Wireframe for new StudentLink

A week ago, a good friend blenderblog@tumblr did a revision to the StudentLink - it is awesome. It’s nice knowing that BU designers are just as miffed. (For those that haven’t seen it: Julian Jensen also did an awesome one here).

One of the problems: we didn’t revise the StudentLink so much as reskin it.

I used a style that I personally hate - widgetitis (cramming as many small widgets together onto a single page). Being able to do many things on a site does not enhance the workflow if the right things aren’t grouped together.

Simplification and Structure

This wireframe reimagines the structure and usability of the StudentLink. Combining many of these pages into single-pace applications optimizes people’s “work flows.”

For example, registering for classes usually requires jumping between a graph, one’s current schedule, and the Planner. Dropping a class can’t be done from the “Current Schedule” page; you have to go through “Registration” even though these sections look almost identical.

I am trying to simplify the StudentLink down to it’s functions and then rebuild it. The current structure and layout of links is no longer appropriate for a web application that has grown exponentially in size since it’s inception.

Going forward

Currently working through each section and will publish a case study of wireframes this Fall.

I am currently not working on the design at all. When I did my first attempt, I created a mock-up in Photoshop that tackle aesthetics, not function… which creates a solution without really understanding the problem.

Once the case study is finished, I’ll start churning out the styling for a new StudentLink proposal.