and conversion pages. Using heatmaps, scroll tracking, and funnel visualization, I identified where users clicked, got stuck, and gave up.
What the Data Revealed
The Scroll Cliff
68% of visitors dropped off after scrolling just 10%, with only 3% reaching the lower fold. Average session was 16s, too brief for informed decisions.
Buried CTAs
Heat maps showed Apply and Request Info buttons were 3+ folds deep. 97% of students never saw them.
Low Attention
Only 27% viewed top banner, 9.6% viewed main menu, 1.8% viewed Majors block. Critical navigation and content went unseen.
Mobile Neglect
Despite 17% mobile traffic, experience was broken. CTAs hidden in hamburger menus, navigation inconsistent with desktop.