Obviously, the wireframe is a humorous illustration that I strongly believe still holds true. The wireframe in that article may seem oversimplified, but when you think about it, this is what all higher education homepages are trying to accomplish.

Why are .edus getting so complicated?

Psychologist Barry Schwartz in a Ted Talk said “…if everything is possible, you don’t have freedom, you have paralysis. You decrease satisfaction and increase paralysis. Everybody needs a fishbowl. The absence of a metaphorical fishbowl is a recipe for misery and disaster.” View Ted Talk: Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice.

University websites try so hard to be everything for everyone. Not wanting to make anyone unhappy (especially internal stakeholders) with a site makes it unfortunately more complicated. Many times, it seems that the only strategy is NBNW — new boss, new website. And, the temptation to out-design and out-build your old (or current) site leads to muddied strategy guided by an uninformed belief that users want more, and more, and more piles of content, choices, and technology tricks. As a result, I have observed a resurgence of quick links, huge sliding feature blocks, link farms, and a new trend of super-scrolling webpages. Ironically, these methods are intended by web teams to help the user get what they want quickly and with minor interaction, but in reality they may lead to increased user dissatisfaction.

Common .edu Complications

• Overuse of news headlines and event listings on homepage
• Direct links to external and internal resources without staging or explanation (social media, portals, etc..)
• Huge scrolling pages with nested navigation
• Large left-right scrolling feature blocks
• Hover menus, fly-outs, and mega menus
• Student, faculty, staff profiles lack keywords or descriptions
• Missing high-value trigger words such as “apply, give, visit, contact”
• Vaguely branded resources and clever marketing-language naming instead of simple action-oriented labeling

Opinion Based on Research

During my career, I have been responsible for managing, guiding, and building websites and digital properties for major universities. I take these responsibilities very seriously. Most likely, anyone with whom I have worked will tell you that I am passionate about studying the effectiveness of a team’s work and the return on investment to an organization. I believe healthy strategies don’t come from gut feelings.

For example, during my most recent tenure as the executive director of digital communications marketing, our small (and brand new) department faced a tremendous amount of pressure. Our goals were to design a new homepage, establish a new reputation for the university’s digital presence, and define the measurement of success for digital marketing. To achieve these goals, we had to support our strategies and execution with real research and findings.

The resulting new website actually had significantly fewer links than its predecessor. It featured well-placed and brand new navigation and provided the user with fewer choices. Our primary goal was to inform users of their options in a minimum number of options, lead them down a clear path, and reward them with valuable content and links to sub-sites. We created landing pages for high-value content areas, such as admissions, academics, and about — sections of content that previously did not exist. Before our changes, there were direct links to dozens of sub-sites that were managed by other departments, and virtually no priming of the audience as to why they should proceed to them.

Complexity is an Old Habit

We gave every sub-site office (admissions, athletics, colleges and schools, etc…) the opportunity to preview the new website. Not surprisingly, each and every one demanded that their “quick link” from the homepage be preserved or replaced on the new site. But they made these requests without explanation or strategy. The reason for their requests was that this was simply how it always had been.

However, my research showed that administrators’ demand for direct links did not support the University’s overall communication strategy. For example, I learned that there was a significant tradition of athletic accomplishment and commitment to the student-athlete at the university. This was a story and message told to me by numerous administrators, staff, faculty, and students. However, at that time, the university’s homepage simply linked directly to the athletics website — a site that jumped right into sports scores and schedules.

I asked, if this commitment to athletics is true, and you all feel and believe it, then why aren’t we telling anyone? So, we created a new landing page, linked between the homepage and athletics sub-site, to tell a story about the university’s dedication to the student-athlete tradition and its significance to the organization. We preserved easy access to sports scores and other information by creating well-placed links.

We used the same landing page strategy for admissions, academics, and all other major content categories. We removed the bloat of direct sub-site links from the homepage and created brand new content and information architecture for the site. We removed layers, consolidated content, and put together a fast-loading, logical, informative, and engaging website. We built the foundations of click-throughs to be stronger and flexible enough to ensure future growth.

I cannot list the many ways our team streamlined and improved the site in terms of content and click-through paths. It would take too long. However, web analytics proved that users navigated our site using the click-throughs paths we suggested through strategic use of design elements.

How did we know our design worked? We used event tracking to test and evaluate every pixel on the homepage and landing pages and monitored traffic on all levels. Our daily monitoring of the site showed that users accessed landing pages, which before received little traffic, at higher numbers than ever before. However, despite the visible improvement, a few key content owners could not move beyond their gut feeling that it would be better for their areas to have a direct link to their sub-site in a massive hover-menu from the homepage. They thought we had screwed up the project and they also believed that web analytics for their specific sites proved them right.

Less Clutter, Better Informed and Motivated Audience

Indeed, some sub-sites did show fewer total visitors to their sites after the homepage redesign — a potentially damning consequence of our new strategy. But, after carefully studying this phenomenon over time, we learned that the new homepage was actually sending more highly-qualified, informed, and primed visitors to sub-sites. Before the new strategy, the homepage would dump “garbage” traffic on sub-sites (for example, sending prospective graduate students to the undergraduate admission site).

After we created well-placed landing pages full of informative content, KPIs (or key performance indicators) on the sub-sites actually improved, some overwhelmingly. We had some evidence that by minimizing the choices on the homepage, keeping it simple, and educating the user along their path, that we were increasing the real and perceived value of the website.

Yet, despite this evidence, some sub-site owners still had a gut feeling that users were dissatisfied with the new, less chaotic, and less complicated approach. They even provided anecdotal evidence citing a few users’ personal opinions. So, we commissioned a detailed third-party research study with a reputable national firm to gauge users’ satisfaction of the new site. The results of the study clearly concluded that visitors to the .edu domain who first visited the homepage and resulting landing page were more satisfied with their overall experience compared to directly visiting a sub-site. We had evidence that users preferred simple, minimal choices supported by high-value content. They did not mind, at all, clicking to landing pages first, preferred not to scroll too much, and actually felt better about the organization after their visit.

Strike a Balance

Success means keeping the choices on a homepage few and strategic, educating and informing the user as they choose, and resisting the temptation to over-build a page. The creative opportunity is to follow these fundamentals while also presenting a beautiful, engaging, and realistic design that enhances the experience — not overpowers it with choice. Quick access to content is obviously important but worthless if the experience does not simultaneously satisfy the user’s expectations.

A university homepage is not a warehouse of content and options. The website is a stage. Enable your digital marketing team to set a stage by “carefully and strategically selecting, designing, adapting, or modifying” your content to establish the significance of your organization. Encourage exploration and retention by heightening the user experience while not overwhelming with choice.

April 27th, 2012: As of today, my blog post “Your .edu Website is Too Complicated” has been visited by more than 1,000 people at 250 different universities and colleges. As I tracked the post via Twitter, I witnessed how much the issues I raised resonated with the community of higher education marketers. Why is this topic so popular?

I had this idea a few years ago, but I believe it still holds true today. University websites try so hard to be everything for everyone. Not wanting to make anyone unhappy with a site makes it unfortunately more complicated. This wireframe may seem too idealistic, but when you think about it, this is what all higher education homepages are trying to accomplish.

March 6, 2012: Visits, feedback, and discussion about this post have been numerous. I appreciate the responses and interest in this abstract theory. Obviously, it is a humorous illustration based on real truths. By request, I am working on a follow up post to explain how I came up with this concept. Thank you for your support.

April 13, 2012: The follow up post to this article is now available. Thank you for your feedback and discussion. Please read about how “Your .edu Website is Too Complicated.”

Pinterest in Higher Education?

I recently asked the LinkedIn Group Digital Communications Marketing in Higher Education to vote on whether or not they believe Pinterest has value to higher education marketing. So far, 82% believe it is too early to tell. And, there are some very insightful comments.

What is your opinion about Pinterest in higher education? Join the group to take the quick poll and post your comments.

About LinkedIn Group: Digital Communications Marketing in Higher Education

This group is for marketing and communications professionals who work in the higher education industry. Use it to share ideas, network, and practices that emphasize web and digital communications. The group is limited to individuals currently working for higher education schools, colleges, and universities. Join the group.

If you are not currently in higher education and would like to comment, please share your thoughts about Pinterest on Google+. (Ironic.)

“Scroll is the new Flash” means the development of super-tall pages with massive images and lots of multimedia content. Instead of using Flash animation and its in-page transitions, the layouts use vertical space. Additionally, effects and interactivity give the user a sense of layering or depth.

Examples in Higher Education

• http://undergrad.biola.edu/academics/
• http://nd.edu/indepth/education/
• http://nystudyvacations.com/
• http://www.fhu.edu/why/

I am not attempting an in-depth analysis at this point, just sharing an observation. Without more data, it is too early to determine if these approaches are effective. But they sure look amazing and are intense and overwhelming at the same time. Regardless of their impact on the user, this trend is a clear testimony to the approaching end of Flash-based development in higher ed.

More Examples?

We will have to watch and see how aggressively digital teams will pursue retaining the effect of Flash-based interactivity. What are other examples of the trend “scroll is the new Flash,” and why do you believe it’s occurring? Please share your comments on Google+.

Be sure and read the great response article published by Chas Grundy: Do Long Scrolling Pages Work?. Thanks, Chas.

Google+ 101: Introduction to connecting online for college and universities offers specific ways for universities to organize, promote, collaborate, and find content in Google+. It features specific examples of universities already purposefully adding this social network in their content strategies and communications. Among these highlighted universities is Washington University in St. Louis, which shares important and relevant campus news and event information.

If you are responsible for or can influence content strategies for your college or university, I encourage you to take a moment and review Google+ 101. It will help you determine how you can best integrate Google+ into your social media efforts.

http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/universities/

Note: mattklawitter.com provides strategic support and digital marketing communication consulting to Washington University in St. Louis.