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Background
Scape is Australia’s largest purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) provider. They have a unique edge of being able to cater to all students, both domestic and international thanks to the diverse offerings and price points across 33 buildings in 4 cities.
Unfortunately, the pandemic hit the international student landscape hard and occupancy rates fell to around 8%. In 2022, Scape needed to reverse the drop in occupancy and set out to engage the next generation of students, on their quest to fill 15,000 beds.
THE Ask
We wanted to enable the next generation of students to book accommodation but also help them to discover what a Scape student lifestyle could be like. A new digital brand look and feel and design system was created to elevate Scape’s visual positioning and further attract and engage the student target audience. Using it’s innovative design, the website delivers an Ecommerce experience as well as houses content hubs personalised for international students and dedicated areas for parents.
Our Insights
The project was informed and guided extensive research, which included interviews with Students, international agents the customer service teams.
Collaborative workshops hosted with the internal teams as well as conducting behavioural analytics to help inform our design approach.
The PBSA offering can be viewed as equivalent, so we needed to deliver distinctiveness through our visual identity and digital customer experience.
Our UX strategy needed to position itself in the PBSA market at the cross section of hotel, property and lifestyle experiences.
We needed to create seamless pathways to help students find the right room and property for them.
Students with varying levels of English, we needed to develop a universal language through design.
Site highlights
A revitalised digital look and feel
built on intuitive UX and UI principles – youthful and vibrant imagery to attract and engage target audience.
Interactive property map
that enables the user to explore multiple ways to narrow down property searches: location, university and preferences.
Tour booking functionality
enabling for Students to visually explore Scape accommodation and surroundings.
eCommerce style value add ons
Airport lifts, linen and cleaning service to help embed Scape’s offering of comfort and safety.
Live chat
available for instant connection with a Scape expert to provide reassurance and clarity for parents and students.
Considerations made for CALD audiences
including simplified language, streamline booking systems and media rich assets eg more imagery, 360 virtual tours.
Tailored content
hubs to connect students to events and programs, facilitating a Scape community.
Linking in with relevant social media platforms
including Wechat, Weibo and Xiahongshu to connect with prospective overseas students.
