NYU School of Professional Studies: Professional Pathways

NYU School of Professional Studies: Professional Pathways

Career-changing courses, in a click.

The Challenge

In keeping with its pioneering role in continuing education, the NYU School of Professional Studies offers cutting-edge, non-credited courses and badges alongside a traditional, for-credit curriculum. Time-crunched professionals who need to stay current in their fields need to be able to find and book those courses seamlessly. NYU had elected to discontinue a printed course catalogue, and the online version was dated and text-heavy. What’s more, many visitors who came to the site weren’t converting to enrolled students. SPS needed a completely re-imagined entry point—a friendly, end-to-end e-commerce solution, absorbing more than 1,900 diverse classes and integrating with university and customer databases. It was a major UX challenge with a quick turnaround, and one of our most ambitious integration efforts to date.

The Solution

We proposed a microsite—rebranded by NYU as Professional Pathways—for both the open-enrollment and diploma facets of the SPS catalogue. We captained everything from planning and design to front-end coding and shopping-cart integration, getting up to speed very quickly in NYU’s platform of choice, Adobe Experience Manager. To improve the browsing experience and boost conversions, we created the Career Advancement Course Explorer, which easily guides prospective students through a customized path of options that present both targeted results and smart suggestions. Bright, detailed callouts direct the user’s eye to featured programs, diploma programs, and trending topics, all of which encourage further exploration. It was all hands on deck to achieve it all on time; DP’s technical architects, front-end and Java developers collaborated with the engineering team at NYU for months of parallel work.

The Result

Professional Pathways may well be our proudest moment in before-and-after contrast. The end result is a bold, crisp, and intelligent interface—a literal fast track to necessary course and signup information. Site visits and student enrollment are booming, and the client is delighted.

Awards and Acclaim

2017 Communicator Awards - Award of Excellence
2017 IMA Winner - Best In Class
Homepage
Diploma Landing
Topic courses
Shopping Cart
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