The College of Communication and Information at Kent State University provides degree programs through 5 individual schools in the areas of digital technology, media, communication, information and design. Throughout 2017-18, I took the initiative to improve the overall College of Communication & Information website to enhance the quality of the content delivered, the experience of navigating to that content and the tracking of key conversion points throughout the user's journey.
Problem
After numerous redesigns and content management system conversions, the college website:
- was difficult to navigate and search when finding key information and content
- required an understanding of the organizational structure in order to interpret content organization and labels
- was not providing the types of information students were seeking, according to preliminary usability testing, including academic program requirements/offerings, admissions guidelines, advising and visits
- did not provide a unified message, including the benefits across all 5 schools when a student is investigating a CCI major or program
- had a home page that prioritized information that was not being accessed (according to analytics)
- had no way to track key conversion points through analytics
Proposed Solution
In a presentation to key leadership members, I outlined a plan for a research-based solution, including:
- A competitive analysis of other Kent State college websites, as well as eight similar communications college/school websites
- An analytics review of the current website
- A proposal for new content messaging and goals for an updated website
- A new sitemap/blueprint, taking into account findings from analytics and the competitive analysis
- Wireframes showing key template layouts, which would be used for usability testing
- A systematic implementation of key architecture, design and content improvements over the next 2 semesters, using an agile-based approach (without disrupting current operations)
Implementation
Throughout the next 2 semesters, I led the implementation of these improving (working with a few students on my team). I created a Scrum board (using Trello) that listed the key goals/deliverables and tackled a few of them each week.
Some of the items we addressed included:
- Implementing the new information architecture, which reduced the amount of primary navigation groups to 4 and used clear and concise language
- Working with leadership, rewriting all key content and standardizing design templates across each section
- Conducting two rounds of usability testing (including high school students and current students), using both wireframes and the live website
- Designing and developing new web page elements and branding (which were implemented into Kent State's Drupal CMS), including a new hero image banner, more appealing format for displaying news & events and standardized "Next Steps" call to action banner at the bottom of key landing pages
- Implementing analytics goals, which tracked key conversions that are important to the college, including visits, applications, donations and requests for information
Results
While there's still more to do, I am well on track to complete the initial project within the projected timeframe. Initial results from usability testing and analytics indicate:
- Positive results from usability testing, which indicate much easier access to academics, student life and admissions information
- Academic program information is now much clearer and easier to find. It is now a significant portion of traffic on the website
- The website is being used to schedule campus visits, with around 200 students using the website to schedule a visit within the first few months of tracking
- Improved calls to action, with a significant number of students utilizing Visit Us and Apply Now from the home page and key landing pages. Visitors are also beginning to use the improved "Find Your Fit in CCI" call to action on the home page.
- Overall website bounce rate (starting in January) has decreased 15% as compared to the same time last year.
- The number of page views per user session has increased 8% and the session duration time has increased 4%.