Beginning January 4, ConnectCarolina will have a new look with a visually refreshed landing page at connectcarolina.unc.edu. The overall ConnectCarolina experience will remain the same.
Three ITS teams collaborated to bring the new landing page to campus. Enterprise Applications, which manages the ConnectCarolina infrastructure, worked with Digital Services to implement the fresh design. ITS Communications consulted on the project.
While this visual refresh does not change ConnectCarolina functionality, Enterprise Applications, in close partnership with groups across campus, is continually improving the ConnectCarolina user experience. Recent projects have improved the student registration experience, begun modernizing the system access request process for administrative users and improved security for student records.
ConnectCarolina is one of the few services used by everyone at Carolina. Students use ConnectCarolina to register for classes, pay tuition bills, check for financial aid awards, order transcripts and more. For employees, whether it’s to view a paycheck, download a W-2 or enroll in benefits, ConnectCarolina is a regular visit. And there’s an entire group of UNC employees who use ConnectCarolina as a key part of their job, including Human Resources representatives, accountants and Student Services managers.
On brand and consistent
Even with a new design, the ConnectCarolina refresh may seem familiar to campus users. The new design echos the Help Portal, which ITS refreshed in 2023. The Help Portal, the virtual home of the ITS Service Desk, is where Tar Heels get answers to tech questions.
Both designs feature a large campus photo, semi-transparent overlays and centered login buttons for a renewed Carolina-forward design. The similarity between the two designs does more than unify them as ITS services. The consistent design pattern also contributes to a positive user experience. With a consistent pattern, users don’t need to re-learn an interface, even when they haven’t visited a page before.
More importantly, the designs align with University and ITS branding. In 2022, ITS established an internal brand to guide a modern, energetic and professional presence across ITS.
When ITS launched the brand, a key priority was creating a cohesive look across ITS interfaces and services, like ConnectCarolina and the Help Portal. So far, teams in ITS have used the brand to unify not only digital spaces, but also physical ones, like the new Service Desk walk-in location in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union.