Evaluating UI/UX Design and Applicant Behaviour in Jahangirnagar University's Undergraduate Admission Process

Abstract

A user-friendly interface plays a critical role in information systems, as it directly influences users’ ability to perform tasks accurately and efficiently. In the context of digital university admissions, effective UI/UX design and evaluation are essential for ensuring accessibility, usability, and student autonomy. This study investigates the Jahangirnagar University undergraduate admission portal to understand why a significant proportion (65.3%) of digitally literate students rely on third-party assistance to complete applications, despite the system achieving a positive mean usability satisfaction score of 4.31/5. The primary reason identified was student apprehension about making mistakes. Utilising a multi-method approach—Likert-scale surveys, heuristic evaluations, and Jaccard similarity analysis—we assessed interface quality and user behaviour across a dataset of 308,606 applications. Analysis of 10,120 reported issues revealed the most frequent problems: payment failures (32.34%), image/signature upload difficulties (13.25%), and language selection challenges (14.74%). These findings highlight critical friction points undermining user confidence and independence. Our goal is to contribute to the improvement of the user interface design methodology of a student-friendly platform so that any student can complete the application process without anyone’s assistance.