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PH1 core capbility
YEARS EXPERIENCE
10+ years
TYPICAL CLIENT
VP Digital, VP Marketing & Communications, Director of Recruitment & Admissions
NECESSARY TIMELINE
4 to 6 months
BUDGET NECESSARY
Up to $100,000
Our POV
Universities and colleges consistently overestimate how well they understand the applicant journey. The internal view — built from marketing analytics, CRM data, and admissions counselor observations — describes what happened. It rarely explains why prospective students disengaged, where they went when they left your website, or what they believed about your institution before they decided not to apply.
The gap between the journey leadership believes applicants take and the journey they actually take is almost always larger than anyone expects. The moments that cost the most applications are rarely the ones being tracked. The sources applicants trust most — peers, social, AI assistants, ranking sites — rarely appear in internal dashboards. The questions they need answered before they will seriously consider your institution are often not answered anywhere on your site.
Journey mapping exists to close that gap. Not as a visualization exercise, not as a process map of admissions workflows — but as a behavioral picture of how real applicants and students move, with evidence specific enough that leadership can act on it and a prioritized list of improvements that can be sequenced against real findings instead of internal opinion.
What We Do
We design and facilitate a structured research program that combines moderated applicant interviews, contextual observation of website behavior, and sessions with current students and frontline admissions and student services staff. We map the journey from the first moment a prospective student becomes aware of your institution through program discovery, application, offer, registration, and onboarding.
At each stage we capture: the questions applicants are trying to answer, the sources they consult, the friction points that cause disengagement, and the moments where a simpler or more personalized experience would directly move conversion. We layer in desk research on how applicants describe your institution in their own words — in forums, social, reviews, and AI-generated summaries — to understand the mental model they arrive with before they ever reach your website.
What We'll Deliver
End-to-end applicant and student journey map across all relevant cohorts (domestic, international, transfer, program-specific)
Stage-by-stage friction analysis identifying the moments most directly costing applications and registrations
Source and influence map showing where applicants form their opinions before reaching your site
Voice-of-applicant summary: the questions they need answered, in the order they need them
Prioritized opportunity list tied to specific applicant stages and expected conversion impact
Service blueprint of the back-stage admissions, registrar, and student affairs processes that must change to deliver the experience
Executive summary for leadership alignment and investment prioritization
When This is Essential
Before committing budget to a website redesign, CMS migration, or digital transformation initiative
When application volume or conversion is declining without a clear internal explanation
When leadership disagrees on which part of the applicant experience to prioritize, and the disagreement is driven by internal assumptions rather than applicant evidence
When AI or personalization investment is being planned and the team needs to know which journey moments to target
When the institution is launching a new program, entering a new market, or targeting a new student segment
Frequently Asked Questions
PH1 regularly starts with existing journey maps and pressure-tests them against live behavioral research. Most institutions find the existing map is 12–18 months out of date, captures only the front-stage experience, and does not include the off-site behaviors that explain the biggest conversion gaps. We build from what exists rather than starting over.
How do you handle the complexity of multiple faculties and programs?
We scope the research to the two or three applicant segments and programs that matter most to your current enrollment priorities. If multiple programs need to be covered, we can phase the engagement — starting with the highest-priority program and expanding from there.
What does the journey map look like as a deliverable?
The primary deliverable is a set of stage-by-stage journey and friction diagrams formatted for executive and stakeholder presentations, paired with a written analysis and a prioritized improvement roadmap. We also deliver a service blueprint of the back-stage processes that determine whether the experience can actually be changed without structural barriers.
Combine With These Services
Website Architecture & Search Modernization Strategy — take journey findings into a sitemap and search direction grounded in what applicants actually search for
Website Improvement Prototyping & Testing — use the journey map to design and test specific improvements with real applicants before build
AI Strategy for Universities and Colleges — map AI deployment opportunities directly against the behavioral evidence
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