Fort Lewis College

Duration: 5 months (May 2019 – Aug 2019) • Timeline: 10-week sprint cycle • Project Length: 5 months

Portfolio Case Study — Higher Education

Reducing friction from discovery to decision

As a UX and Web Designer, I help colleges turn sprawling content into intuitive paths. For Fort Lewis College, I led research, IA, design system, and validation to improve program discovery, admissions clarity, and accessibility across devices.

See outcomes Heatmaps & recordings

2 yrs

Higher-ed UX and Website Designer

End-to-End

Research → Launch

College • University

Complex website simplified

Featured Case

Fort Lewis College — Website Redesign

I owned the experience end-to-end: aligning enrollment, marketing, and academic stakeholders; simplifying information architecture; building a tokenized design system in Figma; and validating the result with moderated tests. I partnered with a PM on KPIs, worked daily with front-end engineering on component fidelity, and coordinated content governance with the marketing team. My unique contribution: converting a fragmented “Find a Program” journey into a guided discovery flow with consistent taxonomy, filters by degree/modality, and scannable program templates with anchored sections and sticky CTAs.

Role: Senior UI/UX Product Designer (research → launch)
Team: PM, 2 Front-end Devs, Content Strategist, Enrollment Marketing, Accessibility QA
Focus: Program discovery, admissions clarity, accessibility, and authoring efficiency
Impact: Streamlined key academic workflows, improved student engagement, and reduced cognitive load across devices—enhancing usability for mobile and on-the-go access.
Challenge: Students struggled with fragmented navigation, unclear content hierarchy, and inconsistent messaging across admissions and program pages, creating friction that hindered exploration and increased support inquiries.
Solution: Unified essential experiences—Programs, Admissions, Transfer, Cost & Aid—into a cohesive, student-first design system. Clear navigation, contextual calls-to-action, and accessible design patterns made it easier for students to find information, compare programs, and complete enrollment tasks confidently.
Success Metrics:
- Reduce time-to-find program by ≥30%
- Increase Apply Now clicks by ~27% relative
- Raise program page engagement by ~22%
Scope: Global IA, Programs, Admissions, Transfer, Cost & Aid, component library
Validation: Moderated tests + GA4 post-launch analysis, prototype feedback, and post-launch analytics review
Tools: Figma (tokens, variants), Jira, Confluence, GA4, Hotjar

End-to-End Journey

Fort Lewis College — UI/UX Journey Map

Research & Discovery

Mapped how prospects, parents, and transfers search and decide. Quant + qual revealed duplicate labels, long click paths, and unclear cost/requirements.

26 user interviews (prospects, parents, transfers, first-gen)
8 stakeholder sessions (Enrollment, Marketing, IT, Academics)
GA4 funnel & search-log audit; Hotjar click/scroll heatmaps

Information Architecture & Strategy

Consolidated deep menus; introduced task-first navigation and contextual breadcrumbs. Established a unified taxonomy for degrees, certificates, and modalities.

Sitemap & taxonomy rationalization
User flows for Explore Programs → Compare → Requirements → Apply
Content model & governance (authoring rules, lockable blocks)

Wireframing & Prototyping

Iterated low-fi to high-fi with interactive prototypes covering mobile-first breakpoints and priority tasks.

Wireframes → clickable prototypes (mobile, tablet, desktop)
Filter patterns (degree, school/college, delivery, interest)
Early a11y checks; content density and tap-target audits

Visual Design & Interaction

Built a tokenized system for color, type, spacing, and elevation; defined reusable program templates and micro-interactions with reduced-motion alternatives.

Design tokens & component variants (cards, tables, CTAs)
Anchored sections, sticky CTAs, in-page nav & “Back to Top”
Contrast QA, focus rings, and keyboard parity

Testing, Iteration & Launch

Conducted 3 moderated rounds; tuned filters/labels, elevated key CTAs, and refined authoring guardrails. Handoff included specs, redlines, and a governance guide.

3x moderated tests (n=18) + post-launch GA4 monitoring
Design QA with Dev; token handoff + Storybook mapping
Author training: alt text, headings, link purpose, tables

Behavior Insights

Heatmaps & Screen Recordings (Hotjar)

GA4 showed where students dropped off. Hotjar revealed how they behaved on-page—highlighting usability friction, user patterns, and interaction behavior across Programs, Admissions, and Apply flows.

Heatmaps

Click + scroll maps surfaced where users expected actions, missed CTAs, or stopped reading.

Click patterns: identify dead-clicks, mis-clicks, and CTA discoverability issues
Scroll depth: validate content placement and where attention dropped off
Mobile vs desktop: compare behavior differences by device

CTA visibility

Content priority

Navigation clarity

Screen recordings

Session replays exposed hesitation, backtracking, rage clicks, and unclear next steps.

Behavior signals: hesitation, pogo-sticking, repeated filter changes
Usability friction: confusing labels, buried requirements, unclear “next step”
Evidence for stakeholders: short clips to align on priorities fast

Decision confusion

Form friction

Drop-off drivers

How it supported usability testing: I used Hotjar patterns to create targeted test scenarios, prioritize fixes in the backlog, and validate improvements post-launch by confirming behavior shifts (more concentrated clicks, deeper scroll, fewer dead-clicks).

Outcome

Fort Lewis College — Results & Impact

+27%

Apply Now clicks

Clearer IA & CTA placement

-36%

Time to find a degree

Guided filters & taxonomy

+21%

Program page engagement

Scannable templates

WCAG compliance

Contrast, focus, semantics

Measured in first 90 days post-launch (GA4, Hotjar). “pts” = percentage points; “%” = relative change.

Overview of redesigned pathways and templates (FLC) — Unified filters, anchored navigation, and consistent layouts introduced across key sections — Programs, Student Life, Graduate Studies, Financial Aid, Academics, and Admitted Students — improving clarity and helping prospective students explore pathways with confidence.

Task Completion — “Find a Program” +31

Find a Program before/after (FLC) — Completion improved after introducing guided filters, unified taxonomy, and anchored templates.

Before — fragmented browse

55%

After — guided filters + anchored sections

86%

Bounce — Admissions > Requirements -16

Before

76%

After

60%

What changed

Unified degree taxonomy and filter model across colleges, departments, and delivery modalities, helping prospective students quickly compare majors and discover related programs.
Introduced dynamic program templates featuring hero stats, learning outcomes, faculty highlights, and anchored in-page sections to promote easy scanning and transparent academic value.
Redesigned admissions workflows with guided steps, “What to Expect” timelines, and persistent sticky CTAs—simplifying complex requirements and increasing application flow efficiency.
Developed a tokenized design system aligned with brand standards, mapping components to Storybook for seamless handoff and visual consistency across marketing and academic pages.
Collaborated closely with content and accessibility teams to ensure WCAG-compliant typography, structured content hierarchy, and responsive layouts optimized for student devices.

End-to-End

End-to-End UI/UX Journey & Outcomes

Journey Stage	Before	After	Impact
Discovery Problem Framing	Competing priorities; no shared KPIs; anecdotal decisions.	KPI-backed scenarios; prioritized success metrics; test plan.	+Faster scoping · fewer pivots; clearer PRDs.
IA Navigation & Flows	Deep menus, duplicate labels; long time-to-task.	Task-first IA; breadcrumbs; guardrails for authoring.	−36% time-to-find program; improved wayfinding.
Design System & Patterns	One-off blocks; inconsistent CTAs; rework across pages.	Tokenized components; locked styles; responsive templates.	+Delivery speed · fewer defects; easier governance.
Validation Usability & Data	Limited evidence; unclear adoption risks.	3x moderated tests; GA4 funnels; heatmaps for iterating.	+Confidence at launch; targeted backlog.
Accessibility Compliance	Low contrast; hidden focus; placeholder “labels”.	AA contrast; visible focus; labeled forms; skip links.	AA achieved; improved mobile completion.

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