Context

The University of WashingtSoN (School of Nursing) Office of Student and Academic Affairs (OSAA) plays a pivotal role in supporting nursing students throughout their academic journey. Their services range from academic advising and financial support to clinical placement coordination and counseling. To enhance their operational efficiency and improve the user experience for both staff and students, OSAA sought to modernize their digital presence with a new SharePoint site.

* To comply with privacy reasons, some details of the design process and design will not be shown *

My Role

UX/UI Design

Web Design

Design Question:

How might we design and develop a SharePoint site that streamlines OSAA’s complex workflows, enhances data management and compliance, and fosters collaboration among staff and faculty, while ensuring an intuitive and efficient user experience?

Challenges and Objectives:

Simplify Navigation for Complex Workflows

Organize OSAA's multifaceted responsibilities—student data, clinical placements, compliance, and contracts—into an intuitive structure that reduces cognitive load and ensures quick access to tools and information.

Streamline Data Management and Compliance

Design a system that simplifies handling sensitive student data while ensuring compliance with regulations (e.g., FERPA) and minimizing errors.

Initial State of the OSAA SharePoint Site

Initial OSAA Site Map; Site Navigation (Click to enlarge)

Improve Efficiency in Clinical Education Support

Digitize and streamline time-consuming tasks like contract management and student placement tracking to improve efficiency and communication with clinical sites.

Enhance Collaboration and Communication

Create features that enable seamless communication and information sharing among staff and faculty, supporting better teamwork across OSAA.

When I began the project, the OSAA SharePoint site was essentially left with a drafted home page.

The homepage contained a description and buttons, and the only existing element was a navigation bar with placeholder links that led to empty pages.

There was no information architecture or content structure in place to support staff and faculty workflows.

Create New Information Architecture

I thoroughly analyzed OSAA’s needs and created a new information architecture for the Site navigation and Homepage.

Below, I’ve included a diagram of the initial state of the site (as provided by OSAA) to illustrate the starting point for this project, as well as the NEW information architecture.

Draft 1 of New Site map (Click to enlarge)

User Testing

After creating my prototype in Figma and Sharepoint, I wrote a usability script and created a card sort to run a test with 5 OSAA Faculty and Staff with various roles and reasons for going onto the site.

Key Analysis and Solutions

The usability testing revealed that while the new SharePoint site has potential, participants faced challenges with navigation clarity, content organization, and efficiency.

  • Simplifying navigation labels and structure.

  • Redesigning the home screen to prioritize frequently used tools and updates.

  • Reorganizing content based on card sort results to align with user mental models.

  • Streamlining workflows to reduce clicks and improve efficiency.

  • Adding collaboration features to support teamwork and communication.

New and Improved Information Architechure

Video of the new OSAA Site Homepage

Reflection

The OSAA SharePoint redesign was a challenging yet rewarding project that taught me the importance of balancing user needs with technical and brand constraints. Working within the limitations of UW’s SharePoint platform—restricted formatting options and strict brand policies—pushed me to focus on simplicity and functionality over flashy design.

Through user research and usability testing, I learned that staff and faculty prioritized navigation clarity and workflow efficiency above all else. The card sort activity was particularly insightful, revealing how users’ mental models differed from initial assumptions and guided content reorganization.

This project reinforced the value of iteration and collaboration. Early designs didn’t fully address users’ needs, but by incorporating feedback, I was able to refine the site to support their workflows better. It also deepened my appreciation for accessibility and inclusive design, ensuring the platform worked for users of all technical skill levels.

Overall, this project strengthened my skills in user research, information architecture, and designing within constraints. It reminded me that great design is about solving real problems, even when external factors limit creativity.