Improving User Experience Ahead of a Major Platform Launch

Following an extensive period of research and platform development, the project team was preparing for its public launch. With a complex digital platform already in place and a tight deadline approaching, they engaged Path to provide independent UX expertise and identify where improvements would have the greatest impact.

Our role was to help bridge the gap between a technically sophisticated platform and an intuitive, engaging experience that people could easily understand and use.

Objectives

• Improve clarity around the platform's purpose, benefits and value to different audiences.
• Simplify the journey from first visiting the website to registering and exploring green career opportunities.
• Identify usability barriers affecting key journeys, including the Green Skills Passport and employer job posting.
• Prioritise practical, high-impact improvements that could be delivered within the available timeframe.
• Provide clear UX and UI recommendations for the client's development team to implement.

Approach

Working to a compressed schedule ahead of launch, we focused on the areas most likely to influence user engagement and conversion.

1. Independent UX Review

   We reviewed the existing website and key platform journeys, drawing on available user-testing feedback to identify points of confusion, unnecessary complexity and barriers to completing important tasks.

    

2. Simplifying the User Journey

   We examined how individuals discover the platform, understand its relevance and progress towards registration. Our recommendations focused on clearer messaging, more intuitive navigation and stronger calls to action.

   We also reviewed the employer experience, identifying usability issues that could create friction when registering and posting job opportunities.

    

3. UX and UI Improvements

   We developed practical design recommendations and interface concepts to make the platform's benefits easier to understand and its priority journeys easier to navigate.

   This included simplifying complex information, clarifying terminology and helping users recognise how their existing skills could connect with opportunities in the green economy.

    

4. Prioritised Recommendations

   Rather than proposing a lengthy redesign, we concentrated on achievable improvements that could be incorporated into the existing platform.

   We provided clear, prioritised recommendations and design guidance to support the client's development team, distinguishing immediate priorities from opportunities for future enhancement.

Outcomes

Path provided independent UX expertise at a critical stage of the project, helping the EduGreen Connect team focus on the improvements most relevant to launch.

Our work delivered:

• Clearer user journeys: A more direct route from understanding the platform's benefits to taking action.
• Stronger conversion focus: Clearer messaging and calls to action designed to encourage registrations and engagement.
• Reduced complexity: More intuitive terminology, navigation and presentation of complex green skills information.
• Practical recommendations: Prioritised UX improvements that could be considered without rebuilding the existing platform.
• Greater clarity ahead of launch: An independent perspective to help the project team focus its limited time and development resources.

The project demonstrates how targeted UX expertise can help organisations unlock greater value from an existing digital investment, particularly when timelines are tight and a full redesign is neither practical nor necessary.