We are developing Sisu’s timing and study structure views based on user feedback
How are Sisu’s timing and study structure views developing based on user feedback? Discover key insights and upcoming improvements.
Over the past few months, we have gathered a significant amount of feedback on Sisu’s new timing and study structure views. Thank you to every student who has shared their experiences. The feedback has been extremely valuable, helping us clearly identify where usability needs to be improved and where development efforts should be focused.
In this blog post, we take a closer look at what we have explored, what we have learned, and what changes are coming next.
Why the views were updated
During 2025, we made major changes to Sisu’s user interface, driven in particular by accessibility requirements. We covered this work in our earlier blog post “Accessibility is driving the Sisu updates – what does this mean for students?”, where we explained the background and the reasons why new views were needed.
The first versions of the timing and study structure views were released to students at the end of 2025. The aim was to create an accessible foundation that could be further developed based on user feedback. User surveys were launched immediately after the release, and they received a high number of responses.
What the feedback revealed about the study structure view
The new study structure view was released in December 2025, alongside a feedback survey for students. The responses showed that many students found it difficult to grasp the structure of their study plan, and many hoped for clearer ways to distinguish between the different sections. As a result, selecting courses was also perceived as cumbersome, as it was not always clear which section’s selections were being navigated.
We will continue developing this area with the aim of improving how the overall study structure is presented and making it easier to distinguish between different sections.
What we learned from the timing view feedback
The updated scheduling view was also released at the end of 2025, and the user survey launched alongside it received a large number of responses. The feedback revealed clear preferences. Many found the new view more difficult to use than the previous one, and for several users it was challenging to gain an overview of their studies.
On a practical level, there is a clear need for a more distinct section for unscheduled courses, semester-specific credit information to support workload planning, and a simpler way to add and remove individual courses. The need to better understand multi-term courses also came up repeatedly.
The feedback also highlighted positive aspects of the update. Course names are now displayed in full, whereas in the previous timeline longer names could be truncated, making it harder to identify courses. The new view also adapts better to mobile devices, as a vertical list fits more naturally on a phone screen than a wide horizontal timeline. Semester and period headings create a clear structure that supports navigation. In addition, the text-based presentation improves accessibility, as the information can be read by screen readers.
We will continue to work on these themes with the aim of helping students better understand the overall picture and adjust their schedules as smoothly as possible.
What we’re doing next
We have started further development to improve the usability of both the study structure and timing view based on student feedback. The work is being carried out on two levels.
In the short term, we are focusing on improvements that make the views easier to understand and clarify key functions. These updates will be released in phases starting in spring 2026.
At the same time, we are exploring broader changes that may significantly reshape the views. This includes investigating alternative ways to present the study timeline, developing visual approaches to better support understanding of the overall structure, and improving how scheduling adjustments are made. These changes require more planning and time, as they have a wider impact on Sisu’s core functionalities.
Our goal is to build views that better support students in their work, both in everyday decision-making and in longer-term planning.
Thank you for your feedback – the work continues
User research has clearly shown where improvements are needed in the scheduling and structure views. Development work is already underway and will continue in close collaboration with students.
We will continue to offer opportunities for students to participate in prototype testing, provide feedback on proposed solutions, and take part in pilot projects.
Thank you to everyone who has shared their thoughts and helped us improve Sisu.