NUCIS is a “student first” course and university database and advisory for higher education candidates in Nigeria. It is an online platform designed to simplify higher education admissions for prospective students in Nigeria. With over 20,000 courses from more than 1,000 institutions nationwide, NUCIS aims to empower students and parents with access to trusted, reliable, and actionable educational data.
The tagline, “Find Your Future,” captures the platform’s mission to guide students toward making informed decisions about their academic pursuits. The project required developing a user-centric platform that delivers complex data intuitively while maintaining a clean, responsive, and aesthetically pleasing interface.
The Problem
Prospective students in Nigeria face several challenges in accessing accurate and up-to-date information about higher education institutions, courses, and admission requirements. These challenges often lead to poor decision-making and missed opportunities for candidates. NUCIS was designed to address these pain points by centralizing higher education information and making it accessible, understandable, and actionable for students and parents alike.
Some of the challenges identified during the discovery phase included:
- Disorganized and fragmented educational resources online.
- Lack of intuitive tools for searching and filtering courses or institutions.
- Limited guidance on navigating complex admission processes like JAMB registration and CAPS.
- Absence of centralized information on alternative higher education pathways (e.g. polytechnics and colleges).
Solutions
I worked on building the NUCIS platform to create a comprehensive and user-friendly solution for higher education candidates. The key objectives of the project were:
- Streamlined Search Functionality: Implement a robust search tool to help users explore over 20,000 courses and filter by institution, location, or program type.
- Guides and Resources: Develop a dedicated "Guides" section featuring step-by-step tutorials on JAMB registration, checking admission status, and other essential tasks.
- Community Engagement: Introduce features such as discussion boards and a Q&A section to foster student interaction and information sharing.
- Advertising Integration: Strategically integrate advertising opportunities to sustain the platform financially without compromising the user experience.
- Clean Design: Create a mobile-first, responsive design optimized for seamless navigation and user engagement.
My Role
As the lead web developer and designer, I was responsible for:
- UI/UX Design: I designed a clean and responsive interface, ensuring the platform catered to both tech-savvy users and less digitally literate audiences.
- Custom Development: Built the core functionalities, including advanced search filters, dynamic course pages, and an integrated dashboard for personalized user experiences.
- Content Structuring: Organized course and institution data, designing a scalable backend system to accommodate updates efficiently.
- Branding: Created the platform’s brand identity, including the logo, color scheme, and typography to resonate with the target audience.
- Advertising Implementation: Strategized and implemented Google AdSense auto-ads, balancing revenue generation with a non-intrusive user experience.
- Optimization: Focused on performance optimization to ensure quick load times, even on slower internet connections common in Nigeria.
Key Features Delivered
- Search and Course Finder Tool: A highly interactive search engine with filters for programs, institutions, and location.
- Guides Section: Comprehensive tutorials on critical topics like JAMB registration, O’level verification, and admission status checking.
- Dynamic User Dashboard: A personalized portal for users to save favorite institutions, track application progress, and access updates.
- Community Forums: Free-form discussion boards and Q&A spaces to encourage knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer support.
- Mobile-First Design: A seamless experience across devices to ensure accessibility for users on mobile, tablet, or desktop.
The Impact
NUCIS launched successfully and has grown into a trusted resource for students across Nigeria. Some key results include:
- Increased Accessibility: Over 35k monthly visits within the first year, with with a total traffic of over 230k views in the first year (as of Dec 2024).
- Higher Engagement: Users spend an average of 4+ minutes on the platform, exploring multiple guides and tools.
- Community Growth: Rapid adoption of the discussion boards, with thousands of questions and answers shared monthly.
- Revenue Generation: Successful implementation of Google AdSense, achieving a balance between user experience and monetization.
Video Trailer
As part of the launch of the NUCIS platform, I created a promotional trailer designed to build excitement and awareness for the service. The trailer is a visually engaging overview of what NUCIS offers and why it’s a transformative tool for students, and higher education institutions in Nigeria.
The trailer highlights:
- Platform Features: Showcasing the robust course & institute search functionality, comprehensive guides, and aggregate calculator for higher education candidates.
- User Impact: Demonstrating how the platform simplifies the process of finding and applying to institutions.
- Brand Identity: Reinforcing the modern, approachable, and professional image of NUCIS with on-brand visuals and messaging.
The trailer was created to captivate potential users, partners, and advertisers, giving them a sneak peek into the platform’s potential and encouraging them to explore further.
