PLAN
The primary goal of the redesign is to better meet the needs and expectations of users. To this end, the HomeTeam has adopted the principles of user-centered design as the foundation of the redesign, observing user behaviors and collecting feedback throughout the design process. The insights we gain through consulting users inform the decisions we make, resulting in better designs and improved usability, and thereby increased user satisfaction.
Based on our January 23 meeting with the Strategic Communications Committee, and supported by our research, the Home Team has arrived at the following redesign goals:
- Improve usability
- Support key messages
- Enhance offerings
Specific strategies within each of these goals, illustrated by quotes from our research gathering process, are outlined below.
Improve Usability
Research shows that improved usability leads to increased user satisfaction. We have identified a number of usability problems on our current site, along with a number of enhancements that we believe will improve the user experience.
Be responsive to users
"As I scan across it, I’m never sure it [the home page] will get me where I want to go. The organization doesn’t help me understand how the place works, and it’s hard to figure out where would I start."
Many Web designs are developed from the inside out, whereby organizations and stakeholders make decisions based on the needs and goals of the organization. This type of process often yields designs that are not usable, because the needs and preferences of users of the design are not considered. On the other hand, designs that are developed from the outside in, aka user-centered designs, are shown to substantially increase usability, which in turn makes users more efficient and encourages good feelings about the institution.
Recommendation: Continue to follow a user-centered design methodology. Make design decisions based on user research and confirmed by user feedback.
Improve navigation
"I’ve learned that they [the categories] are not intuitive. And I don’t want to try and figure it out." "It is confusing to me that information is organized sometimes by topic and sometimes by group. It’s tough to determine if info is for or about groups…"
Many users complain of difficulty finding information and services on the Dartmouth site. The audience-based navigation is generally perceived as undesirable. Topic-based navigation is preferred, though the topics currently in use on the site were perceived to be inadequate. Users generally feel the Web site require too much clicking to get to their destination.
Recommendation: Develop effective topic-based navigation, with clear labels and visual reinforcement to facilitate identification. Create a shallower hierarchy that reduces the number of clicks. Provide wayfinding devices, such as “quick links” and sitemaps, to facilitate navigation.
Improve the search experience
"Personally, I think the Dartmouth search engine is the most useless search engine I have ever used. It is not helpful at all."
Across a number of research efforts, including user testing, focus groups and our online user survey, users frequently took the opportunity to complain about the quality of search on the Dartmouth site. The search does not yield the desired results: it produces too many irrelevant results.
Recommendation: Explore ways to improve or replace the current search engine.
Improve the events calendar
"It would be great to have one, central calendar. Having different calendars is frustrating, and they often seem incomplete."
Users are often seeking dates for specific events, such as Homecoming, Reunions, and Commencement. They are also seeking a comprehensive events calendar that includes the full range of events at the College. The current events calendar is not being used by all departments and thus is not comprehensive. Also, there are other sources for this information so users must consult a variety of sources to get the complete picture of events at Dartmouth.
Recommendation: Explore ways to get more events-related content into the calendar and improve the calendar interface, as well as ensure broader utilization of the calendar by events presenters and managers.
Consolidate content
"Decentralization is an issue here, and there isn’t a Web team that imposes a structure on the entire place."
The Dartmouth site both benefits and suffers from a decentralized management. Departments have the autonomy to build useful pages while users have to navigate their way through unconnected, redundant information. Our organization is decentralized and our Web site reflects that, and users who do not know the organization are often stymied in seeking Web-based information or resources.
Recommendation: Develop overviews to orient users and provide access to departments, schools, programs of study, etc.
Provide a consistent, coherent, and robust user experience
"Everyone (in departments) does their own information architecture, so there’s no consistency of mapping, never mind graphics and content."
The Dartmouth site has an uneven look and quality because departments create content and, in some instances, unique site designs. This decentralized development makes it difficult to provide users with a consistent level of quality and accessibility, and provide an overall positive user experience. While consolidating site and content creation is beyond the scope of this project, we propose developing tools and guidelines to address questions of style and quality in a decentralized Web development environment.
Recommendation: Explore quality assurance tools such as link, accessibility, and syntax checking software. Develop a style guide for Web content. Consider mandating standards for design, and strive to integrate more departments and programs into the Dartmouth template.
Develop and consolidate offerings for prospective students
"I like the Dartmouth site, especially the imagery. But I want to know more about what life is like on campus, and I want more information on the academic program I’m interested in. Right now things seem disorganized and difficult to find."
One audience group with clearly distinct needs is prospective students. These users are new to Dartmouth, and new to colleges and universities in general. Many are not interested or ready to explore the College on their own. Rather, they are seeking an online “guided tour” of the institution.
Recommendation: With Admissions, develop the Prospective Students area of the site to better serve the distinct needs of prospective students.
Integrate more content for alumni
"What would I change about the Dartmouth site? Well, I’d make it easier to find information on reunions and homecoming for certain."
Currently, alumni-centric needs are primarily served on the alumni Web site (www.dartmouth.org). As users of Dartmouth services and information (e.g., library resources, events), the alumni audience is one whose needs must also be served by the main Dartmouth site. Incorporating alumni information—for instance, including alumni-related events on the Web calendar—will help to better integrate alumni into the Dartmouth Web experience.
Recommendation: With Alumni Relations, identify ways to effectively integrate selected information and services of interest to alumni into the Dartmouth site.
Support key messages
As the Web becomes an increasingly important component of our communications efforts, it is critical that it be a vehicle for articulating Dartmouth’s key messages—transformative experience, academic excellence, and sense of place and spirit—established in Fall 2005.
Reveal more of Dartmouth online
"The institution is about people, and the home page doesn’t adequately reflect the human story that’s going on. News, events, and images need to be more prominent."
Allowing users to experience Dartmouth online will go far in communicating the key messages of the College. Offering more content that reflects the “Dartmouth Experience” will communicate most effectively what is important to Dartmouth and what makes Dartmouth distinctive.
Recommendation: Show rather than tell about Dartmouth through the use of Dartmouth’s extensive holdings in rich media such as audio and video. Develop and consolidate content around “Dartmouth in the World” and other topics. Give news and events more prominence on the home page.
Highlight distinctive characteristics
"We really need to highlight the students and the student experience. We have the opportunity to tell the story of our place."
There is a lot going on at Dartmouth. Since the institution is decentralized, things can go unnoticed as there is no one source of information about Dartmouth. Our Web is an opportunity to draw together and highlight Dartmouth happenings. To some extent, this coordination can happen using official communication channels. However, because we are decentralized and things of interest may fall below the radar, the Dartmouth community must have the ability to contribute content to the Web site.
Recommendation: Spotlight content that articulates the key messages, particularly stories about the people of Dartmouth (interviews, personal narratives). Provide tools and opportunities for members of the Dartmouth community to contribute to Dartmouth online.
Be more welcoming
"[The home page is] our front door, that markets us and ushers people in. This [home page] doesn’t do that very well."
Dartmouth can seem confusing and impenetrable, particularly to an external audience. Our Web site reflects this lack of transparency. New visitors benefit from some level of guidance in making their way around the site.
Recommendation: Provide a judicious amount of narrative at the home and top-level pages. Help users who are unsure of where to go and who to contact by providing easy access to overviews, contact information, and an faq. Offer foreign-language translations of the home and top-level pages. Offer a specific section for prospective students.
Enhance Offerings
Of the possible new trends and functionality, we decided to focus on making our Web site Accessible, Interactive, Mobile, and Social. Dubbed “aims,” these four characteristics will allow more people to use and participate in our site, and the content of our site will be enriched by sharing and exchange.
Accessible
The notion of design for a “typical user” has no place on the Web. User needs vary from moment to moment, depending on environment, technology, and abilities. Viewing a page in a presentation setting requires large type, while small type may be preferable on a cell phone. A user viewing a Web page has different needs than a user hearing a Web page read aloud. We need anticipate a diversity of user needs and make our Web content accessible to visitors regardless of ability or technology used to access our site.
Recommendation: Continue to build accessibility into home and top-level pages. Promote best practices for the development of accessible content through tools and guidelines (see Provide a consistent, coherent, and robust user experience, above). Consider mandating standards for accessibility and design.
Interactive
Today’s Web users are not passive consumers of information. Users expect to work with and contribute to Web sites, and even affect outcomes, such as influencing sales or television programming. Providing interactive features on our Web site sends a powerful message: that we value users, encourage their contributions, and welcome them to engage with us online.
Recommendation: Seek out opportunities to invite user interaction, including feedback forms, blogs, and polls. Allow users to contribute content to our site, including photos and video. Provide options for customization, such as custom home page “quick links.” Support connections between external and internal groups (e.g., prospectives with current students)
Mobile
With mobile devices such as pdas, iPods, and “smart” cell phones in common use, particularly among the student body, we have an opportunity to leverage mobile computing. Making our Web site useful and usable in the mobile context will increase its use.
Recommendation: Create templates for delivering selected content to mobile devices. Provide mobile-specific content (ringtones, wallpaper, events, headlines); allow users to subscribe to content (at locations, event locations, facility hours, dining, news)
Social
Many voices comprise the Web. Narratives are constructed by individuals linking, commenting, providing feedback, voting, and more. The resulting message is enriched by the collective intelligence that is brought to bear. Allowing more voices to contribute to the Dartmouth Web will send a message of support to individuals and deepen the overall message.
Recommendation: Explore options for incorporating social functionality into our Web offerings. Capitalize on external Web-based Dartmouth content (e.g., Flickr, blogs, wikis).
Ongoing Resources
In the course of our research and in talking with peer institutions, we discovered that the goal of identifying ongoing resources in a complex process involving many campus constituents. Consequently, this report does not assume additional resources but rather attempts to work within the constraints of the current support environment. We believe that it is important to the future success of Dartmouth’s Web site, however, for the College to consider the allocation of ongoing resources—in the form of ftes and program budget—for the research, planning, and maintenance of the site. We look forward to discussing this issue further with the senior leadership.
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