Application Modernisation
The Client
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa is a prominent educational institution in New Zealand that provides a holistic learning environment steeped in the country's unique Māori culture and values. They offer a comprehensive range of courses and programmes designed to empower students (tauira) and whānau transformation through education’.
The Goal
The institution's legacy monolithic website and Content Management System (CMS) were severely outdated, posing security vulnerabilities due to the lack of critical security patches. The online application portal was not only archaic but also inefficient in capturing essential information necessary for a frictionless student experience, which resulted in:
- ·An additional 20,000 calls to the call centre to collect missing enrolment information, necessitating the hiring of seven additional staff members annually.
- Data inaccuracies due to manual processes, leading to confusion and frustration among prospective tauira and staff (kaimahi).
- Environmental goals stunted by paper-based enrolment processes, counteractive to ecological strategy of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
The Journey
In response to these challenges, Enlighten Designs embarked on a project to revolutionise the application process of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Our approach began with:
· A user-centred approach being employed to understand the applicant journey and administrative workflows, enhancing the tauira experience and establishing a strong business and technical foundation for the modernisation effort.
· A strategic recommendation to decouple the online application from the CMS, ensuring future migrations and updates are more streamlined and less intertwined.
· Capitalise on the data harmonisation initiative Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has been advancing to establish a unified source of truth, thereby aligning tauira and administrative data systems.
The Solution
Our solution involved several key initiatives:
· Developing a modern, standalone application that interfaces with the institution's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system (Salesforce), incorporating insights from user interviews and leveraging the intrinsic understanding of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa tauira.
· Integrating the in-house data harmoniser of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa to ensure a single source of truth for class locations, availability, and times, significantly improving data accuracy.
· Incorporating a feature for tauira ID uploads to alleviate the high volume of calls to the call centre.
· To improve the journey and focus on the most important aspects a tauira needs to organise their life while studying with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, we are streamlining access to schedules, simplifying communication channels, and offering personalised support services.
Continuous Collaboration and Refinement
Throughout the project, our team established a dynamic working structure that facilitated open communication and fostered swift adaptation to incorporate emerging, advantageous functionalities. By employing agile methodologies and conducting regular standups across multiple teams, we ensured that collaboration and communication remained at the forefront of our operations.
The Results
While full impact measurement is slated for a year post-implementation, preliminary indicators point toward:
· A marked reduction in calls to and from the call centre.
· Enhanced data cleanliness and student experience during the application process.
A solution in harmony with environmental and IT strategies of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
Client Testimonials
Enlighten Designs has been an invaluable partner in transforming our application process at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Their innovative solutions and commitment to excellence have exceeded our expectations.
The shift from the legacy CMS based form to a modern, standalone application interfacing with Salesforce has been a major leap forward. We’ve witnessed a marked reduction in calls to our call centre, thanks to features like programme location, date and time data fed from our API, tauira ID uploads and email verification.
The integration of our in-house data harmoniser ensures a single source of truth for class locations, availability, and times. This initiative has significantly improved data accuracy, benefiting both kaimahi (staff) and tauira (students).
Enlighten Designs’ user-centred approach has been pivotal. Their agile methodologies and regular standups across multiple teams demonstrate a commitment to continuous collaboration and refinement. We appreciate their adaptability and responsiveness.
While we await full impact measurement post-implementation, preliminary indicators are promising. We eagerly anticipate quantifying outcomes, especially when comparing call volume data from the same period last year, as well as increased enrolment completion rates and tauira retention rates.
Overall, this project exemplifies how technology can enhance educational institutions and elevate the tauira experience. We wholeheartedly recommend Enlighten Designs to others seeking transformative solutions.