This paper describes how student reactions shaped the design of a WWW (World Wide Web)-based course environment at the University of Twente (Netherlands), using the example of a first year course. The first section discusses the importance of user interface (re)design for WWW-based courses. The University's focus on student evaluations of WWW-based course environments is explained in the second section, specifically the student evaluations of the user interface of the 1996-97 ISM-1 (Instrumentation Technology 1) course. Approximately 85 students were asked on four separate occasions to respond to a course-site evaluation form, offered via a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) form. The next section covers the redesign of the user interface for the 1997-98 course environment, including navigation, layout, icons, tables, text clarity, and text readability. The student evaluation of the redesign, in which 38 out of 60 students responded to an optional survey during the fifth week of class, is described in the fourth section. The last section presents conclusions. Two figures illustrate the interface design of the ISM-1 course site from 1996-97 and 1997-98. A table presents a sample of items from student evaluation of the redesigned user interface of the 1997-98 course site. Contains 12 references. (DLS)