Colleges are spending more money on student technology than ever before, but students aren’t seeing the payoff. Nearly 30% of institutions’ IT budgets are now dedicated to learner-facing tools. Despite that growing investment, about two thirds of institutions admit that their digital student experiences are still only “basic” or “evolving.”
I’ve seen this gap up close and from two very different perspectives. Before leading technology strategy for one of the largest technical training programs in Virginia, I spent nearly two decades at consumer and retail brands such as Neiman Marcus, JCPenney and PepsiCo, designing marketing, customer data and commerce technologies. My teams built the tools retailers use to understand their customers, from the data warehouses that track how people shop to the payment systems they trust at checkout.
When the goal is to make people feel understood and supported at every stage of their journey, friction becomes impossible to ignore. We monitored where users stopped engaging and identified the specific moment friction entered the experience. We then quickly moved to eliminate those obstacles. Higher education can apply that same level of discipline to student technology experiences, not because students are customers but because every barrier we leave in place is a barrier between a learner and their degree.
The Student Experience Is Still Too Fragmented
Today’s learners navigate a maze of technologies and systems to accomplish even the most basic tasks. I’m the parent of six kids, and between admissions portals, financial aid portals, learning management systems and tuition payment platforms, I’ve probably logged into every flavor of student-facing technology there is. I’ve watched my own kids hit friction point after friction point. At the outset, they’re confronted with separate portals for admissions, financial aid, orientation, advising, registration and tuition payments. Once enrolled, they juggle multiple platforms to check their university email, access course materials and track their academic progress.
For a working adult balancing coursework, a job and a family or a first-generation student with no one to help them decode the bureaucracy, every disconnected portal becomes a potential exit ramp. Research shows students are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of apps, emails and websites colleges expect them to keep track of. One survey found that close to half of students say their institution’s digital offerings have either no positive impact on their satisfaction or, worse, actively harm it.
When asked how their institution’s digital experiences compared to Netflix, Amazon or food delivery apps like DoorDash, roughly 60% said it was “not as good, but it should be.”
Reducing Friction Starts with Better Design
Let’s be frank: It may not be realistic to expect student-facing digital tools to be as frictionless as an Amazon return and as personalized as Netflix’s movie recommendations. Tools related to enrollment, registration and access to learning materials should, however, be intuitive enough that no student gives up because the technology defeats them. This goal was the crux of my work in retail. We worked to stay one step ahead of the customer at all times. Rather than waiting for complaints to roll in, our technology teams proactively designed experiences and touchpoints to prevent friction before it ever happened.
When I moved from retail to higher education, I brought that mindset with me. Most of the students at my institution are working adults enrolled in accelerated five-week terms. They don’t have a semester to learn how to use several disconnected systems. Many of them manage their education on a smartphone between shifts at work. So, we introduced a student portal that addresses this reality, with grades, schedules and library access all accessible through a single login.
Institutions across higher education are rethinking technology from the student’s perspective, moving away from disconnected systems toward unified digital experiences. Many are investing in mobile-friendly portals and dashboards that bring together academic, financial and student services in a single, easy-to-access experience.
Technology Should Support, Not Hinder, Student Success
Technology alone cannot improve student success, but poorly designed technology can make improving outcomes even harder than it needs to be. This is a hard-earned lesson from retail. The companies that have succeeded in the Amazon era have treated every unnecessary click as a threat to customer engagement and loyalty. Regardless of the sector, the brands best weathering today’s market pressures are those that have never stopped investing in customer relationships.
In higher education, the stakes for getting this wrong are far higher than in retail. A frustrated shopper may abandon their cart, but a frustrated student may abandon college altogether. Dr. Bridget Burns, CEO of the University Innovation Alliance, has written, “College wasn’t designed to help students succeed. Worse: Most campuses lack the time needed to step back, observe the student experience, and take a more empathetic approach to designing students’ trajectories.” We need to make that time.
As colleges face increasing enrollment pressure and growing student expectations, the institutions that thrive will be those that ensure a seamless technology experience for all learners.