Keystone launches website redesign

Generation Z — the digital native generation following the millennials — accounts for more than 30% of the world's population. In 2020, a majority of university enrollments will come from these students, with even more to follow in the future. In anticipation of the new decade and inevitable influx of these young, motivated, and highly mobile students, we are excited to announce the roll-out of a complete redesign of our student-facing websites, debuting this Tuesday 19th November.

Example of redesigned Masterstudies.com (Pictured above) 

Part of an extensive UX (user-experience) project, we are launching a fully-optimized, mobile-first design across all our websites, including key brands such as Masterstudies and Onlinestudies. Let us walk you through the process and how we re-imagined the user journey for the next generation of students.

Mobile-first design - ready for the next generation of students

When it comes to Gen Z and most of the society today there is one thing that is certain — we are more mobile than ever before. In fact, over half of global internet traffic today comes from mobile devices, a significant increase from only 16.2% in 2013. For Keystone, the choice was simple — it was time for a brand new, mobile-first design for all our websites. We wanted to make sure that no matter where or how students find our websites — and your programs — they would be able navigate smoothly, gather the information they need, and engage with you directly. Whether a high school student researching options for college, recent graduate seeking postgraduate study or a parent helping their children prepare for the future – we set out to create the best possible experience for our users.

At Keystone we are proud to represent our academic partners around the world and want to make sure that we present your programs in a way that draws in the most suitable students. To that end, we’ve gone back to the drawing board – literally — and have taken a deep-dive into the psyche of tertiary students around the world. We wanted to find out who are these new, globally-minded students? What do they need — from us and our partners? And how do they navigate their world, their future, and the internet?

Example of mobile-first redesign (Pictured above) 

Redefining the user experience – a new student journey

To launch the project, we partnered with a young, creative team from one of Europe's leading UX firms to help us improve student engagement on our websites. Conducting extensive market research and audience testing, we invited current international students to test our sites and the new designs. Every aspect was put under the microscope, from the navigational path through our websites to the way that our 46+ localized websites react in the new design.

We found that young students need information — and lots of it — but that information needs to be easy to access and quick to digest. Icons, short snippets, and videos are a great way to give Generation Z the information they need in a context that engages them. They also prefer information to be personalized, so we’ve upgraded our filter system and are working on new ways to give student users a bespoke search experience.

A New Era of Student Recruitment

Over the next year, we’ll continue to upgrade our sites with a constant focus on User Experience. Look for user interface optimizations and new tools for student users and our customers, as well new and exciting content. Watch the Keystone Blog for more updates and keep exploring the websites and SmartHub for new features as we move into 2020!