Edge Hill University: mapping the prospective student journey
The prospective student journey is made up of a huge variety of interactions: from initial enquiries and emails campaigns to open day visits and web interactions.
But what kind of overall experience do all of these touchpoints create?
Edge Hill University had already made great strides in defining the stages of their prospective student journey and developing their communications plans. The University was now looking for a review of its communications and wanted to gain an overview of the recruitment journey. What did all the communications look like when put together? What opportunities were there to improve the journey?
Pickle Jar Communications was commissioned us to help them gain an overview of the journey and create recommendations on their next steps.
Our work included:
Conducting discovery work to delve deep into the prospective student journey. This included conducting stakeholder consultations, analysing enquiry data and web interactions, collating the details of the numerous touchpoints sent from across the University and mystery shopping an open day
Creating a journey map to visualise the communications that a student would receive throughout their consideration and application journey over an 18-month period; this map highlighted key events, emotional resonance, frequency of communications, key themes and recommendations for each stage of the journey
Leading an experience design workshop to share the insights from our research, reflect on the existing journey and design the ideal experience for the University’s three personas
Running a diary studies workshop to enable the Edge Hill team to gather their own insights in-house
Creating an implementation plan highlighting quick wins and longer-term goals for Edge Hill to enhance their prospective student journey
“It has been a pleasure working with Pickle Jar Communications. Their communication, organisation and capacity to generate new ideas has been faultless. Throughout the process Pickle Jar tailored the project to Edge Hill’s requirements. Their bespoke workshops empowered the team and helped us celebrate existing success and identify areas for improvement in our prospective student journey.”
