Rec the Experience
The U-M Recreation department fosters health, fitness, and community through gyms, classes, sports, and outdoor activities, promoting active, balanced lifestyles for the university
Duration
Jan 2025 - Apr 2025
Team
UofM Rec Director, Staff, and 5 UXRD
Client
University of Michigan Recreation
Responsibilities
Brain Storming, User Flow, Recruiting and Interviewing, Comparative Analysis
Recommendations From the Project
Improve the visibility of the search button by integrating a search bar directly into the main navigation tabs
Fix the content layout of the page including the Fitness classes
Fixing the contrast errors to meet WCAG requirements
Problem Statement
How might we improve the UofM Recreation website to increase student usage of campus facilities and support the organization’s rebranding efforts?
Increase Usage
Only 70% of the students use the facilities
Rebranding
UofM Recreational Sports to UofM Recreations
Identify Website Errors
Review the website to identify issues for users
Understand Students
Interact with Students to understand their needs and wants
Research & Analysis
Interview Profiles
6 Students
Frequent/infrequent student
1 Marketing
Social Media and Marketing
2 Instructors
Instructors/Leader coordinators
The Web Architect
Web Architect for the website
Comparative Evaluation
In our comparative evaluation report, we analyzed 5 fitness websites to Examine their Layout, identify their Strengths and Weaknesses, assess how they cater to their Users
Heuristic Evaluation
Jakob Nielsen
We applied Nielsen’s laws to five different subpages: GroupX, ClubSports, Group Train, Reserve Equipment, and Reserve Equipment
Key Findings
Issues
Navigation is unintuitive; users struggle to find schedules and book classes
Booking flow lacks filtering and personalization
Community features are absent, limiting engagement
Inconsistent labeling and visual hierarchy
Users have to type in and navigate the same info every time they book a class or swimming appointment; it’d be way easier if the site could remember it and save some time
Recommendation
Navigation
Enhance Search Experience
Display a clear search bar, instead of a just an icon
Make CTAs More Visually Distinct
Use buttons or bold, standalone links for key actions
Lack of Accessibility
WAVE
Fix errors such as low contrast as displayed from WAVE
Icons
There are icons for equipment but not for renting the equipment
Content Layout
Accordion Button Issues
Include arrows or +/- for the website for collapsible content
Enhance Status Visibility & Filtering
Display class by adding filters for time, instructor, type, and location, here is the set of classes from YMCA Ann Arbor
Impact and Reflection
Impact
Time Efficiency
Reduced booking downtime by 30% for Group-X users
Strategic UI Report
Delivered a strategic report with 15 actionable UI recommendations
Engagement Growth
Increased student participation by 10% via data-informed marketing
Reflection
New Facility Launch
The new facility opens a opportunity to test new naming conventions and page layouts
Accessibility and Inclusion
Conducting accessibility audits (e.g., keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility)
Voice Search Exploration
Adding voice features could appeal to broader users