Making Feedback More:
Accessible, Visible and Actionable

Transforming a manual process into a transparent, efficient, and student-friendly experience.

At Queen Mary University of London, “Purple Boxes” were once a simple yet symbolic feature of campus life—physical containers placed in academic buildings where students could leave anonymous feedback for staff. While the intention behind the boxes was meaningful, the manual nature of the system posed growing limitations in an increasingly digital learning environment.

As higher education shifts toward hybrid delivery models, it’s more important than ever to ensure that all students—on campus or remote—can share their voices in an accessible, inclusive way. I partnered with the Head of School and the Director of Student Experience to transform this legacy feedback system into a digital-first solution, allowing feedback to be submitted, reviewed, and actioned seamlessly across physical and virtual learning spaces.

Background

The Problem

The original ‘‘Purple Boxes’’ system relied on physical dro-boxes where students could anonymously leave written feedback. Although it was a familiar way to collect feedback, the system was no longer practical or inclusive in a modern university setting:

  • Remote, hybrid, and part-time students were excluded from the process, as they had no access to campus-based boxes.

  • Staff had to physically collect, read, and respond to paper notes without any digital trail or central record.

  • Students had no way of knowing if their feedback had been read, escalated, or acted upon.

  • Many students didn’t even know the Purple Boxes existed or what they were for, which meant lots of missed feedback opportunities.

The Solution

To address these challenges, I led the development of a hybrid digital feedback system, retaining the Purple Boxes identity while transforming the experience for both students and staff:

  • Students could share feedback either anonymously or with their name through a branded Moodle form on QMplus, seamlessly integrated with Microsoft Forms and accessible from any device.

  • I created a central space on QMplus where students could submit feedback and also view weekly video updates from the Head of School and Director of Student Experience, who addressed student concerns in regular Zoom sessions.

  • Feedback was automatically directed to the relevant staff based on topic or department, saving time and improving response rates.

  • The Purple Boxes site was linked directly from the School’s homepage on QMplus, so every time students logged in, they had quick and easy access to it.

Visual Design

To support the digital transition of the Purple Boxes initiative, I designed a clean and familiar interface that carried over the recognisable elements of the original paper-based system. The purple colour theme remained central to reinforce brand identity and build trust, while the layout was intentionally kept minimal to encourage student engagement across all devices.

A dedicated Purple Boxes page on QMplus was created with clearly structured sections for submitting feedback, accessing weekly video updates, and understanding how responses would be followed up. All visual choices—from button hierarchy to spacing—were made to ensure accessibility, simplicity, and consistency within the university’s digital environment.

Custom-designed digital Purple Box graphic, which I created in Adobe Photoshop to visually mimic the physical boxes students were familiar with. I then embedded a Microsoft Form directly into the design using HTML, creating a seamless and interactive experience on QMplus where students could submit feedback through the form embedded within the visual.

Watch the video below to see how the digital Purple Box works and how students
can submit their feedback directly through it.

After these steps, students can actively review and share. They can watch the weekly Zoom recordings—uploaded directly to the Purple Boxes course page on QMplus—to hear how their feedback was addressed by the Head of School and Director of Student Experience.

The last stage of the Purple Boxes project was designed to give students the opportunity to continue the conversation. After watching the weekly session recordings led by the Head of School and Director of Student Experience, students were encouraged to reflect and respond. A clearly signposted area was added to the QMplus page, inviting students to submit further comments, questions, or feedback based on what they heard in the recordings.

Reflection

One of the biggest things I learned from this project was how important simplicity and visibility are in feedback systems. Students are much more likely to take part when it’s clear how to give feedback, and when they can actually see what happens as a result. By creating a system that allowed ongoing submissions and clear responses, we turned feedback into something more active — a real conversation.

Working closely with the Head of School and Director of Student Experience showed me how important it is to design with the wider team in mind. Every part of the system had to work for students and fit how the school runs. I also learned how to modernise a traditional process using the tools available in Moodle, without overcomplicating it.

This project reminded me that feedback isn’t just about collecting comments — it’s about showing students they’ve been heard. By making the process open, responsive, and easy to access, we helped build more trust between students and staff.

Let’s make meaningful learning
experiences together.

Email
christiannivanovv@gmail.com

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London Area Based