Design Solution

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At the start of this project, I sought to consider what tasks a visitor to the site might be trying to accomplish and what some of the pain points might be in accomplishing those goals.  I came to the conclusion that most visitors of the site fit into either one of two categories:

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• Prospective students

• Current students.

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Taking this into considering, I tried to figure out what are the reasons for why these groups of users might be visiting the site, and came the conclusion that most tasks undertaken on the site would fit into one of three broad categories:

 

• Prospective students looking to apply and/or learn more about the application process

• Prospective students and parents looking for information on individual degree programs

• Current students looking for administrative information

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When considering some of the pain points that a user may experience with the current web page, I realized that the page in it's current state is filled with distractions and otherwise not very important information.  Sure, it's great to see all of the wonderful news and events happening throughout the iSchool, but how much of that is actually useful to what the user is likely trying to accomplish?

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Thus, in my proposed redesign, I aimed to make it easier for visitors to the site to quickly locate the information or pages for which they are seeking, through the use of a more simple hierarchy of information architecture.  There are fewer distracting images, and information and links are logically segmented into three different bold and prominent sections to assist the user in finding the information or section he or she might be looking for:

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• Apply Now

• Degree Programs

• Students

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Unlike the current home page that feels more like a busy, cluttered news stand, I aimed for the new design to be more akin to a dashboard with increased utility and less clutter.

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