Northeastern University Health and Counseling Services

Overview

Part of the American College Health Association, UHCS offers services for health and wellness on campus. It offers a range of services including immunizations, mental health support, urgent visits, and primary care

User Interviews

Process

  • Recruited Northeastern students and faculty members via social media (Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn)

  • 30 minute 1:1 Zoom call

  • Tasks to complete using the website

  • Assessed satisfaction level with the current website

  • Analyzed areas participants struggled in

UX Research Case Study

Improving student and faculty health on campus

Role

Timeline

Team

UX Researcher

Sept 2023-Dec 2023

1 UX Researcher

2 UX Designers

1 Team Lead

Problem

UHCS is experiencing low user satisfaction with its website where many students have complained that they are unable to locate the resources they require. UHCS is unsure of the specific areas of the platform that are causing the problem.

Solution

Utilized user research and heuristic evaluations to uncover problems with the website and propose design solutions to update the UHCS platform.

Methods

User Interviews

Competitive Analysis

Heuristic Analysis

Usability Testing

*Norman Nielsen Heuristic Evaluation

Scoring Legend

Competitors

0: Not present / not applicable (n/a)


1: does not meet expectations (poorly executed)


2: meets expectations (well executed)


3: exceeds expectations (perfectly executed)

Harvard University

*Note not all heuristic values are shown. Only first three criteria and the total are displayed on this case study slide

Summarizing the pros and cons of the competitor websites:

Research Methods

Connected with Northeastern University students and faculty members (N=6) to understand their experiences using the UHCS website and discover painpoints

Competitive Analysis

Analyzed healthcare websites of other major schools in the Massachusetts area and compared it to Northeastern UHCS using the Norman Heuristic Guidelines

Affinity Mapping

•Coded interviews and evaluated emerging themes and selected most pertinent ones (with 4 or more participants expressing similar concerns)

Boston College

Boston University