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| Vol. 18, No. 19 | Feb. 18, 1999 |
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| Vol. 18, No. 19 | Feb. 18, 1999 |
March 1 will be the official unveiling date for UD's new home page-the result of almost a year's effort involving individuals, teams and units across the campus.
UD's new web site is marked by a strong customer orientation and a design that provides easy access to information about the University for its major audiences, including faculty, students, parents, staff, alumni and friends.
Carl Jacobson, Management Information Services, who oversaw the web refresh project, said the new site is highly functional and helps users find answers and complete tasks.
"When UD's web was first designed, it logically followed the organizational structure of the University."
Web page headings took users to individual departments and units, such as the library, registrar, admissions and career services. But, Jacobson explained, for most users, completing tasks is more important than UD's internal organization.
For example, students want to be able to order a cap and gown, get through senior checkout, and drop and add courses, but they may not and don't necessarily need to know that the University Bookstore is responsible for ordering caps and gowns or that the registrar's office is involved in senior checkout.
"The refreshed web," Jacobson said, "serves its users by customer group-whether they be students, prospective students, parents, visitors, faculty or staff members.
"UD's Student Services Building is a good example of what we are trying to achieve with the new web," Jacobson said. "At the Student Services Building, a student can receive the services he or she needs, and it doesn't matter what office the services come from. We want to accomplish the same level of service through the web."
The project to refresh the web started in April 1998 with the establishment of the Web Media Team, explained Joy Lynam, MIS, and team leader of the effort. Other members included John Brennan, public relations; Debbie Durant, Help Center; Keith Heckert, visual media design; Paul Hyde, user services; Maria Mullin, Management Information Services; Paul Rickards, digital media services; Lynda Ruggerio, information technologies; Kathy Troutman, instructional media services; and Kate Webster, user services.
The group's goals were to make the web more customer oriented and easier to navigate and maintain; to be sure it represented an appropriate level of UD technology; to make it easy to understand and avoid information overload; to assure that its association with UD is clear; and to have it represent the University in spirit and style.
"The web was started by computer guys who wanted to do neat stuff. But, what was neat and interesting to look at was not necessarily informative. Now, we're spending more time with the content. Our emphasis is no longer on technological glitz; it's on the text and the information. We're spending less time on the flash and spin and whistles," Jacobson said.
Lynam explained that glitz-such as hearing sounds and seeing moving pictures when you visit a web site-has drawbacks, particularly with the time it takes some users to load such pages.
UD's new site offers such glitz as options that become a voluntary selection on the user's part. "If you want to hear the carillon in Memorial Hall, for example, you'll be able to click to hear it," she said, "but you won't hear the chimes on the home page."
The emphasis was on functionality, making the web event- and service-driven, complemented by a subtle design, Lynam stressed.
In its work, the Web Media Team looked at the services and structure provided by 80 campus units- gathering and sorting thousands of pieces of information-through last October, Lynam said. The team determined the user categories that received and needed services-such as students, alumni, parents, faculty, staff and others.
Next, the working group organized the information by customer needs and processes rather than individual tasks. As Lynam explained, it was important to determine what a person had to do to complete a multi-step process, rather than simply focus on a series of individual tasks.
Using the "Undergraduate Student" page as an example, she pointed out that the new page offers links so students will be able to get immediate information to accomplish such processes as:
A resource box is also located on each customer page, making available frequently used tools, such as the academic calendar and e-mail directory.
Similar sites have been designed to address the needs of graduate students and continuing education students.
Both Jacobson and Lynam express satisfaction that the effort has been enthusiastically received so far in meetings with individuals and groups throughout the UD community, as well as those off the campus.
"We were worried," Jacobson said, "that people would resist change. We didn't want to force others to participate. We wanted to compel them. And, that's what occurred. There's been a great deal of interest and support for the web refreshment."
A sneak peek of the new site has been in place for several weeks, and Lynam said response from students, faculty, staff and alumni has been thoughtful and positive. One student wrote, "I love the new page and so do my friends. It's a great piece of web work," and another called the new site "amazing."
That next stage involves similar customer-oriented development of web sites for the colleges and departments.
"Each page has a link that offers an opportunity for user feedback," Lynam said, "and these comments from users will bring other areas of need to light. What's been so rewarding about this project," she added, "is that people have told us, 'We want to do it! Tell us what you need!' and 'Show us how to do it.' The response has been very positive."
The ongoing effort will not stop when the current college and campus teams have finished their web refreshment projects, Jacobson said.
"As our web and institutional needs change, we'll make modifications," he said. "We won't leave the web alone for three years and then do a major overhaul. Just as in the case of our buildings, we will have scheduled maintenance. This is an ongoing project, and we'll be improving continually.
"The University carefully planned the design, beauty and functionality of the University's Mall," Jacobson added. "As many people see UD on the web as visit us in Newark. Our web deserves the same planning and attention."
-Ed Okonowicz
