Research & Product Design
COLLEGEVINE
A smarter way for high school students to navigate their future — combining universities, counselors, advisors, and AI Agents in one place. From personalized college matches and test preparation to real connections with admissions officers.
Year :
2023-2024
Industry :
AI & EdTech / Saas
Client :
CollegeVine
Project Duration :
1 year
Problem :
CollegeVine was struggling with low conversion rates in critical flows such as sign-ups, advising sessions, and scholarship applications. Students faced friction due to complex navigation and an overwhelming onboarding experience. On the counselor side, dashboards lacked the tools needed to manage multiple students effectively. And as the platform grew, human counselors alone couldn’t keep up with demand or guarantee 24/7 availability.
Solution :
We redesigned the student-facing experience with a strong growth focus, simplifying journeys and introducing clearer calls-to-action to boost conversions. The counselor dashboard was rethought with scheduling, chat, and student management features, enabling advisors to work more efficiently.
At the same time, we designed Sage, an AI Agent that could answer questions instantly, recommend schools, provide homework help, and connect students with admissions officers. This hybrid model allowed the platform to scale, with Sage handling availability at scale while human counselors provided personalized guidance.
To support acquisition and visibility, we also created branded assets for social campaigns and designed custom landing pages that drove traffic and sign-ups, ensuring consistency between growth marketing and product design.
Challenge :
One of the biggest challenges was designing for a diverse audience — students, parents, and counselors — while keeping the experience accessible and clear. Another key challenge was finding the right balance between automation and human advising, ensuring the AI agent built trust rather than replacing counselors. Finally, it was crucial to align marketing visuals with the product experience to maintain a consistent and credible brand presence.
Summary :
CollegeVine positioned itself as a hybrid guidance platform, combining the reach and scale of an AI Agent with the depth of human counselors. Through UX improvements, counselor tooling, and growth-focused design, the platform achieved:
Increased conversion rates and adoption of scholarship/advising features.
Positive feedback from counselors using the redesigned dashboard.
Improved trust and engagement with a 24/7 AI-driven support layer (Sage) complementing traditional advising.
More Projects
Research & Product Design
COLLEGEVINE
A smarter way for high school students to navigate their future — combining universities, counselors, advisors, and AI Agents in one place. From personalized college matches and test preparation to real connections with admissions officers.
Year :
2023-2024
Industry :
AI & EdTech / Saas
Client :
CollegeVine
Project Duration :
1 year
Problem :
CollegeVine was struggling with low conversion rates in critical flows such as sign-ups, advising sessions, and scholarship applications. Students faced friction due to complex navigation and an overwhelming onboarding experience. On the counselor side, dashboards lacked the tools needed to manage multiple students effectively. And as the platform grew, human counselors alone couldn’t keep up with demand or guarantee 24/7 availability.
Solution :
We redesigned the student-facing experience with a strong growth focus, simplifying journeys and introducing clearer calls-to-action to boost conversions. The counselor dashboard was rethought with scheduling, chat, and student management features, enabling advisors to work more efficiently.
At the same time, we designed Sage, an AI Agent that could answer questions instantly, recommend schools, provide homework help, and connect students with admissions officers. This hybrid model allowed the platform to scale, with Sage handling availability at scale while human counselors provided personalized guidance.
To support acquisition and visibility, we also created branded assets for social campaigns and designed custom landing pages that drove traffic and sign-ups, ensuring consistency between growth marketing and product design.
Challenge :
One of the biggest challenges was designing for a diverse audience — students, parents, and counselors — while keeping the experience accessible and clear. Another key challenge was finding the right balance between automation and human advising, ensuring the AI agent built trust rather than replacing counselors. Finally, it was crucial to align marketing visuals with the product experience to maintain a consistent and credible brand presence.
Summary :
CollegeVine positioned itself as a hybrid guidance platform, combining the reach and scale of an AI Agent with the depth of human counselors. Through UX improvements, counselor tooling, and growth-focused design, the platform achieved:
Increased conversion rates and adoption of scholarship/advising features.
Positive feedback from counselors using the redesigned dashboard.
Improved trust and engagement with a 24/7 AI-driven support layer (Sage) complementing traditional advising.
More Projects
Research & Product Design
COLLEGEVINE
A smarter way for high school students to navigate their future — combining universities, counselors, advisors, and AI Agents in one place. From personalized college matches and test preparation to real connections with admissions officers.
Year :
2023-2024
Industry :
AI & EdTech / Saas
Client :
CollegeVine
Project Duration :
1 year
Problem :
CollegeVine was struggling with low conversion rates in critical flows such as sign-ups, advising sessions, and scholarship applications. Students faced friction due to complex navigation and an overwhelming onboarding experience. On the counselor side, dashboards lacked the tools needed to manage multiple students effectively. And as the platform grew, human counselors alone couldn’t keep up with demand or guarantee 24/7 availability.
Solution :
We redesigned the student-facing experience with a strong growth focus, simplifying journeys and introducing clearer calls-to-action to boost conversions. The counselor dashboard was rethought with scheduling, chat, and student management features, enabling advisors to work more efficiently.
At the same time, we designed Sage, an AI Agent that could answer questions instantly, recommend schools, provide homework help, and connect students with admissions officers. This hybrid model allowed the platform to scale, with Sage handling availability at scale while human counselors provided personalized guidance.
To support acquisition and visibility, we also created branded assets for social campaigns and designed custom landing pages that drove traffic and sign-ups, ensuring consistency between growth marketing and product design.
Challenge :
One of the biggest challenges was designing for a diverse audience — students, parents, and counselors — while keeping the experience accessible and clear. Another key challenge was finding the right balance between automation and human advising, ensuring the AI agent built trust rather than replacing counselors. Finally, it was crucial to align marketing visuals with the product experience to maintain a consistent and credible brand presence.
Summary :
CollegeVine positioned itself as a hybrid guidance platform, combining the reach and scale of an AI Agent with the depth of human counselors. Through UX improvements, counselor tooling, and growth-focused design, the platform achieved:
Increased conversion rates and adoption of scholarship/advising features.
Positive feedback from counselors using the redesigned dashboard.
Improved trust and engagement with a 24/7 AI-driven support layer (Sage) complementing traditional advising.