Website rebuild recommendations listed
Strategic recommendations that will guide the redevelopment of NC State’s core website (http://www.ncsu.edu/) were reviewed by the university Web Advisory Committee on July 18, and were endorsed by the committee with a few modifications.
Ripple Effects Interactive, a company selected to aid the committee in the site rebuild made recommendations based on feedback from more than 75 faculty, staff, students and administrators interviewed in June. The interviews were to determine the kinds of information that should be delivered through the university’s web presence.
Some of their findings:
NC State’s web site should be rallying point for unified brand message that can help build national awareness of NC State, as well as a way to disseminate information to internal and external audiences.
What is NC State’s Brand Promise?
“NC State is an inclusive, service minded educational community that leads through action and whose heritage as a land-grant institution and people’s university provides a powerful understanding of how academics fit into real-world applications that will transform and improve our world.”
Critical Success Factors:
* Embody the NC State brand and convey the central marketing messages
* Create a simplifed site structure and user-centric navigation
* Enhance visual design to engage site visitors
* Establish a dedicated staff of four people responsible for maintaining the site. (Currently no staff are in place to manage the central university’s web presence).
* A Content Management System should be secured to administer and maintain content site-wide.
The committee recommended increasing the number of staff devoted to site administration from 4 to 8, saying a smaller staff is "life support only."
The complete recommendation report can be found at
http://ncsu.edu/redesign/Strategic_Recs.pdf
Next steps for the committee and Ripple Effects include presentation of basic wire-frame structure on August 15.
The Web Committee is interested in YOUR thoughts on these recommendations or other opinions relating to the NC State Website. Feel free to leave your comments here.
