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Old Dominion University Financial Aid Website and Student

Perception
Prepared For: Old Dominion University Financial Aid Office
Prepared By: Victoria Siegmund, Student
Old Dominion University
November 24, 2015

Abstract
Old Dominion University Financial Aid Website and Student Perception: A
Recommendation Report
Prepared by: Victoria Siegmund
On October 6, 2015, Dr. Daniel Richards approved the research proposal to determine the
usability of Old Dominion Universitys financial aid website. For ENG 334W Technical Writing,
students were required to find a technical communication problem within Old Dominion
University. My research was meant to expose student perception of the usability of Old
Dominion Universitys financial aid website. This study was carried out with a usability test. The
usability test was done with four peers from ENG 334W Technical Writing. The usability test has
five tasks in total. The tasks ranged from finding the cost of tuition to post graduate loan
repayment. The idea behind the usability test was to gauge the difficulty of finding information
for a variety tasks that are universal to the college experience of students are using financial
aid. One of the most notable things about this study is that the testers believed that they found
all the information they needed. There were various pages of similar information. This
confused the testers into thinking that they found the information that they actually needed.
The scholarship page is a notable example of this. There are a few different pages of
information with different scholarships and one page with general information about
scholarships. Not to mention when you click on the scholarship link on the drop down menu, it
takes you to a page with four different hyperlinks. To get to the general scholarship page, one
must click on the dropdown menu for scholarship and another scholarship link appears. This
was not known to the testers. Not a single tester found the general scholarship page this way.
Another major point is the use of the search bar. One tester in particular used the search bar
extensively. The search bar was able to yield all the information that the student needed. While
the search bar is not an inherently bad tool, the data, especially concerning scholarships and
post graduate loan repayment, is quite different. There was some tasks on the usability test
that were purposely easy to show where the financial website is getting usability right. While
the testers didnt think the tasks were difficult, they were completely unable to find certain
pages. This raises a few concerns of whether or not Old Dominion Universitys financial aid
website is too convoluted. It raises the question as to whether or not the excess amount of
information can inadvertently deceive students. There are obviously ethical and legal
implications for Old Dominion University to have so much information on their financial aid
website. Cutting information because what information is considered important is at the mercy
of individual perception. My recommendation for Old Dominion University would be to put
pages of general information, like the general scholarship page, at the forefront with links to
other more specific scholarships. I would also recommend that Old Dominion University bolster
pages like the post graduate loan repayment page. That page could contain more general
information about post graduate loan repayment. Lack of information is not the issue with Old
Dominion University financial aid website.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.............................................................................................................................................. 4
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 5
Research Methods................................................................................................................................................. 6
- Task 1.Research on financial aid and web design..........4
-Task 2. Usability Test....5

Results ....................................................................................................................................................................... 7
- Task 1.Research on financial aid and web design .. 5-6
-Task 2. Usability Test....6

Conclusion................................................................................................................................................................ 9
Recommendation ............................................................................................................................................... 10
References ............................................................................................................................................................ 11
Appendix A: Usability Test ............................................................................................................................. 12
Appendix B: Graphics ....................................................................................................................................... 13
-Figure 1.1: Ability to Find Information with Search Bar.........................13
-Figure 1.2: Ability to Find Information without Search Bar..........................................13

Executive Summary
At the beginning of the semester, Dr. Daniel Richards ENG 334W Technical Writing class was
given a nearly semester long assignment to uncover a technical communication problem at Old
Dominion University. The project was somewhat open ended so long as it was a technical
communication problem. For this particular assignment, I choose to focus on Old Dominion
Universitys financial aid website.
With the current cost of higher education financial aid is an inevitable part of most college
students experience. Most students either complete a FAFSA when they are applying or before
they apply. Either way, university financial aid websites are one of the first places potential
students interact with the university.
For the study of the financial aid website, I did a usability test to determine the usability of the
ODU financial aid website. The students who participated in the usability test were given a
series of tasks and sub tasks which entailed finding certain information concerning financial aid.
The tasks ranged from finding general information about different loans to post graduate loan
repayment.
An initial analysis of my research showed that students felt quite confident with their ability to
find financial aid information. However upon closer inspection, it was an issue of believing to
have found information versus actually finding that information. In some tasks, students were
unable to find any information. Then there was the issue of the search bar. One tester in
particular relied heavily on the search bar.
Based on my results, ODU should consider consolidating certain pages on their financial aid
website. The issue of consolidating information is especially pertinent to their scholarship page.
Lack of information is not the issue but an overwhelming amount of information may be the
problem. In contrast, the post graduate loan repayment page could use more information
instead of relying heavily on hyperlinks. Hyperlinks are not necessarily bad, because there is
information that must be accessed through National Student Loans Data System (NSLDS).
However, it would not hurt the university to include more general information about post loan
repayment.

Introduction
In the beginning of the semester Dr. Richards gave an assignment to the class to a find technical
communication problem within Old Dominion University. The end result of this semester long
project would be a recommendation report offering a solution to this technical communication
problem.
Currently Old Dominion Universitys financial aid website contains a wealth of information.
Similar to the overall design of the Old Dominion University website, the financial aid website
contains hyperlink upon hyperlink. For the most part, the pages are different but contain
information that is similar. It is similar in the sense of subject matter but contains information
that pertains to different areas within the same subject matter. This can potentially create
confusion among students who are seeking information about financial aid particularly
information about scholarships and post graduate loan repayment. As far as scholarships are
concerned, the drop down menu for financial aid has a link to the scholarship page. This
scholarship page contains four links that contain information about specific scholarships. In
order to get to the general scholarship page, you have to go to the scholarship drop down and
click scholarships. This means there are about five different scholarship pages. This creates an
unnecessary amount of work for the student. Another page that is particularly important to
students who use financial aid is the post graduate loan repayment page. Currently this page
contains four links to information about loan repayment and the National Student Loan Data
System (NSLDS). These links are appropriate; however, the post graduate loan repayment page
could benefit from more general information about loan repayment. It would give the student a
general idea of what they might look for in these links. The links by themselves without any
other information gives the student very little context of what they might need to focus on.
I found in my research that most of the testers felt that they were comfortable navigating the
financial aid website. The perception of how well they navigated the website and their actual
ability was vastly different. All of the testers are students of Old Dominion University and have
used the financial aid website at some point in their academic career. I purposely put tasks that
were easier to find in order to show where Old Dominion University is successful with usability.
The two tasks that the testers struggled with the most were finding information about
scholarships and post graduate loan repayment.
The main issue with the scholarship page is that there are several of them. The post graduate
loan repayment page has the opposite problem. It lacks information. Without the use of the
search bar only one tester found the general information scholarship page which talks about
outside scholarships and gives tips for finding scholarships. As far as the post graduate loan
repayment page is concerned, none of the testers found the page without the search bar. The
potential issue of these problematic elements of website is how it effects student perception
not only of financial aid but of the university in general.

Although both of these pages are not intentionally confusing, they do make it difficult to find
general information. My research shows that these pages have the potential to alienate its
audience. One of the first interactions prospective students have with a university is with the
website especially the financial aid website in order to find the FAFSA deadline or tuition costs.
Finding cost of attendance and FAFSA deadlines are straight forward on Old Dominion
Universitys financial aid website. However if a student decides they would like to know more
about scholarships the university has to offer, then they face a barrage of different webpages
and hyperlinks before they even get to a general scholarship page. Students who are about to
graduate may be looking for more information about loan repayment. They run into surprising
lack of information on Old Dominion Universitys financial aid website. While students dont
repay loans to Old Dominion University, it would behoove them to have more general loan
repayment information. I recommend that Old Dominion University try to consolidate the main
scholarship page with the scholarship page containing general information.

Research Methods
I began by doing research on financial aid and web design. My primary research constituted a
usability test. In order to determine the tasks of the usability test, I researched what
information was pertinent for students who were using financial aid.
In order to complete this recommendation report, I broke my research and analysis down into
two main tasks:
1. Secondary research on information about perception of financial aid and web design.
This was used to help determine the tasks for the usability test.
2. Designed a usability test with five tasks.
Task 1. Research on financial aid and web design
We were required to do outside research in order to support our topic. The outside research
that I choose to focus on was on perceptions of financial aid and the importance of good web
design. The research mainly focused on these topics:
The inherent difficulty of the financial aid process especially for first time students.
The importance of clean web design for better navigation.
The use of white space.
This information was from a variety of sources. They ranged from a scholarly article from the
National Tax Journal about the complexity of the FAFSA to blogs about the positive and
negative uses of white space. One website in particular focuses specifically on good web design
for financial aid websites. Another article from the Nielsen Norman group discussed how
unconventional web design can be detrimental to a website. These were the main pieces of
literature used to help shape the usability test.

Task 2. Usability Test

On October 27, 2015, I conducted a usability test on the usability of the Old Dominion
University financial aid website. I had 4 testers who took the financial aid usability test and 3
testers who completed the usability test. The usability test consisted of five tasks. The testers
were asked to complete the five tasks. The tasks required the students to navigate the financial
aid website in order to find specific information. That tasks were determined by how pertinent
the information was to the general students experience with financial aid. The tasks ranged
from finding the cost of attendance to post graduate loan repayment.

Results
In this section, I am going to present the result of my research. For each of the tasks presented,
I am going to discuss the most significant results.
Task 1. Research on financial aid and web design
The process of financial aid can be a difficult process at times. It requires consistency and
attention to detail. Federal student aid can create uncertainty which may lead people to opt
out of college or choose cheaper alternatives. Colleges with good aid communication tend to
have better admission and retention rates (Scott-Clayton and Dynarski, 2006, p.2). The financial
aid process can be inherently difficult to understand; however, the university financial aid
website can mitigate some of the complexity. This is why it is eminent that financial aid
websites are able to effectively communicate information without further confusing the
student. Poor web design is an easy way to frustrate potential students.
One of the first places potential students interact with a university is through their website.
One article focuses on good financial aid web design. Two tips in particular that stand out are
using a hierarchical tree-structure in order to present the reader with a clear path throughout
the page and annotating and categorizing links (Designing a Financial Aid Office Web Site,
n.d.). This is especially pertinent to the scholarship page and the post graduate loan repayment
page. The scholarship page has several related pages and students have a chance at ending up
at any one of them. The main scholarship page is a page with links to several different
scholarships. There is a scholarship page of general information pertaining to outside
scholarships and ODU specific scholarships. Another major point of contention with Old
Dominion Universitys financial aid website is their use of hyperlinks. Pages should stick to one
topic and links should be used to take the user to more specific information (Designing a
Financial Aid Office Web Site, n.d.). The main scholarship page with the four links has no
information about scholarships in general. The general information scholarship page has some
general information. The two pages could be combined in order to create more cohesion.
The post graduate loan repayment page has the opposite problem. This page lacks information
and is arguably difficult to find. The post graduate loan repayment page has an excessive
amount of white space. White space is not inherently bad and it can create a more cohesive,

usable webpage if used correctly (Jones 2010). A lack of white space is a bad thing because the
web page is usually over cluttered and hard to navigate. Old Dominion University typically
doesnt use white space to its advantage. The post graduate loan repayment page has a large
amount of white space but not for design reasons. There are four links on the post graduate
loan repayment page and an awkwardly placed picture. This page doesnt look like an
intentional use of negative space. It looks like someone just put all the information they felt
was necessary without regard for design.
Task 2. Usability Test

On October 27, 2015, I conducted a usability test on the usability of the Old Dominion
University financial aid website. I had 4 testers who took the financial aid usability test, and 3
testers who completed the usability test. The usability test consisted of five tasks. The testers
were asked to complete the five tasks. The tasks required the students navigate the financial
aid website in order to find specific information. These tasks were determined by how
pertinent the information was to the general student experience with financial aid. The tasks
ranged from finding the cost of attendance to post graduate loan repayment.
I received 3 tests back which represents 75 percent of the 4 testers. All of the testers were
students of Old Dominion University and have encountered the financial aid website. Their
level of proficiency with the financial website is unknown but all the participants were either
juniors or seniors. One of the testers used the search bar to find several of the tasks which
changed the results significantly. I purposely made some tasks easier than others to highlight
where the financial aid website was strong. The main findings of the usability test are as
follows:
100 percent of the testers with the use of the search bar were able to find how to apply
for aid
66 percent of the testers were able to find the cost of tuition with the search bar
66 percent of the testers were able to find information about federal loans and
scholarship information with the search bar
Only 33 percent of testers were able to find information about post graduate loan
repayment with the search bar
Without the search bar, 66 percent of the testers found tuition costs and how to apply
for aid.
Only 33 percent of testers found information about the types of federal aid and
scholarships.
None of the testers found information post graduate loan repayment without the use of
the search bar.

Conclusion
My conclusions are based on the research presented. The conclusions are based on the
secondary and primary research completed for this issue.
Given that the financial aid process is difficult on its own, poor web design on Old Dominion
Universitys financial website further hinders the process. This is especially true for the
scholarship page and the post graduate loan repayment page. It is also applicable to finding
information for the types of federal aids available. Only 33 percent of the testers found these
tasks without the help of the search bar. The tasks are relevant to a normal students financial
aid experience. All students using financial aid need to know about the cost of tuition and the
different types of federal aid available. While it isnt necessary to have a scholarship to get
through college, most students would probably be interested in that information. Post graduate
loan repayment is another important factor of using financial aid. There will come time when
students will have to pay back the loans they have taken out.
While this information can mostly be found in outside places, it would be helpful to the student
to be able to find some information on the website. Not only does it save time for the student
but the school helps build a reliable, positive relationship with the student. It can create an
environment where the student feels they are able to find help at their university or the
university that they plan to attend. The scholarship and the post graduate loan repayment page
being confusing and poorly designed inadvertently depicts somewhat of an uncaring attitude as
to how students pay for school.
The labyrinth of scholarship pages makes it difficult for students who are interested in
scholarships. There are scholarships specific to certain audiences. This isnt a bad thing but the
main scholarship page has links to these specific scholarships. The student may not even know
what these links mean. Not to mention that the student can stumble upon any number of these
scholarship pages. These scholarships may not be applicable to them so they may be lead to
believe that there is nothing out there for them. As far as the post graduate loan repayment
page is concerned, there is little information on Old Dominion Universitys financial aid website
about post graduate loan repayment. Old Dominion University does not need to go into explicit
detail about post graduate loan repayment, but it would benefit them to at least give some
general information.

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Recommendation
I recommend that Old Dominion University try to consolidate information of the same subject
matter into one single page. This is especially important for their scholarship page. From the
single, general scholarship page, incorporate the links into this general information page. The
information on the main scholarship page should be as general as possible. The Old Dominion
financial aid website does have a general scholarship page, but it does not appear to be the
main scholarship page. I would recommend that Old Dominion University combine these two
pages, the page with the four links and the general information, in order to create a more
cohesive page.
The post graduate loan repayment page could use more information. It has no general
information just four links randomly thrown into a webpage. I would recommend that Old
Dominion University try and bolster up the post graduate loan repayment page. I recommend
that Old Dominion University add general information about loan repayment and briefly discuss
each of the links. Introducing the links would give the student more insight on what they are
clicking on and what to look for in each of those links.
Overall, Old Dominion University would benefit from consolidating many of their pages. Links
on a page with little or no explanation means very little to the student. They see the links but
they dont really know what they are for if there is no explanation. Incorporating links into
pages that are of a similar subject matter would reduce the amount pages that students need
to click through without drastically reducing information. I would also recommend that Old
Dominion University take into careful consideration their use of white space. There are
webpages in which there very little or no white space and there are pages with an excessive
amount of white space. The post graduate loan repayment page is one notable example. As
stated before, white space isnt bad. Old Dominion University should look into using white
space to its advantage. White space used properly is not only aesthetically pleasing but
improves usability, because it creates an even balance between negative space and text. This
allows the user to be able to scan the page more effectively.
Old Dominion University has a good amount of information. With improved web design, it
could bolster student relationships with the university. Like a business, a navigable website
builds trust between a business and its customers. It will make the shopping experience more
enjoyable which leads to increased sales. When students are considering schools, the first place
the student interacts with the school is the website. It is of utmost importance for a school to
have good website especially the financial aid website. The financial aid website is particularly
important because the knowledge found on that page can make or break a persons decision to
attend that school.

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References
Dynarski, S.M. ,Scott-Clayton, J.E. (2006). The Cost of Complexity in Federal Student Aid:
Lessons from Optimal Tax Theory and Behavioral Economics. National Tax Journal,
59(2), 319-356
Sherwin, K.S. (2014). Breaking Web Design Coventions= Breaking the User Experience.
Retrieved from http://www.nngroup.com/articles/breaking-web-conventions/
Designing a Financial Aid Office Web Site. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.finaid.org/educators/website.phtml
Jones, Henry (2010).Whitespace: The Underutilized Design Element. Retrieved from
http://webdesignledger.com/whitespace-the-underutilized-design-element

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Appendix A: Usability Test

1. Find the cost of tuition for a full time commuter student for one year (No meal plan,
12 credits)
2. Find the process for applying for aid and how financial aid is determined
3. Find out the different types of aid offered
find the different types of loans (Direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans,
direct PLUS loans)
find information concerning the federal student loan limit for different types
of loans (dependent and independent students
find the interest rates for the different types of federal loans
4. Find information about different types of scholarships (outside scholarships, honors,
tips for receiving scholarships, etc...)
find information about applying outside scholarships to financial aid
5. Find information about post graduate loan repayment
find out about different loan repayment plans
find information about defaulting on loans (what does it mean)
find information about deferring loans (what does this mean)

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Appendix B: Graphics
Figure 1.1
Ability to Find Information With Search Bar
3 Particpants
Loan Reapyment

33.00%

Scholarships

66.60%

Federal Loan Information

66.60%
100%

Applying for Aid

Tuition

66.60%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00% 90.00% 100.00%

Figure 1.2

Ability to Find Information Without Search Bar

3 Participants
100.00%

Percentage of Particpants

90.00%
80.00%
70.00%

66.60%

66.60%

60.00%
50.00%
40.00%

33.30%

33.30%

30.00%
20.00%
10.00%

0.00%

0.00%
Tution

Applying for Aid

Types of Federal
Loans

Scholarships

Loan Reapyment

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