UCF Online
Turning 100+ online programs into one clear decision journey for prospective students, then extending that system across web, landing pages, and recruitment email.
Visit UCF Online01 · The assignment
Make a large institution easier to navigate.
UCF Online had scale, credibility, and more than a hundred programs. What it lacked was a clear decision journey for prospective students.
I led the brand, experience, and conversion strategy, turning that complexity into a system that helped people find the right degree, understand its value, and know what to do next.
- Role
- Brand & Design Lead
- Scope
- Strategy, IA, design system, conversion
- Reach
- All 50 states and dozens of countries
- Status
- Live today
02 · The broken journey
The problem was not inventory.
It was wayfinding.
The legacy experience gave dense copy, proof points, a multi-step form, and several calls to action the same weight. It asked for commitment before it had created clarity.
The form dominated before the program had earned interest.
Program facts, rankings, careers, and contact details shared one level.
Several valid actions existed, but no path helped a student choose.
03 · The decision model
Start with what people need to decide.
Research and journey auditing became prioritized user stories. That gave the team a shared model for deciding what belonged, what came first, and what could wait.
Find the right degree
Organize 100+ programs around how prospective students actually search.
Know if it fits
Surface value, credibility, cost, and format before asking for a conversion.
See the next step
Create one clear route from interest to information, support, and application.
04 · The web system
Turn a catalog into a guided path.
The new architecture created clear entry points by degree level and area of interest, then carried that hierarchy into every program page.
05 · Beyond the website
Carry the same hierarchy into every message.
The system extended into recruitment email: speak directly to the student, establish one primary action, and use secondary content to deepen the decision.
One primary action
Every message establishes one unmistakable next step.
Content with hierarchy
Primary, secondary, and supporting content each have a clear role.
The student is the hero
Copy speaks to “you” and leads with the decision being made.
06 · The outcome
A durable system, not a one-time redesign.
The architecture and design system remain in use. UCF Online has since risen from outside the top 15 to No. 6 in the nation for Best Online Bachelor’s Programs, its highest ranking ever.
The lasting value was a system built around the person making the decision, with enough structure to scale across programs and channels.