The Uncommon Application
Web + Graphic Design | Site Development
Web application design, Coding (XHTML, CSS, Javascript)
In 2007, I took over management and design responsibilities for the University of Chicago’s online application for admission. The major goal for 2007’s version of the application: delivering admissions decision letters online for the first time. This major new piece of functionality consumed most of our development time, but a secondary goal was to update the look and feel of the interface to improve its usability.
Project-managing and designing something as important as decision letter delivery was the most nerve-wracking challenge of my career: it had to go off without a hitch. The many different applicant types and decision delivery phases meant extensive planning was required before a single line was coded. Through close collaboration with the client and back-end programmers, the decision deliveries were a great success, and saved the Admissions department huge amounts of time and effort. The design improvements to the application were also very well received by applicants; it was a record year for application submissions.
The Uncommon Redesign: Before and After (PDF)
This site is no longer active, having been replaced by the new Admissions site.