May 9, 2012: Academic Department Customization Survey Results
The redesign working group would like to thank everyone who took our academic department site customization survey. Thirty-six people completed the survey, and the full results can be found here. These results will help us to prioritize our efforts as we build department templates we hope are attractive, customizable and easy to use.
Also much appreciated is the feedback many respondents provided to our open-ended question. There were some important insights, and the responses help us understand your needs better. The redesign process benefits from hearing as many voices as possible. To that end, please use our feedback form to share any additional thoughts.
May 8, 2012: Information Architecture
The website redesign working group is pleased to share a slideshow illustrating the information architecture envisioned for the next version of the Williams website. Please find a brief introduction and a link to the slideshow here: http://sites.williams.edu/webredesign/information-architecture/
As always, we appreciate any thoughts you have on the future of the college’s web sites. You can send the working group feedback at any time using this form: http://sites.williams.edu/webredesign/feedback/
March 1, 2012: Focused Intent
When we started on this journey to redevelop the Williams website, we had a general idea of where we were headed, but there were lots of questions to be sorted out and many directions we could’ve gone. After quite a useful discovery phase, during which we surveyed you, asked you to participate in a card sort, and generally spent a lot of time studying analytics, considering trends in web development and communications, peer websites, and more, we’re ready to share with you our recommendations on what exactly we mean when we talk about redeveloping the college’s website.
To that end, below is a statement of intent that spells out rather specifically what we think is the best approach for this project. “We” refers primarily to the project’s working group, which has engaged thoughtfully in the project from the very beginning and has spent the last several weeks reflecting on all the data and insights we’ve gotten, with much support from the web operations team. Our other key stakeholder groups, the focus group, ITC, and ISG, have reviewed this statement as well. While we hope you agree with the approach and as are excited by it as we are(!), we’re happy to hear any and all feedback, so please do let us know what you think.
Statement of Intent
We will redevelop the college’s homepage keeping in mind a primary audience of external users (prospective populations of students, faculty, and staff; alumni; parents; and the general public), while also serving well our internal audiences. The homepage will feature dynamic content, better use of multimedia and social media, and connections to diverse aspects of the college’s web presence. In doing so, the homepage will give voice to the community and help users encounter Williams in richer and more detailed ways.
The site’s navigation will be simple and straightforward, with no drop-down menus or sub-navigation on the homepage (analytics, survey results, and other feedback will inform navigation development). The site will feature a comprehensive, effective, and prominent search function.
Users will have the option to build their own customized dashboards using an aggregator to configure internal and external content of their choosing (something like a customized iGoogle page). Users will also be able to customize lists of quick links that will appear on various pages throughout the website. Templates will be developed for landing pages, departmental pages, and other interior pages using some consistent structure and aesthetic design, while providing individuals and departments/offices with flexibility in developing their sites.
The website will be built in WordPress using responsive design. It will meet or exceed current standards for web development, including those for accessibility.
January 16, 2012: Seeing Results
If you haven’t visited the redesign blog in a while, you’ll notice some new content under Data Gathering in the left-hand column. There’s an overview of what Google Analytics tells us about who uses the Williams website and how; results of the online card sort and emotive survey; and, most recently, results of the web survey conducted in December, for which we received nearly 300 responses. Check out the links under web survey to get a sense of who responded and what they said about the website.
Thanks to all who have participated in the process so far. We’re in the information architecture phase of the project now, and we’ll share some recommendations out of this part of the process soon. Then it’ll be time to move into design and development, all toward a goal of launching a redeveloped website in the fall. Stay tuned!
November 8, 2011: Making Progress
Thanks to all of you who completed the emotive survey about the website. We’re compiling results now and will post them soon on the blog.
Onto the next: As part of our efforts to achieve the best information architecture for the Williams website, we want to know how you think its homepage content ought to be organized. To that end, we invite members of the Williams community (and prospective members!) to complete an online card sort. The exercise will take about half an hour and will ask you to group content in ways that makes sense to you. No web development expertise is required, just a little of your time and thoughtfulness.
Select the link that best describes your role in the community (doing so will allow us to look at results by group). Complete instructions for the sort, as well as the sort itself, are found by clicking the links below. Thank you for participating!
Faculty: http://websort.net/s/530EF2/t/faculty
Staff: http://websort.net/s/530EF2/t/staff
Students: http://websort.net/s/530EF2/t/students
Alumni: http://websort.net/s/530EF2/t/alumni
Other: http://websort.net/s/530EF2/t/other
October 19, 2011: Redesign Launch!
The college is embarking on a comprehensive redevelopment of its website. Our aim is to build a website that deepens people’s engagement with the college and with each other, whether prospective students and families, alumni, current students, faculty, staff, or visitors. The redesign project will occur over the next several months and involve the entire Williams community.
This fall, we’ll examine the current website’s strengths and weaknesses, identify opportunities to do more with the web, and take stock of the ways the site is being used now. Armed with this analysis, the college will redevelop its main website and associated subpages, bringing our web presence not only up to date, but putting it ahead of the curve among higher education websites. The project will be done with an eye toward emerging technology and trends in web development and user behavior.
The project will be led by the college’s communications and web operations teams, with several committees playing key roles. A working group of faculty and staff will guide the day-to-day progress of the redesign, and a focus group of faculty, staff, students, and members of our external audiences will provide frequent input and feedback. The college’s Internet Strategy Group and Information Technology Committee will also weigh in regularly.
We anticipate launching a new Williams website in the fall of 2012. We look forward to communicating with you regularly as the project moves forward, and we hope you’ll stay tuned and be involved in this important initiative.
