Understanding the New Website Design
Links to Example Pages
Home Page Options
- Home page option A – this design uses the site’s most popular pages as its focus
- Home page option B – similar to option A with differences in the layout of the popular cards and the News & Events sections
- Home page option C – this design focuses on audiences such as prospective employees, current employees, managers, admins, etc
Landing Page Layouts
- Information style – traditional approach to a landing page and sharing important information and resources (uses LOD info as a base)
- Motivational style – more images and calls to action and less text (uses LOD info as a base)
- Main News page – follows the Motivational style design and includes who the news content relates to
Content Page Layouts
- Short length content page – short, sweet, to the point
- Medium length content page – longer page with a table of contents and 3 sections
- Long content page – even longer page with a table of contents, quick links, and multiple sections
Website Goals & How They’re Implemented
Goals
The new website layout and design has 3 goals:
- Our employees and prospective employees can quickly and easily find the information they need, when they need it
- The right content is on the site – no duplication, no outdated content
- The right content is in the right place – what’s open to the whole world is public, what should only be available to WSU employees is behind SSO
Implementation
Easy Navigation
- Horizontal nav of popular pages to enable visitors to move around the site
- Vertical nav only lists pages within the section so visitors can navigate within the unit’s section
- Quick links so visitors can quickly jump to unit related content and resources
- Table of Contents enables visitors to navigate large pages
Easy to Digest Content
- “On This Page” header highlights what readers can expect from the page or unit section and who the content relates to
- Colour splashes beneath H2 and H3 headings to add interest and help differentiate content sections
- Reworked tables and text-heavy sections for easy scanning and understanding of content
More Images
- Introduce new graphics for common sections such as Quick Links, or Contact, and in heading blocks on content heavy pages.
- Use more photos on landing pages for interest and help visitors connect to the content.
Deleting Old and Duplicate Pages
Of the 421 pages on the site:
- 118 have been marked for deletion
- 192 will receive some level of update ranging from significant to minor.
The news posts are still being reviewed for deletion.
Process
- Design prototype – Create example pages of the new layout
- Clean up content – Delete unwanted pages and clean up content in the remaining pages
- Implement the new design – Review the
- Testing – Final QC of content, check for broken images and links, check for design consistency
- Launch