CoursePlan Multiple Plans

Identifying the Need for Multiple Plans

When I joined CoursePlan as a designer, it was already a well-established tool on campus, supporting 5000+ monthly users in planning their four-year schedules and tracking major requirements. However, previous user research had revealed a gap: students wanted the ability to experiment with different academic paths—exploring alternate concentrations, adjusting elective choices, and reshuffling semesters—without altering their original plan.

This insight made it clear that CoursePlan needed a way for users to create and compare multiple schedules seamlessly. The challenge was not just implementing the feature but integrating it in a way that enhanced the user experience while aligning with the product’s core purpose.

Balancing User Needs with Business Goals

Although the demand for a Multiple Plans feature was well-documented, I needed to ensure that it fit within CoursePlan’s overall product strategy. Was this a core functionality that should be heavily emphasized, or was it a supporting feature meant for a subset of users? To answer this, I collaborated with the product manager and product marketing manager, grounding our discussions in user research insights.

While some students expressed a strong need for multiple plans, research indicated that only a subset of users would actively use the feature. Based on this, we decided that Multiple Plans should be a secondary feature—accessible for those who needed it but not positioned as a core function of CoursePlan. This distinction shaped my design approach, particularly in determining how the feature should be accessed and integrated into the existing interface.

Strategizing the User Flow

Before jumping into design, I mapped out the user flow to ensure that Multiple Plans would be intuitive, efficient, and seamlessly integrated into the existing CoursePlan experience.

Two key criteria guided my approach:

1. Usability: The feature needed to be easy to discover and use.

2. Positioning: It had to remain a sub-feature, ensuring that users still saw CoursePlan’s primary value as an academic planner.

The biggest factor in achieving both was determining the right entry point—where and how users would access Multiple Plans.

Testing Different Entry Points

I explored three possible placements for the feature and developed medium-fidelity prototypes to test their effectiveness. I then conducted A/B testing with 15 users to evaluate:

• Discoverability: Could users find the feature when they needed it?

• Perceived Importance: Did the placement subtly communicate that Multiple Plans was a secondary feature rather than a core function?

Refining the Design: The Dropdown Solution

Based on user testing, the dropdown menu emerged as the best entry point. It was easily accessible for users who needed it but did not overwhelm the interface or shift CoursePlan’s primary focus.

I then built a medium-fidelity prototype of the full feature and conducted additional user testing to refine the flow, identifying the following issues:

Based on testing, I made the following edits:

Final Flow

1. Creating a New Plan

2. Editing a Plan

3. Deleting a Plan

Finalizing and Shipping the Feature

After refining the prototype based on user feedback, I documented the full design process and handed off the final specs to developers.

As of 2024, Multiple Plans has been successfully shipped and is now live on CoursePlan, allowing students to seamlessly create and compare different academic pathways.

If you’d like to learn more about my design process or have any questions, feel free to reach out!