Nearly one dreadful year later, LionPATH is finally getting the facelift it so desperately needs, according to Executive Vice President and Provost Nick Jones.

Jones sent a message to the student body Tuesday morning promising LionPATH’s new interface will be unveiled soon with a 77 percent increase in user satisfaction during its beta testing period.

“Within the next few weeks, when you log in to LionPATH, you will notice your LionPATH Student Center has a more robust, contemporary look,” he wrote.

The LionPATH team also observed students using the new interface and reports it is much more intuitive (though we’re not sure it could’ve gotten any worse). They say students didn’t need to ask many questions, but new tutorial materials will still be available when the new interface is launched.

If only the team held such exhaustive testing before launching LionPATH in the first place…

You can read the full message from Jones below:

Penn State students:

As you may have heard, the LionPATH team has been working on updates to the system’s student user interface. During the past six weeks, the team beta tested the new interface with a cross section of current students. The results showed a 77 percent increase in user satisfaction with the new, improved interface compared to the prior one.

Having incorporated beta testers’ feedback, the LionPATH team is preparing to unveil the new interface to students. Within the next few weeks, when you log in to LionPATH, you will notice your LionPATH Student Center has a more robust, contemporary look.

The most significant change you will see is on the home page. Many of the links within LionPATH will have minor cosmetic changes but still look very similar to the original interface. Other less frequently used pages will continue to look the same as the original interface.

Although changes are being made to the appearance of LionPATH, it’s important to note the content has not changed. All processes have stayed the same, and the LionPATH team has been very mindful to use the same terms and language within the new interface.

Throughout the beta testing, LionPATH team members monitored students’ usage of and questions about the new interface. They observed that students had few questions about site navigation because the new interface is much more intuitive than the prior one.

Nevertheless, the team is updating relevant reference and tutorial materials to ensure you have access to documentation that reflects the student user interface’s new look and feel. When the new interface goes live, you can access these materials at http://lionpathsupport.psu.edu/help/.

Thank you for your patience and support as we made important changes to LionPATH based on your feedback. I hope you will find the new interface intuitive and easy to use.

Have a relaxing and enjoyable summer break.

Nicholas P. Jones
Executive Vice President and Provost