brightside Studio

Description

The DAAD maintains more than 60 offices around the world that advise prospective international students on studying in Germany. We developed an advisory platform that integrates into My GUIDE and brings together in-person consultations, video calls, and email correspondence.

Solution

We identified where the advisors were actually losing time. This led to the development of three features: automated responses to general, non-specific questions; templates for reminders and notes on recurring topics; and the ability to share these templates with colleagues across the entire network. The second part focused on the integration with My GUIDE. While both systems serve different user groups, they're designed to feel like a single product. Advisors work directly on the platform and access prospective students’ data in real time: personalized counseling portfolios, degree program and exam data, profile settings, checklists, and uploaded documents. Everything remains synchronized with the prospective students’ accounts. We analyzed workflows in selected offices, mapped regional differences in processes, refined them iteratively, expanded the existing My GUIDE design system, and developed a video-based onboarding process. Usability tests were conducted regularly with a representative group of advisors from various regions.

Results

The tool supports the DAAD’s mission across national borders while simultaneously improving the experience for both advisors and students. Advisors complete their tasks more quickly, and students receive a consistent quality of advising regardless of the office’s location.