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Website of DreamsIf You Build it, Will They Come?
ROGUE ELEMENT : PROMET SOURCE : #MCS2
Rogue Elementwww.rogue-element.com
Rob Coleman
@rogueelementinc @mwskatecast
Allison Manley
The Problem
Goals for the New Site
• Smaller site
• Easier publishing workflow
• Represent the brand
• Express Grinnell’s distinctiveness
• Bring ALL users back
• Build a new information architecture
Step 1: The Audit
Audit: Key Findings
• Brand was strong for Grinnellians,
but not at all for the uninitiated
• Navigation was a mess
• Drupal Issues
• User Engagement
“It looks like the website for a bank.”
“I can’t find anything on this site.”
What We Heard
Prospective StudentsDuring your last visit to the Grinnell
College website, were you able to
find what you were looking for?
During your last visit to the Grinnell
College website, were you able to
find what you were looking for?
Current Students
The CMS
Engagement
Step 2: The Process
“A brand we can all be proud of.”
Concept Statements
• Home & Horizon
• Unexpected
• Individuality
Prototyping “Individuality”
Design #1
Design #2
Design #3
Customized Tile System
Top = Curated
Below = User’s Choice
How About a Custom Tile?
Create An Account
Performance
Other Benefits
• No roles-based navigation:
the masthead is uber-simple.
• Truly makes the home page the hub
from which you could go.
Office / Department Pages
Wireframes
Content: “feed the beast!”
> 1200 Fields < 350 Fields
Step 3: Infrastructure
Content Strategy
• Page count reduced from
27,000 to 5,000 pages
• Supporting a new publishing workflow
Consolidating Tiles?
Taxonomy
Balancing Control and Autonomy
Did it Work? Will They Come?
User Testing
Results to Date
• Challenging users to generate
current content
• Initial launch — iterative
changes as feedback comes in
Could Other Schools Replicate This?
• Can you sell it internally?
• Do you have an agreed-upon brand?
• Can you get buy-in from departments?
• Do you want a site that’s an evolving story?
• Can you assign a Product Owner?
• Can you feature-freeze?
Threats?
• They may say things you don’t want to hear
• It is difficult to change behaviors
• More content = More content management
Benefits?
• Authentic communication
• Engages the school community
• Puts the school into real conversations
• Provides real utility to users
• Meaningful and useable administration
and workflow
Thank you!
John [email protected]
@PrometSource
@rogueelementinc
Allison Manley@mwskatecast
Grinnell images by Justin Hayworth
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