We just launched the redesigned Division of Research Web site. Above is the visual comparison of the old (left) to the new (right). The refresh brings the site into a modern look with university branding, simplified navigation and page structure.

Redesign Goals

The old site was one of the furthest away from the Wayne State branding. Although it did have the wordmark in the top left corner the colors did not match the WSU colors, the heading was larger than the wordmark, and the overall look as dated. In addition all of the sub sites (21 total) has completely different looks and navigation’s.

The entire project took just over 9 months to complete. It consisted of sitting down with the content owners of all the 22 sites to assess their information needs, goals and wishes. Then we took a deep look at what content was out there, analyzed the analytics we did have and came up with an overall navigation and a navigation that worked for all the subsites.

Design wise we included the hierarchy of the main site into the rest of the sites so they not only looked like the university but also part of the division with a standard header. We made sure each had their own branding images and promotional items to make them stand out and appeal to their individual audiences.

Overall

The new site now has a consistent look with the university colors, design and standards. The large image gives us the ability to highlight research and facilities in a large impacting format, its a chance to bring the research to life.

Data is now shared between departments, events and news are cross promoted and everything is in databases so things can be multi purposed. Application deadlines and grant options are widely promoted and more visible than ever were before.

The “communications” area is now a central spot for press releases, highlighted professors/students, newsletters and research in the news, before this information was scattered throughout the site and mostly available in PDF format. We took all of this and converted it to HTML format for easier search ability and accessibility.

View the site: http://research.wayne.edu/

This entry was posted on Friday, December 26th, 2008 at 1:38 pm and is filed under launch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.