UCLA Bruinwalk - Enrollment Insights Feature

Transforming static course listings into a demand-driven platform for 53K+ users using real-time enrollment data.

Data-Driven Product

Search & Discovery

HigherEd

UCLA Student Media

My Role

Product Designer

Timeline

Jan. 2024 - Mar. 2025

Team

4 Designers, 8 Developers

Skills / Tools

Figma; UX research, UI design, prototyping

Bruinwalk.com

What's Bruinwalk?

UCLA’s trusted academic resource for professors, courses, and apartments

Bruinwalk has long been an indispensable product for UCLA students, offering professor reviews, grade distributions, course insights, alongside apartment ratings for the Westwood area.. It's our own version of the incredibly popular site, "RateMyProfessor", that serves thousands of students.

As a completely free SaaS platform built by students for students under UCLA Student Media, Bruinwalk serves over 53,000 users and attracts 30,000+ monthly visitors.

Overview

Course registration at UCLA is notoriously stressful, with high-demand classes filling up within hours. Students often relied on manual refreshing of the MyUCLA course enrollment site, leading to frustration and uncertainty.

The redesigned Bruinwalk platform aimed to address these challenges by introducing real-time enrollment tracking, transforming it from a static review site into a dynamic academic tool. The new feature provides students with immediate updates on seat availability while also offering historical enrollment trends—all in one place.

As a designer on this project, I focused on redesigning the user interface to integrate live data seamlessly and create an intuitive, accessible experience for students during registration periods.

Problem

Before: Fragmented Tools and Stressful Registration

Manual Refreshing

Constantly refreshing MyUCLA to check seat availability was time-consuming and frustrating.

Uncertainty

High-demand classes often filled up quickly, leaving students unsure about their chances of enrollment.

Limited Options

Existing competitors and similar third-party tools like Hotseat and BerkeleyTime offered partial solutions but lacked integration of live data with historical trends

After: A Holistic Solution

Real-Time Seat Availability

Bruinwalk provides real-time updates on seat availability by pulling data directly from UCLA’s registration API system. This eliminates the need for students to manually refresh MyUCLA, saving time and reducing frustration during registration.

Historical Trends for Better Decision-Making

By combining live tracking with historical enrollment trends, Bruinwalk empowers students to make more informed decisions about course selection. This feature helps students anticipate seat availability and plan their schedules strategically, offering actionable insights.

Streamlined Registration Process

The platform simplifies the registration process by consolidating critical information into one interface. Students no longer need to rely on multiple tools, ensuring a seamless and stress-free experience.

Research

To ensure the effectiveness of this feature, I conducted extensive research into user pain points and competitive analysis of existing enrollment tools with surveys and user interviews.

Common User Pain Points

Stress During Registration

Students felt anxious about missing out on high-demand classes due to slow or outdated systems.

Lack of Real-Time Updates

The MyUCLA system required constant refreshing, which was inefficient and unreliable during peak times.

Scattered Information

Students had to rely on multiple tools (e.g., MyUCLA for live data and third-party tools for trends), creating a fragmented experience.

Competitive Analysis (Hotseat.io & BerkeleyTime)

Hotseat

Provides UCLA students with real-time updates on enrollment status when seats open in a class. However, they don't have real-time enrollment graphs and only shows real-time drops, and not enrollment.

BerkeleyTime

Presents enrollment trends for UC Berkeley courses over time, helping students predict when spots might open. While useful, it lacks real-time seat availability.

Solution

The tutor-facing dashboard was designed with simplicity and functionality in mind, featuring:

Live Data Integration

The development team implemented a system that pulls real-time enrollment data directly from UCLA’s registration API system. This allowed students to view current seat availability instantly.

User-Centric Site Redesign

The user interface was overhauled to seamlessly incorporate live updates while maintaining clarity and accessibility. Key features included:

Dynamic Status Indicators

Dynamic indicators showing course statuses (e.g., OPEN, WAITLIST, FULL) alongside special statuses like CANCELLED or RESTRICTED.

Prioritizing the Enrollment Tracker

The layout was optimized to prioritize the live enrollment tracker, ensuring it remained the focal point during high-pressure registration periods. The clean and intuitive design reduced cognitive load and made navigation effortless.

Design Debate

Separate vs. Combined Enrollment & Drop Graphs

A crucial design decision revolved around how to present enrollment trends effectively:

Initial Idea — Separate Graphs

We initially considered using two separate graphs—one for enrollment trends and another for drop rates—to provide detailed insights into each metric.

Final Decision — Combined Scrollable Graphs

Based on user feedback, I proposed consolidating both metrics into a single scrollable graph that allows students to view enrollment and drop trends along a quarter timeline.

Why This Approach Worked:

Eliminated the need to toggle between multiple charts, reducing cognitive load during decision-making.
Provided a more intuitive way to analyze course availability holistically within one context.
Reduced visual clutter, making the interface cleaner and easier to navigate.

Why This Approach Worked:

Eliminated the need to toggle between multiple charts, reducing cognitive load during decision-making.
Provided a more intuitive way to analyze course availability holistically within one context.
Reduced visual clutter, making the interface cleaner and easier to navigate.

Final Design + alternatives

Impact

Transforming Course Registration for Thousands of UCLA Students

The redesigned Bruinwalk platform is positioned to revolutionize course registration at UCLA. By integrating live enrollment data and historical trends into a single interface, the platform empowers students to make informed decisions with ease and confidence.

As a free SaaS service built by students for students under UCLA Student Media, Bruinwalk continues to serve its 53,000+ users and attract 30,000+ monthly visitors, cementing its role as an indispensable academic resource.

Delivering Real-Time Solutions

The redesigned Bruinwalk platform introduced real-time enrollment tracking, empowering students with immediate updates during registration periods.

Streamlining Registration Efficiency

By eliminating manual refreshing and integrating live data with historical trends, Bruinwalk reduced registration stress and saved students valuable time.

Strengthening Competitive Edge

Bruinwalk now surpasses third-party tools like Hotseat by offering a comprehensive solution—completely free of charge. This enhancement solidifies Bruinwalk’s position as a trusted academic tool built by UCLA students for their peers.

What I Learned

This project reinforced the importance of user feedback and iterative design in creating impactful solutions. By consolidating enrollment and drop trends into a single scrollable graph, we simplified the user experience while maintaining functionality.

Additionally, the integration of live data demonstrated how real-time information can address critical pain points and transform stressful processes into seamless experiences.

Through this redesign, Bruinwalk not only enhanced its value as an academic resource but also showcased how student-driven innovation can solve real-world challenges effectively.

Check out Bruinwalk.com

Credits: Katelyn, Shua, Mandy; UCLA Student Media DevOps Team

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