OSAP: A Case Study
Simplifying a student loan and grant application
Keywords: Iterative Usability Testing, 1-1and Paired In-depth Interviews
“Anna walked us through each step of the project, provided thoughtful advice, and involved the team in the decision-making process. Staff were impressed by her ability as a facilitator. After implementing the changes, we heard directly from students that the application was easier to navigate and new phrasing was more clearly understood.”
— Jennifer Da Silva, Senior Policy Advisor, Government of Ontario
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Background
In 2017, the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) web application went through a ground-up redesign. There were changes in policy, content and app flow and logic.
Specific goals for the OSAP application ensure it is:
Easy to navigate (e.g. students can easily find what they need)
Informative (e.g. students report increased knowledge about how to apply for loans, grants, bursaries, their eligibility, repayment information)
Empowering (e.g. students are able to read and understand the content and complete the application on their own)
We conducted 2 rounds of usability tests with students and their parents in order to:
Understand the barriers to applying for the program
Identify the needs of high school students, post secondary students, Indigenous students and mature students
Reduce the application’s complexity by examining the content and navigation
Identify improvements or enhancements
Provide actionable recommendations
Services:
Strategy & UX Research
Iterative Usability Testing
In-depth 1-1 & Paired Interviews
Prototype & Live Web App Testing
Direct Mailer A/B Test
Partner with Professional Recruiter
Stakeholder Engagement
We conducted usability tests using the production version and html/css prototypes of the OSAP application.
The team learned many new and useful things from the first round of usability tests and decided to increase the scope for the second round. Instead of 10 participants, they opted for 15. We also added a qualitative A/B test on a direct mailer.
This letter shows the estimated OSAP grants and loans, and summarizes the tuition and awards across programs. Conducting this A/B comparison gave the team clear feedback on “the winner” and how ideas to further clarify the layout and content.
Sample Letter A
Sample Letter B
Improving a government service requires multidisciplinary cohesion
The OSAP team was keen to learn about usability testing and participate in the research process. Some had a short commute to the professional research facility, but many travelled from Thunder Bay to Toronto - that’s 1400km of driving or a 2hr flight!
A broad team of stakeholders attended the research presentations - staff who worked on policy, content, support, and tech. These fine folks took the research insights & recommendations and moved them into action!
The impact
The research provided actionable recommendations to address usability concerns:
We used the first round of usability tests to set a baseline and find the biggest barriers to task completion.
In the following months, a multidisciplinary government team re-evaluated the experience.
In the second round of tests, we saw a marked improvement as a result of design changes, including the resolution of 8 major issues!
Let’s find out if we are the right UX strategy & research partner for your team!
We loved working with the OSAP team. They were keen to learn about usability testing and participate in the research process.
Are you working on a educational tool or app and want to improve it’s usefulness and usability or remove barriers to use?
Let’s find out if we’re a good fit.