Future Endeavor has another insightful post, followed by an interesting UX example of the University of Virginia front door. I am a big fan of this blog and would highly recommend it to anyone involved in higher education Web development. This time, Tony Dunn talks about the future of the University Web site. I like his thinking and I feel that my thinking is mostly aligned with it. Where we diverge is on the future of the audience-based navigation.
The truth is, I no longer believe in the necessity (or usefulness) of the audience-based navigation for a University. There, I said it. Having been the advocate for the last 8 years, I eventually came to realize that all it does is create an extra barrier for the user (umm, who am I? Which is the right door?) and is mostly ignored by the visitors, anyway (I am basing this on my observations and thought experiments).
Self-selection is a myth: as you probably know, the user commonly belongs to multiple or none of the offered audiences, and this artificial ritual of forcing the visitor to put the right hat on is not only confusing, it’s actually a little bit insulting.
What’s the alternative? Concentrate on three things:
- Needs-based Clusters. Envelop topics, relevant to specific needs (
How do I become a student?
) into a cohesive (spit-and-polished!) and limited in scope sites. - Lifeline Links. Identify 3-5 most desperate and immediate needs of your visitor (
I have to check my grades
) and by golly, put them on the home page. - Ambient Findability. Make sure that each page on your site carries a potential of getting the user closer to achieving their goals.
That’s all for now. I am eager to hear your thoughts and opinions on my little turn-about.