Digging for details : the prospective student’s journey to course information at Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences

Abstract

This study examines the navigation of prospective international students on university websites, specifically focusing on the journey from the home page to curricular information. Employing the user interface evaluation methods of a cognitive walkthrough and heuristic analysis, the research examines the degree of difficulty in accessing curricular content and the design shift encountered in transitioning from the main websites to academic portals. The findings reveal that while university websites are often user-friendly and informative, the shift to academic portals can be disorienting, impacting students' perceptions and expectations. This study underscores the need for universities to adopt user-centric design strategies for their academic portals, thereby increasing their perceived value to the prospective student.