UNE’s Digital User Experience (DUX) program  is set to wrap up by December 2024, marking the end of a four-year project that began in April 2021. As the project nears completion, it’s an ideal time to review its achievements and the concrete improvements UNE has made to its course offerings and student experience.

DUX’s Origins

DUX, the third phase of the UNE Course and Unit Catalogue Project, was initiated to build upon the previous two phases that delivered the UNE CourseLoop system, the UNE Course Handbook, and the Prospective Students Catalogue. The third phase—DUX—launched in April 2021 to support the three main areas aligned with UNE’s goal of reaching 16,000 EFTSL (Equivalent Full-Time Student Load).

DUX’s Objectives and Strategic Impact

Over fours years, and with significant investment, UNE designed DUX to deliver essential strategic benefits through ten interconnected work packages. These packages aimed to:

1. Attract More Students: By enhancing course visibility, UNE seeks to increase student enrolment.
2. Improve Curriculum Management: DUX helped improve UNE’s internal systems and alighment with HESA (Higher Education Support Act) compliance and quality standards.
3. Increase Financial Sustainability: By improving the student experience and reducing administrative costs, the program focused on financial sustainability for UNE.

Key Deliverables

The DUX program achieved several notable outcomes, all contributing to UNE’s mission to streamline and enhance its academic offerings. These deliverables include:

• A Redesigned Prospective Students Catalogue: Guided by Global Reviews market research, the catalogue’s refreshed design now makes it easier for prospective students to find relevant course information.
• Enhanced Curriculum Browsing: UNE optimized its discipline pages for search capabilities, showcasing majors, minors, and specialisations more effectively.
• Improved Admission Requirements Search: The reframed course admission requirements are now easier to search, with tailored content for international and domestic students.
• Curriculum Data Governance: Strong data governance ensures UNE meets TEQSA (Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency) compliance.
• CourseLoop Enhancements: The addition of new modules and features in the CourseLoop system streamlines administrative processes.
• Advanced Standing Solution: A smart form and workflow system enhance the experience for prospective students and make staff administration more efficient.
• Curriculum Mapping and Student Study Planner Modules: These CourseLoop modules improve student experience by simplifying course planning and curriculum management.
• Decommissioning Legacy Systems: A clear plan was outlined for the retirement of outdated systems.

Performance and Future Prospects

Since the launch of DUX, UNE has seen a measurable improvement in search visibility and applicant conversion rates. Optimised marketing content has led to better organic search rankings, bringing UNE’s curriculum offerings to a broader audience. The DUX program has positioned UNE for continued growth and operational efficiency as it nears its enrolment target of 16,000 EFTSL.

In addition,  A recent Global Reviews Digital Sales Effectiveness benchmarking study has confirmed UNE’s web presence is now 5th out of 29 universities, up from 19th in 2018. In 2022 and 2023 DUX Work Packages Reframed Entry Requirements and Majors, Minors were introduced.

As the DUX program winds down, UNE looks forward to leveraging these improvements to enhance its digital user experience for both current and future students.