As the Student Usability Panel (SUP) wraps up its second year, building an even stronger foundation, it's value is clearer than ever. Our ongoing conversations give us deeper insight into student needs, inform better digital decisions, and sustain meaningful student engagement.
Mapping moments that matter
A major focus this year was the journey of students in crisis and their paths to wellness support. Through workshops and follow‑up sessions, panel members helped map what it’s like to search for help, make sense of options, and move between services during stressful moments.Â
Students called out where experiences felt overwhelming, unclear, or emotionally heavy, and where small design or content changes could make a real difference. This work informed updates to student journey maps and urgent support request pages. Thank you to the Student Life and LearningÌý²¹²Ô»å Student Wellness Hub teams who co-hosted these workshops and provided the pizza!
Prioritizing accessibility
Accessibility and inclusion came up throughout the year, starting with how meetings were run and extending into dedicated conversations about barriers students might encounter in Â鶹´«Ã½Íøվ’s digital spaces.
These discussions aligned closely with Â鶹´«Ã½Íøվ’s broader accessibility work, including the Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ Accessibility Strategy and long-term planning to improve digital access.
Digital transformation from a student perspective
We also talked about how students’ digital experiences are changing, including revisiting the topic of AI use. Our discussion built on earlier conversations about how tools, expectations, and concerns are evolving as AI usage becomes more embedded in academic life.
Panel members also helped lay the groundwork for a university‑wide content model. The panel identified which types of content matter most to students and how they expect to find and understand information online. This input is feeding directly into how we think about content priorities and consistency across Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ platforms.
Alongside these bigger conversations, students took part in focused interviews, group discussions and testing related to revisions to Â鶹´«Ã½Íøվ’s , the Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ brand, and tuition tax receipts, helping improve key tools and resources for all students.
It’s SUP to you! Thank you to the students behind the work!
Over the past year, panel members showed up for thoughtful, sometimes challenging conversations and offered candid feedback on systems and content that shape everyday student life at Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾.
To the students on our panel: your willingness to speak openly about what works, what feels confusing, and what can be emotionally difficult to navigate helped ground our work in reality. Our conversations were filled with important reminders that at the centre of every webpage or piece of content are real people trying to make sense of complex situations, often under pressure.
So thank you for sharing your time and perspectives so generously. Your voices will continue to shape how Â鶹´«Ã½Íøվ’s digital experiences evolve in the years ahead.
Have a great summer! Looking forward to catching up with those of you returning to the panel for next year’s cycle in September!
Join the 2026/27 Student Usability Panel
We’ll be looking for one foundation year student to join the panel in the upcoming academic year year. Watch our articles for our recruitment announcement.
