Background: The University of Huddersfield 

Inspiring Global Leaders

The University of Huddersfield (informally Huddersfield University) is a public research university located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It has been a University since 1992, but has its origins in a series of institutions dating back to the 19th century.

It has made teaching quality a particular focus of its activities, winning the inaugural Higher Education Academy Global Teaching Excellence Award in 2017, and achieving a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Gold Award, in 2017 and 2023. It has consistently been ranked among the leading universities in England for the proportion of its staff with a teaching qualification, and in 2022 was at the top with 94%

Challenges

Streamlining Student Access

Before implementing myHud, the University of Huddersfield encountered several challenges. Foremost among these were obstacles hindering students' access to essential information:

• Students struggled to locate relevant information due to uncertainty about where to find it.
• Information was dispersed across service silos, lacking a user-focused presentation.
• Department-centric information structures led to fragmentation and inconsistency.
• The prior system had evolved organically over time, resulting in unwieldy complexity.
• Duplication of information compounded management difficulties.

The Ready Education Solution

Implementing myday as myHud

‘The right message to the right student at the right time.’ With that mantra in mind, the myHud project was kicked off.
 
“The myHud platform needed to be the ‘shop window of university services,” says Lydia. The Students’ Union first looked at how the previous student hub worked for students. The Union then set-up focus groups where they listened to the voice of students - how they wanted the future platform to work for them, as well as how they interacted and what they liked and disliked with other popular apps like Amazon and eBay.
 
They were involved in the entirety of the myHud project in the steering group, working group, marketing (content) and project group. In addition to the valuable student input and the Student’s Union’s involvement, Shailesh Appukuttan, Collaborative and Research Systems Manager, highlights the importance of collaboration with colleagues to ensure the project's success.

The Student-First Approach

The key driver for the University of Huddersfield in implementing myHud, Ready Education’s student engagement platform, was focusing on the students’ voice.

“That the Students’ Union was involved from the beginning of the project highlights this collaborative working relationship and the key focus of this project,” explains Lydia Blundell, Head of Engagement at the Students’ Union. “The voice of the students was critical to this project.

Closing the Feedback Loop

Throughout the project, the university has had a pool of students to communicate with and the feedback loop needed to be closed with a ‘you said, we listened’ response. The students also had the final say on the design - 1600 students voted on the final dashboard design and helped shape which tiles appeared and their order.

This was essential in ensuring the app was useful and therefore accessed daily. Both staff and students needed to be communicated with about the app before its launch to ensure awareness and maximize reach on multiple platforms. The university put together a communication plan for both staff and students. It’s a testament to the communication plans that the usage statistics now are as high as they are.

Outcomes

Revolutionising Student Engagement 

Since the implementation of myHud, student engagement at the University of Huddersfield has seen a notable increase. This innovative platform has played a crucial role in centralizing resources and addressing communication challenges. With myHud/myday, students now have access to support and information whenever and wherever they need it.

Whether they're burning the midnight oil on an essay or planning their next day's schedule, students can easily find the resources they require. An impressive 97% of surveyed students have reported finding myHud extremely helpful. Furthermore, the university actively solicits feedback from students to maintain a 'wish list' for future developments, ensuring that the platform continually surpasses expectations and remains relevant to student needs.