Iterative improvements: Increasing access to educational funding.

Last year, Customer Support within the UCAS International team reported an increase in support requests related to the scholarship feature of the learner application (app). This feature was considered the ‘crown jewel’ of the student product, however when reaching out to customers it became apparent the feature was falling short of expectations;My research identified the following concerns among users;❌ 43% said the scholarship matching was unhelpful.❌ Many wanted more matches (analysis found users matched to, on average, 3 scholarships, despite a vast database).❌ 33% referred to the feature as being confusing, with some explaining that they couldn’t understand why their peers could see different scholarships than those they could access.❌ Many users reported that the scholarships section was slow and sluggish.Collaborating with the Development Lead and Product Owner, it was recognised that the legacy matching engine underpinning the scholarship feature needed some technical investment that would not be quick or easy to deliver. However, to reduce immediate pain points, I suggested the following changes until a more comprehensive solution could be delivered.

Simplified scholarship list display;• The experience at the time only displayed scholarships to the users that were open for application at the time of viewing their matches’ – this created an inconsistent and ever-changing user experience. My first recommendation was to display all matched scholarships, regardless of their application status, to provide a more consistent experience that was better aligned with users’ expectations.• I updated the design of the scholarship list to make it easier to visually differentiate those open for immediate application from those open in the upcoming months, at a glance.
Contextualised tips to explain matching;• I included help text at the top of the scholarships list explaining matches were based on data in the user’s profile.• Introduced inline help text to profile form fields to aid completion rates,• and added nudges and help tips throughout the app where providing certain data would increase the number of scholarship matches.Streamlined language and improved consistency;• I updated the language on the list of scholarships from ‘wishlist’ to ‘matched list’ to provide clarity over the content.• and reduced jargon, and synonyms used throughout the app regarding the matching process to remove phrases such as ‘applicable to you’ ‘relevant’ and ‘personalised’, consistently using ‘matched’ and ‘eligible for’ instead.
Gave users a sense of control over their experience;• I added sorting options to the top of the scholarship list UI, to allow users to customise their view• Enbaled easier access to user’s profile data from the scholarship section• Improved accessibility and findability of communication preferences so users could edit how they wanted to be notified, or not, about new scholarship matches.
Optimised performance;• Working with devs, we prioritised performance quick wins to reduce the loading of the scholarship list from 1.82 seconds to less than 622ms.

Whilst there are still many design improvements planned, early indications suggest the changes we have been able to implement so far have been impactful:✅ User engagement with the scholarships feature has increased✅ Requests to Customer Support teams regarding scholarships have significantly reduced.✅ Positive user reviews; ‘I encourage everyone to use it regarding scholarships’ (Play Store)This work has been a great demonstration of where our team’s commitment to continuous refinement has allowed us to deliver tangible value quickly, whilst not being distracted or delayed by the larger technical investment needed to create the ‘perfect’ experience.