Lincoln University Website Redesign
Project background
As New Zealand’s leading land-based university, Lincoln University gives students a place to grow, prepare for the real world and plant the seeds of a rewarding future. Their website acts as the front door for prospective students in Aotearoa and around the world to explore what Lincoln has to offer. It was in need of an overhaul to establish one of the smallest universities in the country as a leading player in the industry.
Discovery process
The discovery process started with a survey to key stakeholders throughout Lincoln University to gather intel to set the scene for workshops. The survey allowed me to understand user pain points.
This was followed by a series of workshops to established project goals, measures of success, users and user journeys and a new information architecture for the website. We also identified feature requirements for the new site, including a series of page templates, content blocks and tools that needed to be designed.
User testing
Information architecture
I tested the information architecture with a Treejack test that was sent to current students, prospective students, staff and alumni in the Lincoln University. Based on results of the first Treejack test, we created a second one with a refined IA to test again.
Usability testing
At many stages throughout the design process, I tested key tools with students to ensure they understood the flow. One key flow was the Fees Calculator which I first tested at wireframe stage. The testing validated that students understood the user flows for the most part, but I was able to iterate to ensure a clearer experience.
Current students
I created interactive prototypes of key website pages and conducted one-on-one user testing with current Lincoln University students. The goal of our test was to understand how the students viewed themselves. Would the students navigate the site based on the type of student they were? Or would they navigate through the information architecture following the topic pathways? At the end of the test, I found that students chose to navigate by their audience type only 16% of the time. 74% of the time, students chose to navigate via the standard menu. 10% of the time the students did not attempt to navigate, stating they would just use the search. Through user based research we were able to validate our approach to the information architecture and structure the site according to our user needs.
Visual designs
The new Lincoln university is made up of unique Page Templates and Content blocks to allow content authors maximum flexibility when creating page layouts on the site. The new visual design allowed for a bolder application of their brand identity. The variation of design options for pages and blocks allowed content authors to have fun and create different designs, while using elements from their style guide such as fonts, colours and typography consistently across the website. The designs allowed content authors to display engaging media, such as video and imagery, across all pages. This design was also used as a Design system to be used across other key Lincoln sites, including the Library site and the IT Help site.
