Rochester Institute of Technology is a world-class university...

...but they had a problem

of global scale, called COVID-19, that halted all in-person recruitment events and campus visits for prospective students.

We needed to convince them RIT was their top school, anyway.

role  |  lead digital designer

responsibilities  |  web strategy, ux/ui, visual design, social & email marketing, team management

So, we launched a new multi-channel, digital experience

to make RIT’s virtual events, information sessions, and tours more accessible than ever while remaining highly personalized to every prospective student.

the results in
9 months

19,000+ undergrad applications

breaking the record of all preceding years

100,000's of video views 

~20% support call reduction

through introduction of Chatbot, video tutorials and site redesign

jump to: research | design revamp | going virtual | marketing

1. research

• surveys & personas
• usability testing
• competitive research

We surveyed 300 students measuring key reasons they decided to enroll at RIT which set the foundation for our strategy.

I combined this with student usability testing, behavioral data, and competitive analysis of peer institutions to ensure user expectations & industry standards were met throughout our new fully digital admissions experience.


Tools:
HEDS Surveys
Crazy Egg
Google Analytics

Personas  |  Survey findings clarified different niches that existed within our audience. For example, undergraduate students reported their parents were one of the top 3 reasons they chose to enroll at RIT. So we created targeted content specifically for parents that emphasized ROI including graduate success stories and starting salary information.

Competitive Research  |  Peer institutions were quickly creating personalized and immersive experiences to give prospective students a taste of campus without having to visit in person. RIT needed to better showcase its ammenities to stand out.

research take-aways

Show, Don't Tell
RIT's text-heavy approach was missing many opportunities to showcase its innovation and real student stories.

Untapped Target Demographics
We could create more convincing and personalized experiences for audiences where RIT naturally had less competition.

Redundant & Conflicting Info
The current site structure led to many areas with duplicate info that created maintenance issues.

Navigation Hurdles
Students struggled to find what they were looking for, particularly with regards to specifics on how to apply for Financial Aid.

2. design revamp

• implement best practices
• improve UX & flow
• improve hierarchy & IA

I leveraged research insights to make baseline updates to the Admissions & Financial Aid website structure, layout and overall design. This immediately provided an improved digital experience for prospective students, creating a strong foundation to continue building upon.

Tools:
Adobe XD
Drupal

Redesigned Landing Page  |  I wireframed my proposed updates for all primary landing pages to get stakeholder buy-in from Enrollment Marketing and Financial Aid leadership. I also had casual interviews with my team of Student Ambassadors to provide feedback on the updates, rate ease of use and test usability for key goals such as starting an application.

3. going virtual

• chatbot with video tutorials
• virtual events
• on-demand video series 

To virtually recreate the on-campus experience, we produced 20 videos covering all of the topics typically discussed during in-person tours. We also put on 30 live events hosted over Zoom to connect "face-to-face" with prospective students, including RIT's annual College & Careers workshop which drove thousands of applications.

Tools:
Adobe XD
Drupal
Ocelot AI (Chatbot)
Zoom

Launch of Chatbot  |  To immediately improve a digital-only experience, we added an advanced Chatbot that could automatically answer basic questions or allow conversation with admissions staff and student ambassadors. We populated tutorial videos and other suggested content for specific keywords to further enhance the chat experience and provide answers faster.

traditional in-person events were transformed into virtual experiences:
tours, 1:1 sessions, workshops, video series, livestreams and Q&As

4. marketing

• student vlogs & blogs
• social, email & text blasts
• personalized experiences

Our grassroots marketing focused on authentic student-created content to share real experiences of current RIT Tigers.

We maintained ongoing connections with prospective students who had attended virtual events, used our Chatbot or signed up for updates. We personalized these communications with info, events, videos and due dates specific to their areas of interest.

Tools:
Adobe XD & Premiere Pro
YouTube
Campus Reel
Slate (CRM)

Launch of TigerTalk Blog  |  This served as the central hub where we could tell authentic stories of current students and also direct traffic from social, email and text marketing. This also improved our SEO and SERP rankings because we regularly published fresh content about key topics prospective students were searching for.

social content was used to authentically connect with prospective students

shout out to my primary collaborators

AD of Enrollment Marketing Elise M.M.  |  AVP of Web Services Ramen B.  |  Director of Client Services Cindy K.  |  
Student Ambassador Team