rebuilding the world_campus_website_campos_incpswc_upcea_march_2012
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Re-building the Penn State
World Campus Website
Maximizing a
Brand’s Positioning
Agenda
– Overall goal
– Problem definition
– The process
– Tips for success
– Q&A
Overall Goal
Grow World Campus enrollments
through the website redesign to
meet the needs of the adult learner
Agenda
– Overall goal
– Problem definition
– The process
– Tips for success
– Q&A
Problem Definition – Branding and Design
• Most frequently asked question: “Is this the real Penn State?”
• Lacked relevant imagery and video content
• Content was delivered as the “owner’s manual” instead of the “brochure”
– Content and Site Architecture
• Site architecture and content grew organically
• Lacked consistency
• Prospective student and current student content intermixed
• Website was not mobile-friendly
– Content Management System and Hosting Environment
• Content management system was not technically scalable to handle future growth
• Coding was not SEO-friendly
• No server backup
Rebuilding the World Campus website
is like rebuilding our campus, except
it’s all online
Agenda
– Overall goal
– Problem definition
– The process
– Tips for success
– Q&A
The Process: 2 Years
Phase Start date
I. Project scope July 2009
II. Content and design March 2010
III. Market research May 2010
IV. Usability testing May 2010
V. Launch and measure results July 2011
Phase I: Project Scope
Project Scope
– Define the objective:
To optimize conversion and retention to grow World Campus enrollments, we will completely overhaul the website and create a new interface that allows our users to easily find the information they need, when and where they need it, online and/or mobile, with clear calls-to-action
• Prospective students
• Current students
– Determine where we had expertise and where we needed external help in order to accomplish the project
– Establish a project manager/project team and develop a communications plan for the many stakeholders involved and for approvals at each stage
Phase II: Content and Design
Content USING DATA/TESTING TO INFORM DECISIONS
– Brand research
– Web research
– User survey
– Site search
– Staff and stakeholder feedback
– Knowledge base
– Usability testing
– Reinforce “This is the real Penn State”
– Develop rich media and photography
– Establish information architecture that gives users
information when they need it
– Follow web writing best practices
– Keep content clear and concise
– Keep SEO in mind
Content GOALS
– Promote a strong, collegiate feel
– Appear clean, modern, simple, not trendy (what you’d expect from a high quality online institution)
– Use color and imagery synonymous with our brand
– Be consistent, intuitive
– Follow University visual identity web standards
Design GOALS
Phase III: Market Research
Market Research BRAND PERCEPTION AND POSITIONING
– Immersive research to understand prospective
audience perceptions and needs
– Brand imagery study to determine how best to
connect to the main University while highlighting
the advancements in online learning
Phase III: Market Research
Immersive Research
What is Immersive Research?
An online research
framework that
captures consumer
behaviors,
experiences and
emotions in
context.
Immersive Research Overview – Online ethnography combined with social
networking technology
– Captures emotions, behaviors, and context to understand experience as it unfolds via text, images and other forms of media
– Provides a deep view into participants’ lives by interacting with them over a period of days or weeks
– Research activities include a series of assignments that participants complete asynchronously via a secure website
– Activities might include uploading digital images or videos that represent a participant’s feelings, perceptions, or experiences, and provide insights about brand, products, services, and/or experience in relevant time
Immersive Research Overview Immersive research is helpful when you need to…
– Gather insight into participants’ perceptions of branding, packaging or
messaging and impact on stakeholders’ perceptions
– Determine how presentation and messaging influence stakeholder
perceptions
– Identify key differentiators of a brand
– Understand needs and priorities of target audience(s) (e.g. students,
alumni, faculty, parents, et al.) about curriculum, campus life, student
services, etc.
– Understand decision making process with regard to school selection,
program choice, activities, etc.
– Develop clear recommendations that enable your institution to achieve its
strategic objectives based on stakeholder input
Activity-Based Immersive Research
Question-Based: What’s in your fridge?
Activity-Based: “Please take me on a photo tour of your fridge.”
Butter
Cheese
Lettuce
Mustard
Milk
Leftover Spaghetti
Carrots
Orange Juice
Jam
Activity-Based Immersive Research Collage
“Help Mabel”
Ad Testing
Online University Project
23
Traditional/Immersive Research
Comparison
Traditional (Focus Groups, IDIs)
Immersive
• In-person (primarily)
• Respond to stimuli (videos,
images, storyboards)
• Group dialogue/interaction
• Recall
• Group exercises/techniques
• Verbal responses
• Ability to touch/feel/interact with
products
• Online
• Respond to stimuli (videos,
images, storyboards)
• Individual and group online
interaction
• “In the Moment”
• Individual activities
• Media rich uploads/text
Traditional/Immersive Research
Comparison
Traditional (Focus Groups, IDIs)
Immersive
• Requires travel and facility
• 12 active participant research minutes
per participant
• Question based
– Tell me
– In person real time
– Ask/probe
• Client observation “behind the glass”
• Laddered approach for learning
• Removes barriers of time and location
• 120 active participant research
minutes/participant
• Activity based
– Show me
– Online
– Complete activity/probe/do more
• Online client observation
Steps in an Immersive Research Study – Define the research objectives
– Identify the participants
– Develop activities
– Program the activities
• The first is an easy welcome activity to become comfortable with the tool
• Number of activities depend on the length of study and objectives
– Invite participants
– Launch the study
• Activities launch one at a time over the course of the study
– Moderate participant responses
– Analyze and synthesize data collected
– Produce report
Online University Project
• To understand prospective students’ perceptions and images of the brand and how they compare to their needs and priorities
• To compare prospective students’ perceptions of the brand to 3 competitor institutions
• To obtain prospective students’ reactions to new strategic brand positioning/messaging/images
Background & Objectives
• Adults between the ages of 24 and 44
• Currently interested in seeking online degree program offerings
• Employed full-time
• Minimum household income of >$20,000
Target Market
• 2 weeks Duration
Online University Project
• How do they compare to your ideal? Behavioral Exercises
• Ranking potential marketing messages
Experiential Exercises
• What’s in a name? What’s in an image?
• My ideal online university
Projective Exercises
Online University Project Day 1 Day 3 Day 5 Day 8
What’s in a
Name? What’s
in an Image?
My Ideal
Online
University How Do They
Compare
to Your Ideal? Ranking
Potential
Marketing
Messages
Welcome
Research Findings WHAT WE LEARNED
– A competitor’s website was perceived most favorably by participants
• Attractive website with good balance of text and images
• University appears “proud” of its students
• Good amount of courses and programs available
• Uses current technology
• Information is “straight and to the point”
• Communicates adult learning environment
From this, participants inferred a positive educational
experience vs. Penn State World Campus
– Penn State World Campus website was viewed as:
• “Boring”
• Crowded; too much going on
• Not as credible
• Distracting with too many links and tabs
From this, participants inferred a very traditional, dry,
“academic” experience; not dynamic
Research Findings WHAT WE LEARNED
Research Findings IMMERSIVE RESEARCH IMAGERY
“I think there is definitely an
emphasis on welcoming technology
into the classroom. This is
important.”
“It seems like they think of themselves as an excellent
university and they have been around for a long time.”
“This website makes me ask myself
‘Where do I go from here?’”
Research Findings WHAT WE LEARNED
– A competitor’s website was also ranked most often as
closest to participants’ ideal online university
– Participants’ reactions to the World Campus’s new
marketing messages were highly favorable
– Participants were enthusiastic and highly supportive
of the World Campus’s efforts to improve their
website
Actions Taken
The World Campus…
– Completely redesigned all of the website content to speak to
what participants described as expectations for ideal online
university
– Conducted additional research around imagery and brand
perception
– Created all new imagery and design with rich media to
modernize the brand image and allow users to engage more with
the brand
– Intends to continually review the brand strategy to ensure that it
is meeting market needs
Phase III: Market Research
Brand Imagery Research
Brand Imagery Research QUESTIONS
– A picture is worth a thousand words…
• What do we want to convey in our imagery
about our brand and the experience?
Landmarks
Students
Faculty
Achievement
Brand Imagery Research Findings WHAT WE LEARNED
Landmark Images
Landmark 1: Katz Building Landmark 2: Aerial of Campus Landmark 3: Old Main Landmark 4: Lion Shrine
Most positive attributes: Landmarks 2 and 3
Quality
Tradition
Experienced
Trustworthy
Brand Imagery Research Findings WHAT WE LEARNED
Student Images Student 1: Three people Student 2: Woman with computer at table Student 3: Woman with computer on sofa Student 4: Man drinking coffee
Most positive attributes: Students 1 and 2
Goal-oriented
Intelligent
Phase IV: Usability Testing
Usability Testing
– Large usability test: previous website
– Many smaller usability tests:
• Site Wireframes and Mockups: “click” testing
– Repeat large usability test: new website
Buttons should look like
buttons
Previous Site Testing LESSONS FOR THE NEW WEBSITE
Calls to action should not
make you think
If you want people to
do something,
don’t be afraid to ask
them more than once
Applying the
Findings LESSONS FOR
THE NEW
WEBSITE
Redundant Navigation IT’S A GOOD THING
Saying things twice is
a good idea—especially when
it comes to really important
navigation
Site Wireframes and Mockups SMALLER USABILITY TESTING: IT’S BETTER TO TEST
GOAL: Get a sense of whether specific design, layout,
and/or navigation elements/labels are working (a/k/a
“debugging the design”)
APPROACH: Find out what’s not working, take our best
guess at fixing it, repeat until we think we’ve fixed it, look
out for new problems, repeat, repeat, repeat.
Usability Test 1: Header Area
Users of Version 1 nearly always completed tasks
twice as fast as users of Version 2
Usability Test 2: Navigation Area
Users of Version 2 completed tasks
roughly twice as fast as users of Version 1
Phase V: Launch and
Measure Results
Before
After:
Prospective
Students
After:
Current
Students
After:
Mobile Site
Results: Metrics
Since launch 8 months ago vs. last year:
– 1,600,000 web visits, +32%
– 36,000 Inquiries, +51%
– 4,700 Inquiries from mobile (incremental)
Results: Usability Testing
Task
% Change
Success Rate
% Change
Failure Rate
Request Information +151% -42%
How to Apply +71% -56%
Contact Us -9% +9%
Find Tuition Rates +40% -47%
Find Financial Aid Info +544% -58%
Find Transfer Credit Info +318% -75%
Agenda
– Overall goal
– Problem definition
– The process
– Tips for success
– Q&A
Tips for success
– A website redesign never really ends…
– Know what you want your brand to stand for and
make sure your website is integrated with the rest
of your brand
– Use data to help make informed decisions and
reduce debate in order to keep moving forward
– Ensure there is senior level support and
established checkpoints for on-going
communications
Tips for success
– Know where your internal expertise is and where
you need to seek external help and budget for it
upfront
– Identify a project manager and establish a timeline
even if it changes…because it will!
– Ensure there is a cross-functional collaborative
team established with accountability to the delivery
of the project
– Communicate, communicate, communicate with
your stakeholders and seek continuous feedback
Agenda
– Overall goal
– Problem definition
– The process
– Tips for success
– Q&A
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