DAPIP Web Applications:

• Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs: https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/
• Accreditation Information Collection: https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home

Students prefer to search for information about their dream university on a single website because it contains all relevant university-related information, which makes it a significant resource. The database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs includes data that has been submitted to the U.S. Department of Education by recognized accrediting organizations and state approval authorities. This information is readily reflected on the website because it comes from state permission and recognized accrediting institutions.

All the approved U.S. universities and programs are listed on this website. Additionally, it offers information about any updates to the university’s name, address, or other vital details that can be of assistance to users.

Revamping to a new website was one of the main hurdles because the previous database was not particularly user-friendly. The website was a decade old, not responsive, and lacked necessary information as well as being difficult to use.

The agencies and departments struggled to maintain up-to-date records and had trouble locating the necessary data. Some of the points that the stakeholders requested to be focused on more are listed below.

• Make it fast and simple to use for everyone.
• Each user will see a unique screen with their own set of permissions.
• Establish a platform for creativity and increased involvement.
• Also, implement section 508 accessibility standards and WCAG 2.0 AA

I played a pivotal role working with the development team, project managers, and testers. It involved running cross-functional meetings with the various teams, utilizing the user reports and direct feedback to create an issue report.

I would introduce best practices and utilize previous experiences with large-scale portals to create wire frames and process flows. The teams would then discuss these new solutions and I would create a final design which the development team then implemented to the new DAPIP portals.

We wanted to gather insights on how the agencies and departments upload their data. How long is the process? What are the information users are looking for in the web portal? How can the middle agent be eliminated?

All this information was collected by conducting a certain set of design processes which helped to understand the business and user goals. Thereby helping to design a better portal.

From the insight, we got to understand that we need to design a portal for admin and for the students who will be looking at the end-portal.

The administration (authorized agency and state government agency) who will be updating the information and students/faculties (foreign students, domestic students, professors, etc.) who will be consuming the information are our two target audiences for this study.

According to the information gathered, each institution and accredited organization must choose one administrator, and they should also have the opportunity to designate a sub-administrator and transfer ownership of the administrator so that the administrator can be changed according to the situation.

From the viewpoint of the students, they desired a thorough history of every university regard to each university, as this would aid them in making better judgments.

Because the user group varies. I developed two personas that can be used to comprehend requirements, frustrations, and pain areas.

One of them was Abigail, a high school student from the USA who wanted to find the right undergraduate program to apply to from an accredited college or university.

I began working on the low-fidelity wireframe and then presented it to other teams based on the survey insights. I then worked on the high-fidelity wireframe using the inputs given.

Students can search for information about the colleges they are interested in on a web portal and admin portal that have been created, and these portals have been provided to user testing groups.

Insights from usability testing:

• Users want all the details in the section and detailed.
• There should be one admin and sub admin, so they are not dependent on one person.
• Users want to have a search bar on the top of the page with an advanced search option as the website’s important feature is to search for the university.
• The admin page the users were looking for is minimal with only important features on the home page.
• The users wanted to make sure accessibility is taken into consideration while designing.

Five users, a mix of students and university personnel, participated in the usability testing. These comments were taken into consideration, and I then got to work making the necessary adjustments to the final prototype.

With some quick whiteboard activity, I manage to get some basic low fidelity wireframing idea before high fidelity design.

The design was simple and ensured that all pages with advanced search capabilities carried over the search bar at the top of the page. Both online and admin portals have a new process. To ensure that persons with disabilities may use it without difficulty or interruption, I also made sure that 508 compliance was incorporated.

The design worked well on various platforms. Since the new design is user-centered, it is simpler to add content and maintain its current.

The U.S. Department of Education was happy with the new user-friendly design. The expected outcome was a significant drop in Help Desk calls for inputting information and finding records. Weekly meetings regarding design and compliance had concluded and the new web application was completed. The new web application is user-friendly, easy to navigate, much more intuitive, and compliance to Section 508.