Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Focus
Reading Between the Lines
9/29/2004
What begins as a straightforward portal makeover for RIT ends up as a hard look at usability and branding. Follow the numbers to see why.
When the Rochester Institute of Technology (NY) launched its initiative to “spruce up” the institution’s Web portal, little did administrators know the effort would eventually evolve into a systematic review. But as the process moved forward, fundamental questions kept cropping up: Why were some site visitors frustrated when they tried to navigate through the site? Who was the primary audience? Most importantly, was the Web site communicating the special character of RIT?
Study reveals surprises. The Institute decided to commission a usability study of its existing site, recruiting actual prospective students, a parent, and others to carry out scenarios. Among other things, notes Diane Barbour, Chief Information Officer, “We found that we were using terms that were familiar to us, but that many visitors didn’t understand—like what it means to be a ‘matriculated’ student.” And administrators soon realized that the navigation system had to be both simple to use, but able to encompass a very complex university, providing visitors with a way to find what they wanted among the 100,000-150,000 pages of content.
Inconsistency rules. One of the more interesting realizations was that, contrary to more widely accepted practices, “We decided it wasn’t necessary to have a consistent look and feel through the entire depth of the site,” says David Hostetter, Director of Customer Support Services. “Each college has a unique sense of itself, and we wanted to preserve the trademark of each of those areas.”
Imagery supports strengths. Imagery turned out to be a critical ingredient, and administrators felt that the nature of RIT justified the use of high-tech Macromedia Flash animations. After all, explains Hostetter, “We are an institute of technology, and a premier photography institution in the world.”
Blazing brand. But the challenge that came to dominate the redesign effort was: How can we make the Web site “scream the brand” of RIT? Features such as “Career Center” and “Success Stories” were added to emphasize how the Institute prepares students for life-long professional careers (the special quality that RIT administrators believe sets it apart) and to echo the aspirations of the students who select the school.
Assessment and re-examination of the Web site continues; messages evolve as the needs of constituents change. RIT Information Technology Professor Evelyn Rozanski and her students will be involved in future usability engineering studies of the site, as will the Institute-wide Web Committee. “Our goal was to develop a process, not just a new design,” says Hostetter.
1 - Career Center and Success Stories.
(Rotating). How can you miss with an eye-catching visual and lead-in to a story about a prominent RIT graduate, randomly selected from an archive every time you visit the site? Research shows that students who choose RIT have definite ideas about where they want their careers to go, and they want to see examples of alumns who have made it in their fields. Career Center lets them match their career plans with the right major, and informs them about employment prospects.
Recommended Reading
- Sun, Stanford Working To Archive History
In May in San Francisco, experts from leading universities, libraries, and research institutions around the world met as part of an ongoing effort to address a pressing issue: archiving the world's history, right up to today.
- The Quilt Coalition Rolls Out XO Communications for High-Capacity Network Services
The Quilt, a coalition of 28 regional network organizations, has added XO Communications Services to its authorized vendor list. The Quilt represents 200 universities and thousands of other educational institutions across the United States. With this new relationship, Quilt members can purchase XO's high-speed IP transit and network transport services at competitive rates.
- Wimba Classroom 5.2 Expands Classroom Capture Support, Adds MP3 Downloads
At the NECC 2008 conference in Texas this week, Wimba launched a new version of Wimba Classroom, the virtual classroom component of the company's Collaboration Suite. The new 5.2 release expands options for classroom capture and adds a variety of other functional and ease of use features.
- Automation Chimera: Education Is Not Management
The lure of automating workflow online so human intervention is minimized is continually reinforced in the minds of higher education administrators by examples of automated campus systems such as financials, student information systems, and other enterprise systems. But what's good for management is not always good for learning.
- Cognos Releases BI Software for Linux-based IBM System z Mainframe
Cognos, which IBM acquired in January, has released an update to its business intelligence software that will run on the Linux operating system on IBM System z mainframes. IBM Cognos 8 BI was being developed by the two companies prior to the acquisition, but assimilation of Cognos into IBM accelerated development.
- Facebook and Collegiality: A Serendipitous Social Niche
Facebook is a way to greet a colleague as if she or he is on your own campus: a wave at a distance, a hello at the corner burrito place, a honk as you both leave the campus parking lot. Informal collegiality has been extended over the miles.
