2013 AMA Symposium Presentation: Dartmouth Site Redevelopment

Portrait of a Modern .EDU WebsitePREPARED FOR: November 11, 2013

Portrait of a Modern .Edu Website

• Who We Are & What We Do

• .Edu Sites Are Unique

• Listening… Really Listening

• Site Concerns = Bigger Issues

• Setting Goals

TODAY’S AGENDA

• Strategy Development Informing UX

• A Purposed & Fluid Visual Identity

• Building It… Step-By-Step

• Departmental DNA

• Results & The Future

Who We Are & What We Do



Sarah Memmi Director of Editorial Services

Dartmouth

Gene Lewis Chief Creative Officer

Digital Pulp

the digital pulp term

!a cushion of soft tissue on the palmar of the distal phalanx of a finger


Harvard University

DIGITAL PULP CLIENTS


BASIC PROCESS

.Edu Sites Are Unique



✓ The battle for home page supremacy

!✓ Not all audiences are equal

!✓ Taming the content beast

!✓ Consensus building is good

!but...

!✓ Let your flag fly

.EDU CHALLENGES

Listening… Really Listening


Listening… Really Listening


Portrait of a Modern .Edu WebsitePortrait of a Modern .Edu Website

DISCOVERY

‣ The more input, the better

‣ Surveys are fantastic tools

‣ Let groups hear each other

‣ Document, document, document

‣ Town Halls are powerful

Portrait of a Modern .Edu WebsitePortrait of a Modern .Edu Website

BY THE NUMBERS

500+ people

interviewed

50+ departments

& centers

500+ survey

responses

2 town halls

60+ hours of

interviews

Site Concerns = Bigger Issues



“It’s just a web site.”

TIP OF THE ICEBERG

‣ Brand work comes with the territory

‣ Leadership needs to define and own the mission & message

‣ Make it genuine or risk losing trust

Home Page


DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE…

BRAND, VOICE & NATURE SITE DESIGN & EXPERIENCE

PRIORITIES


CLEAR BRANDING =

CLEAR MESSAGE =

CLEAR PURPOSE

Setting Goals



“We need a better site.”


REFINED GOALS

1. Reach and engage Prospective Students

2. Present a unified Dartmouth (not just undergrad)

3. Promote and elevate the school’s brand and message

4. Introduce a clean, modern and elegant User Experience

5. Elevate opportunity; discourage mandate

6. Deliver a great site - not just a great .edu site

7. Keep. It. Manageable.


SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE…

• Leadership is pleased with the results

• Prospective and current students respond positively

• Campus feels site represents the school

• Admissions feedback is positive

• Department & Center adoption is positive


The site needs to expand and elevate Dartmouth's

perceived stature in the minds of prospective students,

parents, faculty and the world.

ULTIMATELY…

Strategic Development

Informing UX



WHAT WE LEARNED

‣ Clarity and simplicity are paramount

‣ Focus on external audiences... but provide a path for internal audiences

‣ Employ the tactic of “show, don’t tell”

‣ Reflect the supportive & collaborative culture of the school

‣ Create a framework that can evolve

‣ Deliver impact


ARCHITECTURE EVOLUTION

Home

Admissions Academics Research Global About Life on Campus


MAKING IT DARTMOUTH

Home

Admissions

Academics Research Global

About

Life on Campus

These are generic and users will seek them out.


MAKING IT DARTMOUTH

Home

Academics Research Global Life on Campus


MAKING IT DARTMOUTH

Home

Academics Research

Global

Life on Campus

Global content should be integrated throughout the site


MAKING IT DARTMOUTH

Home

Academics Research Life on Campus


MAKING IT DARTMOUTH

Home



MAKING IT DARTMOUTH

Home


Language Matters


MAKING IT DARTMOUTH

Home

Education ResearchLife &

Community

Language Matters


ARCHITECTURE = ESSENCE

Home

Education ResearchLife &

Community

A Purposed Visual Identity



DESIGN DIRECTION

Simple

Modern

Light

Engaging

…with a nod to tradition

Clean


A RESPONSIVE APPROACH

Building It… Step-By-Step



A PHASED APPROACH

‣ School year schedules demanded a fall debut for the site - but code and

CMS weren’t ready

‣ Interim solutions can be messy - re-skinning was a key to success

‣ Don’t bite off more that you can chew - keep it simple

‣ Even responsive can be done in a “light” fashion.

Who We Are & What We Do



FALL 2012 SPRING 2013



Departmental DNA



DEPARTMENT IDENTITY IS CRITICAL

‣ Departments need a sense of self - independence is highly valued

‣ For their areas of expertise the parent brand plays a diminished role

‣ Department-level site resources are minimal

‣ Balancing support, visual design and even template types matters

Admissions Schools Centers Global Arts Athletics Giving

| EDUCATION | RESEARCH | LIFE & COMMUNITY

The Undergraduate ExperienceGraduate SchoolsDepartments & DegreesLibrariesStudy Around the WorldSummer at DartmouthLifelong Learning

Education

Research NewsFaculty ExpertsResearch CentersProjects & LabsPublications & GrantsConferences & SeminarsResearch Resources

Research

Dartmouth at a GlanceAccessibilityEmergency PreparednessAdministrative OfficesCareers

About Dartmouth

Explore the GreenArtsAthleticsDiversityHealth & WellnessOutdoorsResidential LifeServiceStudent Group & ActivitiesSustainability

Life & Community

PeopleGraduate Program Research Areas Societies & Labs News & Events

EDUCATION

The Department of

Biological Sciences

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photo: Student, Caylean Carey photo: Professor, Kevin Peterson photo: inspirational

Welcome Class of 2016!Professor Peart's open house presentation to the incoming class of 2016 an accompanying handout now available. Congratulations and welcome to Dartmouth Class of 2016!

Best Presentation Award at Society for Freshwater ScienceCayelan Carey '06 has just won the 2012 Best Oral Presentation in Applied Research at the Society for Freshwater Science meeting.

Prof. Peterson: Understanding the Evolution of MammalsProfessor Kevin Peterson is featured in a Nature article "Phylogeny: Rewriting evolution"for his work using microRNAs to understand the evolution of mammals.

Featured TitleLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.



Undergraduate Studies

Contact

Admissions Schools Centers Global Arts Athletics Giving

| EDUCATION | RESEARCH | LIFE & COMMUNITY

The Undergraduate ExperienceGraduate SchoolsDepartments & DegreesLibrariesStudy Around the WorldSummer at DartmouthLifelong Learning

Education

Research NewsFaculty ExpertsResearch CentersProjects & LabsPublications & GrantsConferences & SeminarsResearch Resources

Research

Dartmouth at a GlanceAccessibilityEmergency PreparednessAdministrative OfficesCareers

About Dartmouth

Explore the GreenArtsAthleticsDiversityHealth & WellnessOutdoorsResidential LifeServiceStudent Group & ActivitiesSustainability

Life & Community

EDUCATION

The Institute for

Writing & Rhetoric

Christiane Donahue, Ph.D. Director, Institute for Writing and RhetoricAssociate Professor of Linguistics

Teaching

Works in Progress

Areas of Expertise

Books & Writing

"I am interested in combining French functional linguistics and discourse analysis with composition-rhetoric scholarship, my research interests include cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary analysis, pluringuality and internationalization, genre study, and the development of multi-method research approaches drawn from European and United States traditions."

Writing 5French Linguistics 1 & 2

“When Copying Is Not Copying: Plagiarism and French Composition Scholarship,” in Originality, Imitation, Plagiarism: Teaching Writing in the Digital Age, U. of Michigan Press, 2008

“Cross-Cultural Analysis of Student Writing: Beyond Discourses of Difference,” in Written Communication, 25 (3)

Bradley TaylorAssistant Professor

Samuel ValezAssistant Professor

Lee WittersAssistant Professor

Olga ZhaxybayevaAssistant Professor

writing public speaking poetry

genetics biochemistry biophysics genetics biochemistry immunology

More Faculty at the Institute of Writing & Rhetoric

View Resume/CV

writing public speakingpoetry

public speaking

Title of book Title of book

Speaking Engagements

9th IAIMTE International ConferenceUPEC: Université Paris-Est Créteil / France, Institut Universitaire de Formation des MaîtresJune 11 - June 13, 2013

Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse Speaker SeriesDartmouth College, Hanover, New HampshireOctober 16, 2012

22nd Penn State Conference on Rhetoric and CompositionRhetoric and Writing across Language BoundariesSunday, July 10–Tuesday, July 12, 2011

+ view 3 more

Publications

“When Copying Is Not Copying: Plagiarism and French Composition Scholarship,” in Originality, Imitation, Plagiarism: Teaching Writing in the Digital Age, U. of Michigan Press, 2008

“Cross-Cultural Analysis of Student Writing: Beyond Discourses of Difference,” in Written Communication, 25 (3)

“Multiple Assessments of a First-year Seminar Pilot,” in the Journal of General Education (in press) co-authored with biology professor Andrew Barto

+ view 7 moreTitle of book Title of book

[email protected]

PeopleGraduate Program Prizes & Awards Materials & Support News & EventsUndergraduate Studies

Contact

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View all faculty




Results & The Future



RESULTS


‣ Mandates don’t work; carrot - not stick

‣ Build the argument with substance

‣ Strong internal leadership cannot be underestimated

‣ Respect for each individual and an acknowledgement of the

challenges they face will yield cooperation

‣ Be bold and stay the course (this is a super marathon, not a

100m dash)

ADDITIONAL LEARNING


Thank You.

Sarah Memmi Director of Editorial Services

Dartmouth

Gene Lewis Chief Creative Officer

Digital Pulp

[email protected]@dartmouth.edu

Design

2013 AMA Symposium Presentation: Dartmouth Site Redevelopment