screenshot of website

New homepage features easier navigation and … an invitation


Today Chapman University launches a website update that includes
a new homepage
, a restyling that reflects how people use online information and invites readers to contribute their unique Chapman stories to the site. Data gathered from focus groups, Google analytics, surveys and usability testing shaped both the homepage’s facelift and its enhanced features, says David May, director of Web and interactive marketing in
Strategic Marketing and Communications
(SMC).

“The update to Chapman’s website was made by our community, for our community.  The updates were done by in-house staff, many of whom are alumni, and the content that powers the site will come from the Chapman Family via
community submissions
,” May said.

The update is the next version of the site that was launched in March 2012. Many navigation features will be similar to the previous homepage. But the redesign includes video backgrounds and animations, streamlined typography, more
storytelling
, easier login and search functions and a larger menu bar at the bottom of the page, with links to university news, blogs and social media. In addition, an audience-specific tab was placed at the upper-left-hand corner for users who want to go directly to pages specific to their needs.

screenshot of website


Among the most dynamic additions is a place for Chapman community members to submit their own stories and blog posts for consideration by content editors.

“We know that there are more amazing things happening at Chapman than we have time to cover ourselves.  That’s why we want anyone with a valid Chapman login to be able to submit stories. We hope faculty will submit research they are working on, or what it’s like to teach in a small class. We hope students will submit stories about an amazing mentor they have, or what it’s like to attend Chapman.  We hope staff will tell us, for example, something that they have done that changed the life of a Chapman student,” May said.

screenshot of website


Community submissions will be placed on university blogs, all of which feed into the main content hub
inside.chapman.edu
where an algorithm sorts and displays the university’s most popular stories.

Leading the update for SMC was the department’s Web team and the Chapman Web master. Additional features created by the team for this update include new email templates and an
interactive campus map
. An archive of previous websites designs can be viewed in a post on the
Strategic Marketing and Communications blog
.

Questions, compliments or concerns about the redesign are welcomed and may be sent to to SMC’s
feedback page
.

Dawn Bonker

1 comment

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