Monday, 1 July 2019
A new home for our blog posts
We're now posting on the University of York Marketing blog instead of here. We'll keep this blog as an archive, but there won't be any further posts.
Wednesday, 4 October 2017
Rebooting the campus map
We launched the first version of the interactive campus map back in 2012, and though we’ve made lots of improvements to it over the years, we felt it was time to give it a complete overhaul.
We’ve introduced a number of new features, including:
Across the bottom of the screen are buttons for facilities, allowing you to see car parks, cafes, post boxes and so on at a glance. The buttons let you view more than one location at the same time. So, for example, you can search for a building and then locate the car parks that are nearby. You can also have multiple buttons selected at once, should you wish to view shops and cash machines at the same time.
We chose the button types by asking 25 volunteers to pick the facilities that they’d most like to see feature prominently on the campus map. We also took into account that some important facilities may not feature highly, such as baby changing facilities and prayer rooms, and we made sure they can be found via the search instead.
One area we were particularly keen to improve was car parking. All car parks are now displayed on the map, rather than just pay & display and short stay, and we’ve added in additional information such as number of spaces, and RingGo location numbers.
The new map has been designed to work on tablets and phones, making it easier to find the places you need when you’re out and about.
You’ll notice you can still access the facilities buttons, but they’re hidden at the bottom of the screen until you need them.
The new map
You can view the new map at www.york.ac.uk/mapWe’ve introduced a number of new features, including:
Larger map
The map is now the full width of the screen. When you open the map, it’s focused on Campus East and Campus West. You can drag the map to move it around, or use the buttons on the right to centre in on Campus East, Campus West or King’s Manor. |
| The new map |
Navigation by search and buttons
Whereas before you could only search for room codes, the new search allows you to find a range of locations, including buildings, departments and rooms, and facilities such as baby changing and car parks. Start typing a location, and then select from the dropdown list of closest matches.Across the bottom of the screen are buttons for facilities, allowing you to see car parks, cafes, post boxes and so on at a glance. The buttons let you view more than one location at the same time. So, for example, you can search for a building and then locate the car parks that are nearby. You can also have multiple buttons selected at once, should you wish to view shops and cash machines at the same time.
We chose the button types by asking 25 volunteers to pick the facilities that they’d most like to see feature prominently on the campus map. We also took into account that some important facilities may not feature highly, such as baby changing facilities and prayer rooms, and we made sure they can be found via the search instead.
One area we were particularly keen to improve was car parking. All car parks are now displayed on the map, rather than just pay & display and short stay, and we’ve added in additional information such as number of spaces, and RingGo location numbers.
Mobile friendly
 |
| Mobile view |
The new map has been designed to work on tablets and phones, making it easier to find the places you need when you’re out and about.
You’ll notice you can still access the facilities buttons, but they’re hidden at the bottom of the screen until you need them.
Future improvements
There are still a number of areas that we’re keen to work on:- Walking and cycling directions between two points on the map
- Expanding the transport information to include bike racks, bike pumps, and perhaps live bus data
- At the moment, the room locations include directions to the room, but we’re only able to drop the pin on the building, rather than the exact location. We’re keen to be able to include more detailed room data using the precise coordinates.
Thursday, 27 October 2016
Our new homepage
After lots of design iterations, development work and usability testing, we’re pleased to say that the new version of our homepage is now live.
The homepage now uses the same new responsive design as the study and research areas of the site, so it’s optimised to work across a range of device sizes from small phone screens to large desktop monitors.
As well as the change to how the page looks, we’ve also made changes to the content of the page and the navigation that surrounds it. This includes:
More links for internal audiences
We used data from Google Analytics to look at what staff and students were searching for when they visited the homepage. As a result we’ve added several links that haven’t been included on the homepage before, such as timetables and the library. These can all be found under the ‘Staff and students’ menu at the top of the page.
More content about campus and city life
In the previous design there were only four slots available to feature content in, which were also used to feature news and events, so campus and city life could only be included from time to time. This is very important content for prospective students, and we’ve put a lot of effort into revamping our student life content recently, so we decided to give it a dedicated space.
More links to factual content
Lots of visitors to our site just want to find answers to basic queries like when our term dates are, or how to get to campus, so we’ve added these too.
Behind the scenes, we’re using a new system that makes it easier for us to manage the content (Contentful, for those of you that are interested). We’ve also produced a content guide, to help us ensure that any everything we put up is on-brand and conveying the right message.
The homepage now uses the same new responsive design as the study and research areas of the site, so it’s optimised to work across a range of device sizes from small phone screens to large desktop monitors.
 |
| The homepage is optimised to work across a range of device sizes |
As well as the change to how the page looks, we’ve also made changes to the content of the page and the navigation that surrounds it. This includes:
More links for internal audiences
We used data from Google Analytics to look at what staff and students were searching for when they visited the homepage. As a result we’ve added several links that haven’t been included on the homepage before, such as timetables and the library. These can all be found under the ‘Staff and students’ menu at the top of the page.
More content about campus and city life
In the previous design there were only four slots available to feature content in, which were also used to feature news and events, so campus and city life could only be included from time to time. This is very important content for prospective students, and we’ve put a lot of effort into revamping our student life content recently, so we decided to give it a dedicated space.
More links to factual content
Lots of visitors to our site just want to find answers to basic queries like when our term dates are, or how to get to campus, so we’ve added these too.
Behind the scenes, we’re using a new system that makes it easier for us to manage the content (Contentful, for those of you that are interested). We’ve also produced a content guide, to help us ensure that any everything we put up is on-brand and conveying the right message.
Friday, 23 September 2016
Updates to pages for current students
Just in time for the start of term, we've updated our pages for current students using the quick fix mobile-optimised redesign.
The pages now look smarter and are easier to use on the mobiles and tablets which account for over a third of their pageviews.
 |
| Old style |
 |
| New style |
Removal of personalised content
In addition to the design changes, we've also redeveloped the student homepage. Viewers of that page used to see just a large button inviting them to log in, but 80% didn't do so. We've removed that login option so that everyone gets straight to the news and content that they need.
Removing the login option does mean we've had to remove the personalised elements of the page for now, including timetable and library widgets. Usage data showed that these were very lightly used though so the cost of maintaining them didn't seem justified by the limited use.
Feedback
This has been a quick-turnaround project, so while it's a great step forward there may be room for more improvement. Comments are welcome here on the blog or through the feedback form on the web pages themselves.
Tuesday, 28 June 2016
Guerrilla usability testing at our open days
With thousands of potential students descending on campus for our open days last week, we had an ideal opportunity to get out ‘into the wild’ and carry out some guerrilla usability testing on the recently launched study at York pages, our new course pages, and a new homepage design that we’re working on
In guerrilla usability testing there isn’t a recruitment or screening process to find participants, you’re basically walking up to willing-looking strangers and asking if they’ve got a few minutes to spare. The tests can take place anywhere that you can find people - coffee shops, train stations, shopping centres, etc. Open days are ideal because everyone who comes to campus is going to be in our target demographic!
Although guerrilla usability testing is a lot less formal than a lab-style usability test, we still used a script (cribbed from Steve Krug’s Rocket Surgery Made Easy) to make sure that our introductions covered the basics of who we were, what we were doing, how long it would take, and perhaps most importantly, that we would reward participants with chocolate.
Before we got our participants to use the site, we asked them a few questions about the course they were hoping to study and what specific bits of information that they’d look for to help them decide if a course was right for them. We then asked them about other factors that would influence their decision to apply to a particular university. Based on their responses we came up with some scenarios on the fly.
Over the course of the two open days we ran 17 tests, using both laptops and phones. Each test took around 10 minutes.
As well as course information, our participants looked for information on accommodation, the college system, the city, sport, societies and nightlife.
We’ll definitely be doing this again. As well as the value of the testing itself, it’s always great to get out of the office and meet the users of our site.
What’s different about guerrilla testing?
How we did it
Before we got our participants to use the site, we asked them a few questions about the course they were hoping to study and what specific bits of information that they’d look for to help them decide if a course was right for them. We then asked them about other factors that would influence their decision to apply to a particular university. Based on their responses we came up with some scenarios on the fly.
What we tested
As well as course information, our participants looked for information on accommodation, the college system, the city, sport, societies and nightlife.
What we learned
- Everyone likes a Yorkie bar!
- Overall our participants were able to complete all the tasks that we gave them and liked the look of our redeveloped pages.
- It was reassuring to see a lot of our assumptions validated, especially on our new course pages (eg BA Politics) - students found it easy to tell what they’d be studying each year, and really liked seeing authentic quotes from current students.
- We got a lot of positive feedback about the in-progress new homepage design, with students liking how it looked, finding it “professional” and “welcoming”. One area that caused some confusion was the section on research, so we’ll be refining that further to make it clearer.
- We found a few small bugs to fix with how the site works on mobile. It’s on our roadmap to set up a device lab so that we’ll be able to catch things like this sooner.
- Several students used the main site search (rather than the course search) to find courses, which resulted in a much less direct path. There’s some work to be done to see how we can improve that.
We’ll definitely be doing this again. As well as the value of the testing itself, it’s always great to get out of the office and meet the users of our site.
Further reading
Wednesday, 1 June 2016
Responsive quick-fix: rollout updates
We're making good progress with departments who are keen to adopt our new responsive quick-fix designs.
In addition to the About the University pages, the new designs have been applied to Electronics, TFTV and the Humanities Research Centre, as well as Alcuin College, the Ron Cooke Hub and Campus Food and Bars.
This chart shows the growing scope of the quick-fix rollout project, the pages currently being checked and total number of pages with the new designs applied:
If you're interested in moving your departmental pages into a responsive layout then contact us at digital-marketing@york.ac.uk and get started.
In addition to the About the University pages, the new designs have been applied to Electronics, TFTV and the Humanities Research Centre, as well as Alcuin College, the Ron Cooke Hub and Campus Food and Bars.
This chart shows the growing scope of the quick-fix rollout project, the pages currently being checked and total number of pages with the new designs applied:
If you're interested in moving your departmental pages into a responsive layout then contact us at digital-marketing@york.ac.uk and get started.
Friday, 6 May 2016
Revamping our student life content
We've recently launched our brand new student life content for prospective students. The content hadn't been overhauled since 2011, so it was definitely due a refresh.
The aim of the new content is to show prospective students the fantastic experience on offer at York, not just on campus but also in our amazing city. We also want to illustrate that getting immersed in campus life isn't just about fun and meeting people - it's also about improving skills and employability. We're demonstrating these things with lots of examples of student activities, alongside student stories and rich imagery.
Amplifying the student voice is a key part of the project. We want to give the student perspective (which is of course what prospective students want) and we want to increase engagement with our student blogs - also new this recruitment cycle. So look out for student quotes and blog excerpts dotted throughout the content.
This is what the landing page looked like before the changes...
And here it is now...
As you can see we've got some graphical key facts about the University, an opening quote from Ben, the YUSU president; followed by image rich highlights of what's on offer. You can also see some of the latest student blogs posts and further down the page information about the various support mechanisms.
This is the new culture and entertainment page, which includes lots of compelling examples of what's on offer, backed up with the student view.
There are plenty more pages to look at, so feel free to peruse the new content at your leisure.
Not only have we completely refreshed the content, we've also used our shiny, new 'device friendly' templates. This means the content resizes dynamically for desktops, tablets and mobiles. This is part of an ongoing project which involves moving all our content for prospective students into the new design. Although I should say, it isn't as simple as just moving the content - the content has been reviewed, rewritten and restructured to give a better and more consistent user experience. So far we've redeveloped the undergraduate, postgraduate, accommodation and student life sections. At the moment we're working on the international students section.
As with all our content development projects it's been a collaborative process. We couldn't redevelop our content without the expertise and knowledge of our subject matter experts. For this project we've worked with our fantastic student intern Katie, who's been keeping us on track in terms of the student view. YUSU have also been involved in reviewing the content which has been a really valuable part of the process. And last but not least our colleagues in student support have also helped with checking content and providing information.
In terms of measuring success, our overarching goals are to increase engagement with the content and improve perceptions about York student life. So we've set various measurable goals to see if we achieve this. For example, we ran a survey with currents students about the old content and we're doing the same survey for the new content, so we can measure students' perceptions of the content. You can find out more on the Wiki page about the project.
If you have any student life content featured in your department pages, we would be grateful if you could replace it with a link to the new content.
Finally, if you have any feedback on the new content you can let us know at: digital-marketing@york.ac.uk or via the comments below.
The aim of the new content is to show prospective students the fantastic experience on offer at York, not just on campus but also in our amazing city. We also want to illustrate that getting immersed in campus life isn't just about fun and meeting people - it's also about improving skills and employability. We're demonstrating these things with lots of examples of student activities, alongside student stories and rich imagery.
Amplifying the student voice is a key part of the project. We want to give the student perspective (which is of course what prospective students want) and we want to increase engagement with our student blogs - also new this recruitment cycle. So look out for student quotes and blog excerpts dotted throughout the content.
This is what the landing page looked like before the changes...
And here it is now...
As you can see we've got some graphical key facts about the University, an opening quote from Ben, the YUSU president; followed by image rich highlights of what's on offer. You can also see some of the latest student blogs posts and further down the page information about the various support mechanisms.
This is the new culture and entertainment page, which includes lots of compelling examples of what's on offer, backed up with the student view.
There are plenty more pages to look at, so feel free to peruse the new content at your leisure.
Not only have we completely refreshed the content, we've also used our shiny, new 'device friendly' templates. This means the content resizes dynamically for desktops, tablets and mobiles. This is part of an ongoing project which involves moving all our content for prospective students into the new design. Although I should say, it isn't as simple as just moving the content - the content has been reviewed, rewritten and restructured to give a better and more consistent user experience. So far we've redeveloped the undergraduate, postgraduate, accommodation and student life sections. At the moment we're working on the international students section.
As with all our content development projects it's been a collaborative process. We couldn't redevelop our content without the expertise and knowledge of our subject matter experts. For this project we've worked with our fantastic student intern Katie, who's been keeping us on track in terms of the student view. YUSU have also been involved in reviewing the content which has been a really valuable part of the process. And last but not least our colleagues in student support have also helped with checking content and providing information.
In terms of measuring success, our overarching goals are to increase engagement with the content and improve perceptions about York student life. So we've set various measurable goals to see if we achieve this. For example, we ran a survey with currents students about the old content and we're doing the same survey for the new content, so we can measure students' perceptions of the content. You can find out more on the Wiki page about the project.
If you have any student life content featured in your department pages, we would be grateful if you could replace it with a link to the new content.
Finally, if you have any feedback on the new content you can let us know at: digital-marketing@york.ac.uk or via the comments below.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)