In the coming months, Tufts Technology Services will be leading focus groups to evaluate the Student Information System, aiming to refresh the site to enable more intuitive and functional use for students and faculty.
The SIS interface, built in 2013, has never been updated, according to Paul Bergen, director of educational technology and learning spaces. “[SIS’s] underlying technologies are now outdated, and the user experience does not align with current expectations,” Bergen wrote in a joint statement with other TTS staff to the Daily. “It lacks a mobile version, poses challenges around accessibility compliance, and overall does not represent Tufts University’s people-focused community values.”
TTS used announcements within SIS and Canvas to recruit undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty, to participate in focus groups. Six focus groups — two composed of undergraduate students, two of graduate students and two of faculty — will meet with TTS staff over Zoom to voice their concerns with SIS and provide suggestions for how to improve the site.
Ryan Evans, TTS’ principal service designer, explained that focus group participants will be able to submit written or verbal feedback about a variety of functions in SIS. “In the focus groups we will ask participants to share their thoughts on the look and feel of SIS, navigation, findability, and on several common tasks,” Evans wrote.
Bergen noted several existing problems with the interface, emphasizing that “the bar is low” for improvements. “We aim to make the system more user-friendly and improve navigation. At the very least, our goal is to update the existing functionality with a responsive, mobile-friendly interface using modern technologies. That alone should result in greater ease of use and improve the overall user experience,” Bergen wrote.
Christopher Tatro, student admissions and records manager, echoed Bergen’s views of the current interface and emphasized the need for a site that is accessible for everyday uses, such as course searches.
The refresh is expected to occur in two stages, with the first step incorporating focus group feedback to decide which projects are most pressing to community members. “Our aim is to prioritize the key issues for the first phase of work over the coming year, then tackle more challenging improvements in a potential second phase,” Bergen wrote.
According to Tatro, many current complaints about SIS have to do with its incompatibility with mobile devices. “We frequently hear that the site is outdated and ‘clunky’ to use, and I don’t disagree,” Tatro wrote. “The most glaring issue is that students can’t use it to register for classes on their phones. We haven’t kept up with what students and faculty expect from technology, and that’s one of the main drivers behind this refresh project.”
TTS hopes to have SIS fully revamped by course registration in spring of 2027.
