Challenge

College campuses are not easy to navigate. There are confusing rules about parking, buildings arranged in no particular order, and a general lack of wayfinding. If you can sort through all of that, you'll have a student walk backward throughout the campus as you try to keep up. All of this makes for a disconnected visitation experience. How might we improve the campus experience for both prospective and current students?

​

Research

My marketing team researched the campus visit experience from the initial email invitation to the tour itself. We found PDF parking maps that were inaccessible, visit materials and website information that was inaccurate, a dearth of physical wayfinding signage across campus, and other wayfinding that was out of date, damaged, or inaccurate.  Finally, we did a competitor analysis to compare our virtual and in-person campus visit experience with peer colleges in the region.

​

Solution

We rebuilt our campus tour and are in the final phases of building a responsive virtual tour option and digital campus navigation system that will meet the broader needs of campus stakeholders. We did a systematic review of campus physical wayfinding on campus, updating and adding signage where appropriate.  Campus maps include QR codes with links to digital assets. ​By eliminating confusion in our first impression moment both virtually and in-person, we position ourselves to close the deal with prospective students and their families while enhancing the campus experience for our current students and employees as well.

​

On the horizon

I have developed a tiered implementation plan across multiple fiscal years that will allow us to utilize our phase one foundation and build upon the functionality in years to come. That plan includes assigning shareholder responsibilities, annual updates, and additional functionality realization through the online wayfinindg virtual map as well as a robust system for updating and maintaining physical wayfinding signage across campus.