Graduate Admissions
The University of California’s graduate community spans more than 20,000 students across its academic and research system. I redesigned the graduate admissions site to make graduate school feel more accessible and welcoming to prospective students exploring their options.
Challenge
The existing site felt dated and no longer reflected UC’s brand. Its degree search tool, meant to help students explore their options, had become overwhelming and disjointed making it harder to find the right path.
Approach
Introduced a bright, welcoming visual system built around large imagery and student stories reflecting diverse backgrounds and disciplines.
Worked with content strategists and copywriters to restructure content around the questions and needs of prospective graduate students, providing more inclusive and actionable guidance throughout the application journey.
Redesigned the disjointed search and filtering of the degree search tool into a cohesive and exploratory experience that makes it easier for users to discover programs.
Worked directly with Graduate Admissions stakeholders throughout the project, facilitating feedback, building alignment, and translating client needs into solutions.
Partnered with the development team to translate the redesigned experience and degree search functionality into a scalable, usable product.
Outcome
The redesigned site garnered strong traffic from organic search, reflecting the strength and discoverability of the site. The degree search tool has the highest engagement rate on the site, showing that users are finding real value in the redesigned experience.
