We set out to create a website just as modern, cultured and expansive as The University at Albany. However, UAlbany wanted to get their new site up as quick as possible, while still being thoughtful with their content. We had to come up with some creative solutions for this unique project.
- Modernize website
- Quick Implementation
- Simplify navigation
- Highlight academic and research achievement
- Integrate with Shibboleth, LDAP and social accounts
Strategy
User Centered
We developed user personas based on UAlbany's varying student body. These were used to plan out user journeys: detailed maps of how students would progress through the site. This allowed us to plan interactions ahead of our design phase.
Design
We created a custom design that was visually inspired by UAlbany's incredible architecture. We back that up with carefully planned content strategy based on our research and user journeys.
Phased Implementation
We took this project in separate phases, starting with the homepage and top-level pages. This allowed us to get the important pages up quickly, while still keeping the content and design high quality.
Mega Menu
We broke the mega-menu down into bite-sized chunks of information in clearly labled sections. The first column is for audience based navigation (prospective students, current students, faculty etc.). The second column is the topics most iportant to students and the thrid is for resources. This allows everyone to get where they're going, without having to dig into multiple levels of options.
Stats Tell The Story
More powerful then just listing classes and institutes is to show students your achievements in numbers. Stats reinforce your message and are more direct.
News & Events
UAlbany is a large community with every type of news and event imaginable. We integrated with their existing system so everything is centralized. No managing two separate databases.
