Graduate student receives diploma at commencement ceremony.
Virginia Tech graduate students rely on their Plan of Study to ensure their coursework lines up with their goals to earn their degrees. Alt text: graduate student receives diploma at commencement ceremony.

In IT Experience and Engagement (ITEE), cultivating a customer-centric culture is considered foundational to providing an excellent customer experience. Their commitment to ensuring that users enjoy a positive journey with IT services at Virginia Tech drives them to proactively identify and bridge any gaps in their experiences. 

During FY 2023, the user experience (UX) team within ITEE worked with several groups at Virginia Tech to evaluate and develop improvements for key products and processes, including the Graduate School.

The Plan of Study is an important mandatory document for Virginia Tech graduate students. It outlines the courses required to meet degree prerequisites and provides details about the student's advisory committee, among other specifics. Given its significance, ensuring a good user experience for students completing their Plan of Study can help reduce errors, reduce stress, and improve efficiency. With a goal to enhance the current Plan of Study process, the Graduate School reached out to ITEE to help them assess the process and develop recommendations to improve user experience.

ITEE’s UX group completed a comprehensive assessment to gain insights into the experiences of various stakeholders, including graduate students, graduate program coordinators, graduate program faculty directors, and graduate school personnel. 

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the Plan of Study experience, ITEE completed a survey of 271 graduate students. In addition, they conducted one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, including graduate students, program coordinators, faculty directors, and other graduate school personnel. 

As part of this evaluation, ITEE created distinct journey maps for each key stakeholder, outlining 

  • the various stages involved in their actions, 

  • emotional states experienced during these actions, 

  • the tools and portals used, 

  • direct insights from the interviews regarding their experiences, 

  • areas where the user experience could be improved; and, 

  • suggestions to enhance the overall process. 

 

Screenshots of Plan of Study customer journey maps
Plan of Study customer journey maps

The suggestions derived from each journey map are designed to optimize the process for each stakeholder, with the goal of improving the overall Plan of Study experience. Importantly, these improvements will not only benefit the plan of study process but also have broader applications within the Graduate School, leading to a more streamlined and user-centric experience.