{"id":3189,"date":"2018-01-31T12:34:33","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T12:34:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/?p=3189"},"modified":"2019-05-07T15:46:27","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T14:46:27","slug":"new-kent-website-one-year-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/webdev\/2018\/01\/31\/new-kent-website-one-year-on\/","title":{"rendered":"New Kent website – one year on"},"content":{"rendered":"

So where are we and what are the next steps?<\/p>\n

A short history<\/h2>\n

A new university website hasn\u2019t just been a change of new theme, but it\u2019s a programme of work that has required institutional changes in order to progress.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve needed to adapt as Higher Education has moved towards a stronger user-focussed environment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Adjusting to this has required a cultural change at times where the outside world wants to see a simple, integrated service rather than an institutional hierarchy.<\/p>\n

Under the sponsorship of the Brand Strategy Group, it has involved teams across the university.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a><\/p>\n

2015 – discovery<\/h3>\n

Our discovery phase (view findings here<\/a>) included a range of research from interviews and competitor analysis to user testing and focus groups.<\/p>\n

This resulted in the vision and high-level objectives<\/a> for a new website to help support the University Plan.<\/p>\n

A design process, led by workshops with central teams<\/a> and schools<\/a>, helped develop design\/user experience principles and prototype concepts.<\/p>\n

2016 – beta<\/h3>\n

We had a beta launch<\/a> in 2016 of a new homepage and News Centre and continued to develop patterns for the new template.<\/p>\n

Working with central teams we developed key content for the homepage, top level pages, news centre, course pages and course sections.<\/p>\n

2017 – launch of key pages<\/h3>\n

The \u2018go live\u2019 with the initial pages was on 28 February 2017.<\/p>\n

We eventually decided on developing \u2018Site Editor\u2019<\/a> as our replacement for Dreamweaver as a more content-focussed and open-source editing tool.<\/p>\n

School pilot work<\/a> began working with Sports Science and Exercise<\/a>, Architecture<\/a> and Kent Business School<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Research.kent framework was developed to help promote the breadth of research with research sites beginning to move over to the new system.<\/p>\n

Many ongoing refinements (such as the new contact us link<\/a>) and user testing of the new theme, led to new patterns and the development of our content guidelines<\/a> for building in Site Editor.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a>
Undergraduate courses page<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Course<\/a>
New course pages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"School<\/a>
New school site<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2018 – the year ahead<\/h2>\n

It is going to be an exciting year ahead for the new website. There is a lot on the go.<\/p>\n

A range of \u2018recruitment-funnel\u2019 websites are being migrated to the new template and there is a programme to move school sites into the new theme. Workshops will help schools plan for quality imagery and videos.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be launching Site Editor to edit new website content, finally bidding farewell to Dreamweaver. This will include a lot of design improvements to the new theme including a slicker mobile experience.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be developing a new staff profile system to help support research and postgraduate recruitment.<\/p>\n

A particular focus will be looking at internal content. Having focussed on external audiences, it\u2019s time to support our current students and staff. We\u2019ll be looking at templates and patterns to support internal content<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Site<\/a>
Site Editor – our simpler publishing system<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Feedback and analysis<\/h2>\n

We continue to monitor and get feedback on the new pages. A year on, the indicators are promising.<\/p>\n

Does the new website improve the perception of our brand and does it help people get to the tasks and information they need more easily?<\/p>\n

User feedback<\/h3>\n

Lots of user testing has been done during the school pilot project with mostly positive feedback from students:<\/p>\n

\u201cCleaner and brighter\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cBetter UX\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cEasier to scan\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cThere is a sense of priority\u201d<\/em>
\nYou\u2019re making it about the student\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cI like the layout and colour, it pops up more\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cI like how they used someone\u2019s opinion here and what they actually do\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n