Using The Customer Journey Mapping Tool to evaluate the University`s online application process.
The following text outlines my experience of using the customer journey mapping tool to evaluate the University of Johannesburg`s online application process, specifically the MCom Business Management process. The online application process is made of stages that a prospective student goes through. The stages range from deciding on the qualification to study, finding more information on the qualification to applying and getting admission. The journey will end at the communication of the outcome of the application by the University to the applicant. I have decided to; deliberately leave out the registration process as that is an entirely different experience on its own, although it is amongst the most important stages of the life cycle of a student throughout their journey to obtaining a qualification over a set period.
Using the customer journey mapping tool has led me to swop roles with the client of the institution and have an experience of what they go through during the application process. The tool has granted me an opportunity to identify arears of improvement to ensure that the process is sped up to avoid the current delays that may lead to frustrations.
The application process starts off with immediate response that create an impression that the entire process will be completed within a short period. The only frustrating point at the early stage may be the need to create a login pin that follows a certain criteria and with a lot of us spending most of our time on the internet, we find ourselves having to create passwords that are supposed to be easy for us to remember, yet difficult for a hacker to crack. This is a frustration as you are expected to remember the pin for you to make any changes to the application without calling the institution for human assistance.
As soon as an applicant completes the application it gets captured on the University`s records and the system generates a confirmation of receipt letter, which is emailed to the applicant without human interaction. This is a positive aspect and should not be removed; however, things get interesting when human beings interact with the application.
The downfall of the process is that it is not designed to allow the programme used to capture the applications to filter the applications that are incomplete and generate a response to the applicant to request outstanding data. Instead, all applications are routed to another programme that requires a human being to assess the applications and the go back to award the relevant status to each application. This is time consuming on the part of the applicant and the selection officer. The absence of a feature that filters applications by compliance makes the process long and unpleasant.
In addition to the above upon the application exchanging “hands”, it will finally get to the programme coordinator for a decision and if the applicant meets the admission requirements, they will be invited to a literacy test at a later stage. The test is not communicated prior to applying or written anytime of the year. It is completed in the second half of the year whilst applications open in the first half of the year.
The delays identified above call on the marketing team to review the process to ensure that, it grants quicker responses and that communication between the University and the applicant is clear from as early as viewing the admission requirements on the website. There are enough touch points on the journey to ensure that clear messages are communicated with minimal human interaction, for example as soon as an applicant is deemed to meet the admission requirements, the message communicated to the applicant should indicate that there is a final stage that they need to go through prior to receiving the ultimate outcome. The message can be communicated the same way that the acknowledgement of receipt of application is communicated. The use of the Customer Journey Mapping Tool has opened my eyes to unnecessary frustration created by elements of the process that are meant to simplify it.
