Problem
Identifying a semester or short-term study abroad option is much like choosing a four-year college or university. Students have more options than are possible to evaluate, so they have to filter their choices down during the decision process. Furthermore, even though college students are most likely to study abroad during their junior year, more and more students start evaluating options as freshmen, significantly lengthening the decision process from nine months to eighteen months.
Traditionally, study abroad offices on college campuses work with providers like the Institute for Study Abroad (IFSA) and myriad others, and those providers often present students with similar web search tools. Students identify their best-fit experience based on location, term, and area of study. Although important, these elements fail to account for a student's quality of life while abroad — and more nuanced elements such as climate, housing preferences, and experiential learning opportunities may be the difference between an average and an exceptional experience.
Solution
We imagined a tool called Global Wayfinder that would elevate search filters like internship opportunities, accreditation, and access to hobbies and activities. Additionally, we imagined a tool that would accelerate the exploration process for younger students, providing them with an online white board where they could document their questions and concerns, and update them as their preferences changed throughout the long decision process.
Research
We conducted research to evaluate customer needs and desired functionality. Initially, we imagined Global Wayfinder as a separate tool independent of our website, but as we considered options, researched similar tools in adjacent industries, and interviewed developers, it became clear that Global Wayfinder was an integral part of the primary website: it was the program search tool on steroids.
Project Planning & Development
Once we selected an independent development partner, we entered into a massive, collaborative project with the vendor, in-house Salesforce developers, and our internal project team. We created a project roadmap, built site wireframes, and launched content transition before writing and testing new code. This process took more than a year, and we certainly experienced bumps along the way. Notably, in the midst of the project, the COVID outbreak elevated to a pandemic, causing an organization-wide crisis-level effort to get students home safely and reposition the organization for long-term success.
Testing, Testing, Testing
By the summer of 2020, we had a testable product, though aspects of the site itself were not ready for public consumption. We entered into a test and resolve phase, with tickets prioritized as high, medium, and low. High priority tickets required a resolution before product launch. While we had a strong preference to resolve medium priority tickets, we knew that those items would not delay launch. Low priority tickets could wait until after launch for resolution.
Product Launch & Promotion
The marketing team had been planning for the launch of Global Wayfinder for months, preparing creative assets from the product while under development. We planned a series of email blasts, newsletter stories, social media posts, videos, and external media to promote the launch.
Given IFSA's business model and the persona characteristics, we focused the bulk of our promotions on the B2B audience. Over five weeks, a five-email drip campaign introduced the site and Global Wayfinder, addressing common questions through short, on-demand video tutorials. External media directed to a promotional video and an informational blog post outlining key features and benefits as well as the main site. Social media posts encouraged use of the tool for B2B and B2C customers.
Results
Global Wayfinder launched on August 28, 2020 at the height of pandemic lockdown. Students who returned to college campuses that fall attended classes from dorm rooms and wore masks indoors. With international travel prohibited, study abroad was not an option, so overall website traffic fell to 40% below levels from the year prior.
Despite these obstacles, Global Wayfinder reversed these declining trends in its first three months of operation, recording meaningful improvements over the prior pre-pandemic year:
28% increase in sessions
74% increase in users
5% increase in pageviews
9% decline in bounce rate
43% increase in new sessions
Post-Launch Accolades
In May 2021, Global Wayfinder earned a 2020 Innovative Technology Finalist award in GoAbroad's Innovation Award competition, only nine months after the product publicly launched. Thousands of students had created accounts, using the search functionality to identify their best-fit study abroad experience, and using the Toolbox features to plan and prepare for meetings with study abroad advisors.
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