Business Impact
The redesigned interface established a credible digital presence for the college, significantly improving the discoverability of academic programs and modernizing their engagement with prospective students.
Digitizing Academic Excellence in Southeast Asia
Executive Summary
Client
SACI
Business Goal
Modernizing educational engagement through a user-centric digital portal.
Tools
Figma, Illustrator, Miro
Role
UI/UX Designer
I led the digital transformation for the Southeast Asian College (SACI), architecting a high-fidelity academic portal that balances institutional authority with modern accessibility. By implementing a modular, card-based interface and a rigorous information hierarchy, I modernized the enrollment journey for a tech-savvy student demographic while establishing a scalable UI framework for future institutional growth.
Strategic Problem
SACI needed a redesign for their website, and with the new navigations system, it is easy for the visitors to tell which part or which course they are viewing. The requirement was to showcase each course separately. Having pain-points such as unaligned and missing components, as well as a lack of initially establishing both a proper grid and typography system, multiple interpretations of the website did emerge.
Systemic Solution
I architected a high-fidelity interface that prioritizes information hierarchy and academic credibility. I transformed the legacy site into a modular, responsive ecosystem that ensures a seamless experience across mobile and desktop, specifically optimized for the mobile-first behavior of modern students.
Methodology
I led a comprehensive competitor benchmarking phase and defined user personas to map the specific enrollment journey of Southeast Asian students. I utilized iterative prototyping to validate the navigation logic, ensuring that complex academic programs were discoverable and easy to digest.
Design Strategy
I implemented a modular component library, allowing for flexible content layouts while maintaining strict brand consistency across various departments. I prioritized a card-based layout for academic courses, enabling students to scan and compare specializations with minimal cognitive effort.
Stakeholder Management
I collaborated with SACI leadership to translate their institutional vision into a modern UI, acting as a strategic consultant to ensure the digital product aligned with their long-term growth and recruitment goals.
Design Ops
I established a reusable UI kit that empowers the internal SACI team to add new departments or courses without breaking the visual system, ensuring the platform remains a living institutional asset.
Reflection
This project reinforced that academic UX must balance Authority with Accessibility. I learned that in the education sector, the UI serves as the "digital campus tour," where visual trust and clear navigation are the primary drivers for student enrollment.
Colors
I engineered a visual identity using academic blue and modern accents to signal institutional history and forward-thinking innovation.
Fonts
The visuals are supported by a professional typographic system designed for high readability in dense academic contexts, ensuring that course descriptions and admission requirements are perfectly legible across all devices.
High fidelity mockups
Final outcome
I developed behavioral archetypes to bridge the information gap in the enrollment process, focusing on the journey from initial discovery to application submission. This informed a streamlined user journey where students can transition from program research to application initiation in under four clicks.
Menu system
The colored menu works well with the horizontal secondary menu system. It creates a fresh, new layout for the website.