Web Content Management Forum

Website Training Sessions in Progress

Since the successful launch of SHU’s new website on October 4, the web content management team has continued to work with departments to update and enhance the site with new content, video and bold, fresh photography (Not to mention sneak in a few vacation days for some much needed R&R). Despite a fierce hurricane and October snowstorm that hit the tri-state area, the SHU website weathered only a few minor technical glitches since launch – most of which have been addressed.

Over the past two weeks, the WCM team has conducted basic training sessions for departments across campus on our new web content management system, Terminal Four’s Site Manager.  We will be offering another round of training in January. If interested in learning more about our training sessions, please contact us a sitefeedback@sacredheart.edu.

Thank you for your continued support.

The Web Content Management Team

Nancy Boudreau
Kim Galiette
Caitlin Robles

SHU Launches New Web Design!

After months of intensive work, the Sacred Heart University Web team is excited and pleased to launch a new and updated website. Some of the changes and updates you will find include:

• A stunning, interactive Virtual Tour
• A bold new look and photography
• Extensive use of photo galleries and video
• Easier access to the site through desktop, laptop, tablet or smart phone
• Social Media Mashup
• Interactive Map
• A more robust Campus Life section
• Easy links across the top of all pages to get to student portal and faculty and staff pages
• Mega menus in the major sections making it quicker and easier to get deeper into the site

A project of this magnitude does not get done without a great deal of dedication and hard work. Thanks go out to my outstanding team – Kim Galiette and Caitlin Robles – who have been focused on this project for more than a year while continuing to maintain the day-to-day content of the site.

Kudos also to the entire web redesign committee, whose time, feedback and collaboration was invaluable in the development of the new site: Funda Alp, Alane Bikovsky, Renata Cioffi, Maura Coppola, Emily Dauenhauer, Tracy Deer-Mirek, Diana Fitzsimons, Emily Gillette, Frances Grodzinsky, Alexis Haakonsen, Michael Iannazzi, Mia James, Christopher Lavoie, Katie Nichols, Jamie Romeo, Julie Savino and Deborah Surbey.

Thanks also to the three students who helped us migrate content to the new site over the summer – Bradley Clawson, Phil Hammer and Tom Sheil – and a big thank you to the entire University community for offering suggestions and insights along the way.

The new website also incorporates the work toward a new Sacred Heart University brand that has been underway over the past year. You will be hearing more about the new brand in the future. For now, the most prominent piece of the branding project is a new SHU logo that debuts with the launch of this new website.

In the coming weeks, Web Content Management will contact individual departments about training on the new content management system.

Finally, as you visit the new SHU site, we welcome your feedback and encourage each department to enrich your pages with content. Along the way, if you find any broken links, pages, etc., please email sitefeedback@sacredheart.edu and include a link to the page where the error was found.

We hope you enjoy the new site!

 Nancy Boudreau
Director of Web Content Management

So close!

It’s been a very busy summer for the Web Content Management Team.  The Web Team and Marketing & Communications group received training on Terminal 4 Site Manager in mid-June.  We’ve been working with Terminal 4 and New City to implement the template designs into Terminal 4 Site Manager.   With the help of Terminal 4 and a few SHU students -  Phil Hammer, Bradley Clawson and Tom Sheil -  we’ve been migrating  content to the new site.   Right now the Web Team is in the process of reviewing and refining  the content  (making sure pages are in order, links are working, etc), building landing pages and mega menus and coordinating with all the various systems and departments to finalize the site.  We will begin contacting departments to start previewing their sites next week.

The time to migrate  content has taken longer than expected , and we’ve been working through the inevitable technical glitches so we’ve had to adjust our scheduled launch date.  We originally planned to launch the new site by the end  of August, but feel the first week of October is more realistic and will help to ensure a successful launch.  We are excited by how the site is shaping up.  With the bold photography, new design and compelling features stories,  we think it will be worth the wait.

 

Edit, Refine, and Migrate

Three words that describe what our web team will be busy doing this summer. From editing and refining existing content, to preparing content for migration to the new site, our web team has been busy working with departments across campus and will continue to do so through the summer months.

With the design phase of our new website nearly complete, Terminal Four (T4), our content management (CMS) company, has begun building and testing the various styles and templates.

Two methods of usability testing were conducted this April, an unmoderated and a moderated test. The unmoderated usability test used a survey tool called TreeJack to evaluate the website structure. The survey was populated with top prospective student questions then distributed to 864 participants, including over 600 current and prospective students, faculty staff and alumni.

The moderated, 1-on-1 usability tests were facilitated by New City’s Eva Floyd and conducted remotely using an interactive prototype of designed pages intended to evaluate the actual layout and language on the pages as well as website structure. A variety of devices were used for testing, including desktops, Blackberry, IPhone, ITouch, IPad, Nook, Kindle Fire, and Android. The participants were both prospective students and parents.

The results of the usability testing were very positive and resulted in a few minor changes to the site structure and language. 

In mid-June, the Web Team will be trained on the Terminal 4 Site Manager content management system to prepare for content migration which will begin the last week of June and go on into August.  Departments will have a chance to preview their web pages before we launch the new site at the end of August. 

The web team will continue to work with departments across campus after launch to build and enhance their website content and provide CMS training to departmental web liaisons this
fall. 

That’s it for now.  If you have any questions regarding the web redesign process, email us at sitefeedback@sacredheart.edu.

Thank you for your continued support.

Nancy Boudreau
Kim Galiette
Caitlin Robles

Higher Ed Marketing Expert Bob Johnson Features Interview with SHU Web Director

Decentralized vs. Centralized was Bob Johnson's question of the week in his interview with our Web Content Management Director, Nancy Boudreau.

Johnson asked Boudreau to share her thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of centralized vs. decentralized content management processes, from creating web content to editing and publishing content.

Boudreau explains, "The biggest obstacle to decentralized publishing is ensuring the quality of content. Web content isn't just about updating some event dates, adding course descriptions or editing program pages. It's about marketing your university's academics and culture and creating a unified brand and message. It requires writing engaging, search engine optimized content, and that takes time and practice. And thanks to people like you, the message is getting out that a website isn't just about pretty pictures and typography - it's about THE CONTENT."

Visit Bob Johnson's blog to read the full article!

Blah, Blah, Blah . . .

What exactly is blah, blah? That was the topic of conversation at a web content workshop held on campus last week. David Poteet, President of New City, presented “Beyond Blah Blah: Creating Great Content for the Web.”

Approximately thirty representatives from across campus participated in this interactive workshop, including members of marketing and communications, web content management, undergraduate, graduate and part-time admissions, financial assistance, university advancement, and academics.

We talked about eliminating ROT - redundant, outdated and trival content, participated in group exercises and reviewed these 6 Tips for writing compelling web content:  

Tip 1: Give them what they want
Tip 2: Not everyone thinks like you. Or, not everyone wants the same things you want
Tip 3: Use words that smell like goals
Tip 4: Write “visually”
Tip 5: Show don’t tell
Tip 6: Capture the imagination

David showed us some "before and after" redesigned web pages to illustrate some of his points.   We also watched this enlightening video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilq9qeyVjT0 that tracks the human eye on a web page.   Follow the blue dot as the person views the web page.   If you think people are reading your web pages from left to right, top to bottom, think again.  

The workshop was to begin preparing the web team and web liaisons for the process of editing and refining their existing web content. Content migration to the new website will begin in June. The web team’s goal is to have content reviewed and refined by end of June. WCM will be working with departments to assist and guide them in this effort.

On the design side of the house, things are moving along smoothly.  The new SHU homepage design along with several secondary page designs have been reviewed and approved.  All designs should be completed by mid-April.   

If you have any questions/feedback regarding our web redesign project, please contact WCM at sitefeedback@sacredheart.edu

Thanks and stay tuned for more updates.

Web Content Management
Nancy Boudreau
Kim Galiette
Caitlin Robles

Planning and Design Phase

With the successful completion of the discovery and research phase of our website redesign project, New City and the SHU web content management team have moved right along into Phase 2 -  Planning and Design!

Since the return from holiday break, the SHU Web Committee has been busy reviewing and approving wire frames for top level landing pages, such as Academics, Campus Life and Admissions, as well as secondary landing pages for the Colleges, departmental sites and academic programs. Once the wire frames are approved, New City will begin production of the various template designs.

Two weeks ago, New City presented three home page design concepts for the web committee to review. Committee members provided feedback on what they liked and/or disliked about each design. While 75% of the committee favored one particular design concept, there were elements from the other two designs that were preferred. With the summarized feedback and suggestions from the committee, New City presented a revised homepage design which is currently under review. The initial reaction has been very positive, and the web team is excited with the creative direction that New City is taking us!

While SHU’s new website is being designed, New City will simultaneously build a mobile friendly website using a  technique called responsive design.  According to Kayla Knight of Smashing Magazine, “Responsive Web design is the approach that suggests that design and development should respond to the user’s behavior and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation. As the user switches from their laptop to iPad, the website should automatically switch to accommodate for resolution, image size and scripting abilities. In other words, the website should have the technology to automatically respond to the user’s preferences. This would eliminate the need for a different design and development phase for each new gadget on the market.”

In the meantime, the web content management team is in the process of creating a content inventory, and will be in touch with departments across campus to begin editing content. Our goal is to have the bulk of our web content edited and refined by the end of spring semester, to ensure a smooth and efficient content migration to our new site.

Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting project! Feel free to contact us for feedback or more information at sitefeedback@sacredheart.edu

The Web Content Management Team
Nancy Boudreau
Kim Galiette
Caitlin Robles

Design and Sketch – What would your homepage look like?

“Imagine you are a 17-year-old high school student from North Carolina visiting the Sacred Heart University website for the first time. Now ask yourself, what information would I be looking to find or to do on the home page? Now briefly sketch what that home page might look like.”

>>> Play Video of Our Sketching Session with New City

The task is not as easy as it sounds, but last week, over 30 faculty, staff and students participated in a website sketching session with New City, our website redesign firm.  Participants were divided up into 5 groups and given a different persona of a prospective student or parent and asked to sketch a homepage to fit the needs of that user. 

New City representatives, Rebekah Godshall, Eva Floyd and Sara Andrew, spent four days on campus last week reporting back on research findings, conducting this sketching session as well as several other wire framing and design exercises with the Marketing & Communications Team. Based on research, interviews, results of the KJ sessions conducted during their last visit and these sketchboarding exercises,  top level navigation and home page priorities were discussed and mapped out to set the stage for our site architecture.

On Thursday, the senior management team attended a design gut check exercise.  Participants were shown 30 different websites for 20 seconds on a big screen and asked to give their initial or gut reaction to the website’s design appeal (typography, use of photography, layout, color, features, links, etc.) by rating each from 1 – 5 (1 being the worst and 5 being the best). The results were tallied and the group spent time discussing their likes and dislikes. “I definitely see a trend in the results,” commented Sara Andrews, lead web designer with New City.

It was an enlightening and productive week spent with New City and representatives across campus. The results and conclusions of last week’s exercises together with the information gathered from their previous campus visits and research completed to date will help New City with the creative direction of our home page design and top level landing pages. When we return from our holiday break in January, New City will begin creating home page design concepts.

Until then, have a  wonderful holiday season and best wishes in the New Year!

With warm regards,

The Web Content Management Team
Nancy Boudreau
Kim Galiette
Caitlin Robles

Comments and suggestions? Contact us at sitefeedback@sacredheart.edu

 

KJ Sessions Kick Off a Success!

Last week marked the successful kick off of our website redesign discovery phase.  New City representatives  -  Pamela Martin, Rebekah Godshall, and Eva Floyd -  spent three days on campus meeting with the web team and various members of the SHU community.  In that time they also conducted seven KJ sessions with SHU faculty, staff, administration, alumni and students.

The “KJ Method” is an engaging brainstorming process developed by Jiro Kawakita, a Japenese anthropologist, as a way for small groups to reach consensus on complex problems quickly. KJ Sessions also help organizations with strategic planning and problem solving. 

Participants were asked the question “Who is our audience? Who are we trying to reach?” followed by the focus question, “What do people come to our website to find or to do?”  Participants agreed that our web audience is comprised mainly of prospective students, current students, parents, alumni, faculty, and staff, as well as the community at large, high school guidance counselors, mentors, coaches, competitors, clinical partners, potential employers and internships.

Each participant wrote their answers to the focus question on yellow Post-it Notes, working silently and independently for about 10 minutes. Participants then put all their sticky notes on the wall in no particular order. Next, they were asked to group the items that have a similar goal or purpose. Once sorted, the participants were asked to name each group and prioritize the groups by listing and voting on their top three groups. Once everyone voted, the moderator tallied the votes.

The top three information groups were Academics,  Admissions, and About SHU.  The Academic group scored particularly high with an emphasis on information regarding individual academic programs.  The information from these sessions will help us prioritize and ensure that the content our web audience is looking for is available. 

New City’s next steps will be to conduct one-on-one interviews with current and prospective students, as well as interviews with some of SHU’s senior staff.  Additionally, New City will return to campus the week of December 5 to meet with more faculty, staff and students to conduct collaborative wireframing sessions.  Wireframes are schetches used to determine what types of information and elements should be included on our web pages. We will be reaching out to SHU community members across campus for participation. More details on that to come!

Keep checking our blog for more updates as we move forward in this exciting redesign project!  As always, send us your feedback at sitefeedback@sacredheart.edu.  

Thank you for your continued support.

The WCM Team

Nancy Boudreau
Kim Galiette
Caitlin Robles

SHU Website Redesign in the Works!

The Web Content Management (WCM) team is excited to announce that the university has selected a new web design company and content management system (CMS) to redesign the Sacred Heart University website, with an anticipated launch of August 2012! After carefully reviewing nearly 20 proposals, the Web Team and Web Redesign Committee met with four web design firms and three CMS companies. At the conclusion of the presentations, the group unanimously voted to hire New City, an award-winning web design company based out of Virginia, and Terminal Four, an innovative higher education content management company.

 The SHU Website Redesign Committee consists of 17 individuals representing departments across campus, including Nancy Boudreau, Kim Galiette, and Caitlin Robles, together with Funda Alp, Alane Bikovsky, Renata Cioffi, Maura Coppola, Tracy Deer-Mirek, Diana Fitzsimons, Frances Grodzinsky, Alexis Haakonsen, Matthew Kenney, Christopher Lavoie, Katie Nichols, Jamie Romeo, Julie Savino and Deborah Surbey.

Beginning next week, New City and the Web Team will kick off our web redesign Discovery Phase, a fun and engaging process of gathering feedback from all SHU constituents. New City will be on campus Wednesday – Friday, October 26 - 28 to conduct focus groups with prospective students and current undergraduate, part-time and graduate students, and parents. New City will simultaneously host several brainstorming sessions, also known as KJ sessions, with faculty and staff across campus, including representatives from admissions, student life, academics, mission, university advancement and marketing. In the coming weeks, the University’s senior staff will participate in one-on-one interviews as well. The results of the Discovery Phase will set the creative and strategic direction of our website redesign.

We plan on keeping the University Community informed about the progress of the new website, so be sure to subscribe to our blog http://sacredheartuniversity.typepad.com/words_from_a_web_diva/ for updates.  In the meantime, we encourage feedback from everyone within the SHU community. Please email sitefeedback@sacredheart.edu with any questions, comments or suggestions.

Thank you for your continued support!

The WCM Team

Nancy Boudreau
Kim Galiette
Caitlin Robles