UO Commencement
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
- User Experience Design
- User Research
- Information Architecture
- Web Design
Tools
- Card sorting
- Microsft Excel
- Drupal 7-8
GOALS
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List commencement information on both the larger university and department ceremonies, including ways to contact the department or commencement heads.
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Make the steps required to get to graduation comprehensive and easily accessibly.
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Mobile responsiveness.
My Role
As the project lead I chose the redesign’s direction over a six-month process. My duties included meeting with the Dean of Students marketing team and web developer, analyzing our current website’s content and information architecture, and developing a plan of action alongside the Commencement office to ensure the information being projected was externally-focused, accurate, and necessary.
Content Audit & Card Sorting Exercises
The old website had both internal and external-facing content- items for faculty and volunteers as well as graduating students and families. This made it difficult for students to asccertain what steps were needed towards registering for graduation. Information for graduating students and families was difficult to scan, and there was no way to understand the context of where department ceremonies were located.
Website reDesign
One of the biggest pain points of the website was the confusion around department ceremonies versus the University Ceremony- an all-campus event to acknowledge students from every college. Since the University Ceremony required tickets and occured at a different location, we wanted to make sure to emphasize the Ceremony’s importance and purpose, alongside information on the keynote speaker, ADA accessibility seating and parking, and livestream links for guests that could not be on-campus for the big day.
The previous years’ ceremony listings were difficult to scan and search, with no context to where the ceremonies would occur on campus- a key component that was missing for guests. After comparative analysis with other commencement programs in the Pacific Northwest, it was found that the majority of ceremony details had some connection to maps or the university’s calendar of events. In turn, we decided to integrate with the university calendar to make ceremonies easy to find and easier to access via mobile listings on Commencement day.
outcomes
At the end of the project, the Commencement website covered everything necessary for graduation day while maintaining the energy and warm welcome that is widely apparent on campus during the event. Whether it be accessibility accommodations, a ceremony’s location and time, or learning about the University Ceremony speaker, the Commencement website is as kind, responsive, and accessible as the event itself.
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