Website and Web product design for Unite Students

Unite Students, the UK’s leading Student Accommodation provider, was looking to reinforce its position as in and outside of category leader. This new product becomes a partner in the home hunting experience through each phase of the journey. It even helps users create their very own search parameters, for that little extra guidance that makes the difference.

When Unite Students approached us with an RFP for the redesign of their website, in a context of rapidly saturating market, we saw an opportunity to do reconsider the student (and parent) experience from its core.
My team and I began by conducting a comprehensive analysis to understand the existing user experience and identify key pain points. Using a combination of desk research, surveys, interviews, heuristic evaluation, and website analytics, we uncovered that students visiting the site struggled primarily with two issues: the lack of personalized search options based on lifestyle preferences and activities, and uncertainty about their own accommodation needs.

Armed with these insights and after aligning with our stakeholders on objectives and priorities, we developed two core features for the website: a configurator that allows users to tailor their search by location and lifestyle preferences, and a questionnaire designed to guide students in identifying their key requirements. Throughout the design process, we engaged in iterative user and usability testing to refine the UX and UI, ensuring our solutions genuinely addressed the students’ needs. A/B testing of the prototypes further validated our design choices, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from test users.

The successful implementation of these insights and new features led to a design that resonated strongly with the target audience. The project is now in the final stages of development, and the positive response from both stakeholders and users has reaffirmed our approach as truly aligned with user needs.

This data-driven methodology not only informed our strategic decisions but also highlighted the benefit of placing user-centric design at the heart of digital transformation.