Case Study:
Scholarship America

How might we build a digital experience that boosts confidence in how students pay for college?

Scholarship America is the nation’s largest nonprofit private scholarship provider and was named one of Forbe’s Top 100 Charities in 2022. As a thought leader in its industry, they continually seek to remove barriers to educational attainment on behalf of students.

A groups of students sharing their experiences searching and applying for scholarships at a workshop in Washington, DC

Learn

Although data exists around how students approach finding and applying for scholarships, it rarely comes directly from students themselves. To build deeper empathy and sharpen our perspective on their experiences, Olio conducted a body research to learn from students via digital surveys and one-on-one interviews.

An internal group of Scholarship America stakeholders collaborating at a customer journey workshop

Strategize

Building on insights from our research, Olio developed personas and customer journey tools for Scholarship America to leverage while evolving their student experience. Audits and workshops also lead to a series of UX/UI, content, and communication plan recommendations aimed at alleviating common and pervasive pain points that students face.

A graphic from Scholarship America’s branded student content

Activate

Olio’s student research and recommendations have been applied to everything from social media content that elevates student voices, to plans for a new student resource hub on Scholarship America’s website, to a new microsite landing page pilot with scholarship partner Amazon Future Engineers. Research findings were also shared with the National Scholarship Providers Association to influence how the industry understands students’ relationships to scholarships.

Results

increased time spent on scholarship pages and decreased bounce rates

increased time spent on scholarship pages and decreased bounce rates

student-centric social media presence

student-centric social media presence

Optimized UX/UI aligned to how students think and act

Optimized UX/UI aligned to how students think and act

“Human-Centered Design is in olio’s DNA – whether you are looking for an agency who specifically focuses on human-centered design or not, it simply comes with how they approach work, understand problems and present solutions. Every agency should take a lesson from them.

— Amy Robinson, Scholarship America

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