University of Minnesota
PROBLEM This highly ranked university department wanted to increase revenue via departmental donations, and to attract higher levels of student and faculty applicants.
Having reviewed their site, I proposed research and testing to help raise alumni donations, and to make recommendations toward raising applicant levels.
GOALS
Ensure that
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Site and mobile experience is easily navigable to donation pages
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Donation levels rise after any clarifying navigation updates
RESEARCH METHODS
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Heat maps
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Tree- and click-testing
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Think-aloud studies
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Competitive and heuristic analyses
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Stakeholder and user interviews
CONTEXT Interviewing applicant students and parents,
I learned their interests, information needs and concerns, and from these created tasks to be tested with students and parents.
SOLUTIONS Presenting video/audio reactions of visitors’ difficulty with tasks and navigation, the department approved navigation changes. I also provided personas of the most important audiences in order to remind the department of needed information to remain populated on their site/s, to keep their most important audiences engaged with content they continue to publish.
Recently redesigned, I asked some visitors to talk me through their visits to the site, and saw there were some things that needed to be tested.
Click Testing and Site Map
Testing around a department goal to increase donations, and seeing a 50% fail rate finding the donation link,
I recommended changes on the page which resulted in 100% success in testing. I continued click testing
other page flows in the site, and made edits to their current site map.
Site Map, Prototypes, Content Strategy
Created for stakeholders to help guide their content publishing to match users goals heard in resesarch.
Think-aloud Studies
With parents and students, I ran some think-aloud studies as they
surveyed the department site. Concerns ranged beyond what stakeholders
addressed on their site, which they later added.
Think-aloud Studies
With parents and students, I ran some think-aloud studies as they
surveyed the department site. Concerns ranged beyond what stakeholders
addressed on their site, which they later added.
User and Stakeholder Interviews
With parents and students, I ran some think-aloud studies as they
surveyed the department site. Concerns ranged beyond what stakeholders
addressed on their site, which they later added xyz.
User and Stakeholder Interviews
In interviews with users (stakeholders, undergrad students, prospective students, .graduate students
parents of students, industry professionals, alumni) I learned of content they sought, but did not find, and so
delivered proposed edits throughout the site.
User and Stakeholder Interviews
With parents and students, I ran some think-aloud studies as they
surveyed the department site. Concerns ranged beyond what stakeholders
addressed on their site, which they later added xyz.
Personas
IIntegrating all research I'd done with the department's most important audiences led
me to create personas. The largest audience was students searching for the top performing ChemE departments,
so that Undergrad (revenue-producing) persona is shown below.
Outcome
The department site remains with its donation links right up top, per my initial recommendation..
