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StudyIt is now an engaging hub for secondary students

Catalyst collaborates with the Ministry of Education to transform the experience of students and teachers visiting StudyIt.

Background

The Ministry of Education (MoE) is the Government's lead advisor on the New Zealand education system, helping shape its direction for sector agencies and providers.

Opportunity

MoE’s StudyIt is a heavily used repository for support information for students studying NCEA subjects, including a discussion forum for students and teachers.

However, since 2004, the site's design and UX have not been updated. Because of this, the site appeared dated, lacked mobile device compatibility, was difficult to navigate, and had some stability issues. Additionally, the content for students was across a number of different locations.

Solution

Catalyst and the Ministry of Education collaborated on a website redesign and redevelopment to transform the student and teacher experience of StudyIt.

After initial research, our team progressed with the concepts, UX for desktop and mobile devices, visual designs, user testing, and a unique and fun illustration set.

Students are also actively encouraged by the site's design to ask questions and receive answers from teachers and other students.

"Catalyst was very professional in its design, which is intuitive for users."

Phillip Rooney, Senior Software Engineer, Ministry of Education of New Zealand.

Rachel Lynch, a Catalyst designer and illustrator, wanted students to engage with the learning material using visually exciting illustrations and pinpoint moments of action and anticipation.

"I played around with figurative and conceptual ideas, for example, using a slice of pie to represent pi in mathematics. Taking a humorous approach to the illustrations was my way of alleviating some stress for students. Using vibrant colours, doodled notes, and a bold illustrative style, I did my best to capture the essence of a contemporary student’s experience." – Rachel Lynch.

The platform’s illustrations clearly convey their purpose with a fresh creative twist.