School of Education and Social Policy Website Redesign
Over nine months, my team and I have established a new brand identity for one of the biggest colleges at Northwestern University – the School of Education and Social Policy (SESP.) We had to re-think the website architecture and content, improve SEO, and make sure that the visual identity stays true to Northwestern’s core brand, yet stands out with its uniqueness.
Client
School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern
Year
2023-2024
Scope
9 months, full website redesign
My Role
UX/UI Designer
Team
UX/UI Designer, Researcher, Front-end Developer, Back-end Developer, Information Architect, Project Manager
Research Phase
Goals of the Redesign
To foster active collaboration with the SESP community, leadership, and stakeholders to cultivate a unified vision for the website, striving to harmonize program details, narrative marketing elements, and essential user-centric information.
To harness an extensive array of data streams and industry-leading methodologies to forecast usage trends, discern patterns, and effectively meet unmet demands within the website's framework.
Methodology and Objectives
Stakeholder Interviews
Interviews with key members of the School of Education and Social Policy administration. Focus group with undergraduate students.
Data Analysis
Review existing data sources: Siteimprove, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Undergraduate Lifecycle Report
UX Audit of Current SESP Site
Evaluation of peer website design, keywords (using Semrush), and content.
User Interviews
To better understand user needs, we have interviewed undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff at SESP. A focus group of undergraduate students was also formed for continuous feedback. A total of 32 people were interviewed and observed. All interactions were online, over Zoom and Google Meets.
User Research Takeaways
Undergraduates desire easily searchable content in Canvas, including concentration requirements and coursework. They also seek information on double majors, dual degrees, and inter-school transfers. Highlighting civic engagement, practicums, SLI, community partnerships, and alumni connections is essential to showcasing the SESP experience.
Understanding faculty research specialties holds significant value for all student demographics, particularly doctoral candidates.
Students, especially recent graduates, are keenly interested in the return on investment, focusing on career prospects and trajectories post-graduation.
Transparent admission procedures and clearly defined expectations are crucial.
Access to comprehensive details regarding funding options and financing degrees is imperative.
It's essential to articulate the essence of SESP, particularly for potential partners and donors, to grasp its mission and impact.
Further elaboration on partnerships and their alignment with SESP is necessary to provide a deeper understanding of their significance and contributions.
Clear academic information.
A desire for a stronger brand identity and improved marketing about who SESP is and what it does.
Who is SESP – Quotes from the Stakeholders
We are cutting-edge, progressive, and innovative
We push each other through our dialogue
We educate the entire human (birth to death scholarship)
We have a unique, close-knit community
We are “working today for a better tomorrow”
We are advocates
We are warm welcoming and caring
We are improving lives
We are prestigious, but not elite
We are professional but informal
We are driving positive change
We put development first – our outcomes are relevant and accessible to all people
We think about the whole system (nonprofits, education policy, thought leadership, the educated teacher, policy influence)
We work collaboratively with and give back to the community, we have great connections with Evanston and Chicago
We are diverse and inclusive
We are bettering the community and world, bettering health, human development, and peace (policy government intervention), how society develops
We have a strong alumni base and research dollars (we are robust for the size of our school)
We build our community around holistic, complex and rich looks at education
We do well and we do good
“We believe in SESP love, we provide lots of touchpoints with students. We are bettering the community and world, bettering health, human development, and peace (policy government intervention), how society develops”
Key Findings from Data Audit and Analysis
The SESP website had 178,001 users in the calendar year 2022.
Those users started 245,461 sessions.
Users are search-driven.
55.5% of traffic is from organic search
27.5% of traffic to the site is direct.
The largest age group, at 36%, were 18-24 yrs. old.
Top pages: graduate and undergraduate programs receive a fair amount of traffic.
Many of the site visitors live in Illinois.
Problem Areas
Problem areas contributing to low scores: broken links, slow mobile speed, stale content, missing alt text, fonts not resizing, unstructured headings, etc.
Solution
We will provide a suite of reusable design modules. Creating and implementing standardized design modules and templates for both the main SESP website and its subdomains will enhance user experience, ensuring a cohesive visual identity while offering greater flexibility for marketing content. This approach fosters consistency in appearance and functionality across all platforms, ultimately enriching the overall user experience.
Information Architecture Phase
After the research was conducted, I collaborated with an Information Architect to develop a new site map and wireframes that we presented to the client before the beginning of the design phase. Below is an example of the top-level site map.
Wireframes
Design Phase
The development of the new reusable modules was crafted in alignment with Northwestern's brand guidelines and with careful consideration of the perceptions held by SESP's students, faculty, and staff. Recognizing the school's association with values such as warmth, kindness, community, care, support, and love, I intentionally incorporated a vibrant yellow hue from our secondary color palette to serve as a prominent highlight across the website.
Additionally, I designed a versatile collection of patterns for module backgrounds to ensure adaptability and visual interest. Balancing the client's request for a corporate aesthetic while preserving the warmth and kindness inherent to SESP presented a unique challenge. To achieve this delicate balance, I opted for a predominantly flat UI design, featuring crisp angles that convey a sense of professionalism, while also considering rounded angles and circles to evoke softness and approachability during the initial design phases.
Additionally, the client expressed a desire for animated elements to enhance the website's visual appeal. During the final stages of the design process, I curated a list of animation concepts, including overlapping boxes, animated text, dynamic statistics displays, and more. Collaborating closely with the front-end developer, we successfully implemented selected animations, adding a dynamic touch to the user experience.
Significant emphasis was placed on optimizing the mobile experience. Each module was crafted to be responsive, ensuring seamless adaptability across various devices beyond desktops and laptops. To achieve this, certain modules underwent simplification while maintaining their core functionality and aesthetic appeal.
