After conducting a user survey for the client, my next job was to create a research report which summarized my findings and offered suggestions on how we could improve the client's website based on the needs of the users.

1. Northwestern University “Department”
Web Site Evaluation: Research & Analysis
Online Survey:October 17 – October 26, 2012
Report Date:November 14, 2012
Prepared by:
Office of Web Communications

2. Overview
The survey was distributed via an email blast, a promotional section on the “Department”
site, and through Twitter. A total of 648 users started the survey, with 504 users
completing it in full (77.8%). All data is included in this report, regardless of whether or not
the respondent completed the entire survey.
Recommendations
An analysis of the data shows that users from all audiences agree that the “Department”
website is too overwhelming and cluttered with information. Many users noted that the
website does contain nearly all of the information they need, but finding that information
can be quite a struggle. The pages are heavy with text, the search function is uncooperative,
and the navigation is too deep and lacks a logical flow.
In terms of specific content, each audience struggled to find at least one or two important
categories. Undergraduates had a difficult time locating Course Information, Faculty
struggled to find Teaching Resources and Financial Policies and Procedures, and Staff were
unable to locate Human Resources or Finance and Budget information. The new
architecture aims to address these issues in order to improve the overall experience for
each audience.
Finally, it appears that several new content sections may need to be added. Users from each
audience were eager to see more information about New Academic Programs, as well as
Student Activities and Awards. Although this may require writing new content, the heavy
demand for this type of information needs to be addressed and will greatly benefit all
users.
Overall, the new “Department”website should focus on a more streamlined design that
utilizes role-based pages, logical navigation throughout the site, and clearly defined content
categories. The color scheme and fonts should be consistent from page to page, as well as
the formatting and general layout.

3. Q1 – How would you describe yourself?
Northwestern Undergraduates were the largest contributors to this survey, as 414
respondents (64%) identified with that user group. Northwestern Faculty members
accountedfor the next largest audience, with 115 users (18%) in total. Northwestern Staff
members represented the final group to have a substantial impact on the results, with 107
users (17%) completing the survey.
Additionally, twelve other users identified as either Prospective student/Parent of a
prospective student (2), Northwestern alumna/alumnus (2), Faculty member or
researcher at another institution (1), or Other (7). Several users from the “Other”
category failed to identify themselves with an audience group.
For the purposes of this report, the results will focus on the three primary audiences:
Undergraduates, Faculty, and Staff.

4. Q2 – How easy/difficult is it to find the information that is most important to you on
the “Department” website?
When looking at the Undergraduate users, it is clear that some content sections are much
easier or harder to find than others. Majors and minors (283), Distribution
requirements (227), and Advising information (190) were the easiest to find, with every
other option receiving at least 100 “Easy” votes.
Meanwhile, sections such as Course Information (207), Undergraduate Research (150),
and Honors, awards, and fellowships (134) were the only categories to receive more
Hard votes than Easy votes. Not being able to find Course Information was a common
complaint from users throughout the survey.

5. Q2 – Continued.
The Faculty data is much more compressed, although most sections do maintain an Easy
rating. Dean’s Office contact information(57), Faculty handbook(50), “Department” IT
service requests(50), and “Department” IT general help and information(49) were the
easiest sections to find, with every other category receiving at least 20 Easy votes.
Financial policies and procedures(36) was the only section labeled as Hard to find,
although Teaching resources (36) did have a tie between Easy and Hard votes.

6. Q2 – Continued.
Users labeling themselves as Staff noted that the“Department” IT service request system
(80), Dean’s Office contact information (69), and “Department” IT tutorials and
troubleshooting guides(54) were Easy to find.
The remaining content sections did not receive such a positive response, as Human
Resources information (41) and Finance and budget information (34) were labeled as
Hard to find.
Research appointments received very mixed ratings. It seems to be a category that is
somewhat hard to find and also not very important.

7. Q3 – On average, how often do you visit the “Department” college site?
Q3 - Filtered by audience
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
Undergraduates
40
Faculty
20
Staff
0
Most users visit the site either 1-10 times per month or Less than once per month. This
data is consistent across each primary audience.

8. Q4 – What did you like about the website?
Undergraduates
33: The role-based tabs for different user groups are very helpful.
30: It’s relatively easy to find and navigate to the information I need.
26: There is a great wealth of information on the site.
13: Featured news and events section.
12: The drop-down menus make navigation very simple.
“I like how every paragraph had word links to direct traffic.”
Faculty
8: It is easy to find the information that I need.
7: The role-based tabs for different users groups are very helpful.
“The site has a wealth of information, you just have to figure out how to find it.”
Staff
16: All of the resources are there, just try to find what you need!
14: Great role-based nav, and the drop-downs are nice.
9: News and Events on the home page is great.
“I like the video content, though I would like it more if the video was larger.”
Due to the large amount of content on the site (which was mentioned quite frequently), it’s
no surprise that the role-based navigation options and the drop-down menus received such
high praise. Users are looking for a quick and easy way to get to the items that are most
important to them.
News & Events was another popular mention, as users noted how helpful it is to have a
dedicated section to that information on the home page. Several Faculty & Staff mentioned
that the stories involving Student or Faculty achievements are especially important.
Finally, it should be noted that many users simply said that there is “not much” they like
about the current site, which only reaffirms the decision to pursue a redesign.

9. Q5 – What did you dislike about the website?
Undergraduates
70: The site is too cluttered and busy.
31: It’s disorganized, and hard to find the information that I need.
28: The color scheme and fonts are outdated and boring.
19: It takes too many clicks to get to my information.
11: It’s far more difficult than it should be to see which classes fill distribution
requirements.
“I find the easiest way to use the website is to Google what I want/need, rather than
navigating the site directly.”
Faculty
28: The site is too cluttered and busy.
7: The aesthetics are quite poor. The site is unattractive.
4: I miss the links to CAESAR and Blackboard.
4: It takes too long to find the information I need.
“It is hard to understand where/how the information has been organized. Easier to
use Google.”
Staff
39: The site is overcrowded and busy.
12: It takes too many clicks to find what I’m looking for.
10: Aesthetics are poor.
5: Inconsistent formatting between pages is frustrating.
“The search bar is basically useless. Too many circular paths when I go link
hunting.”
An overwhelming majority of users noted that the site is too cluttered, with poor aesthetics
and navigation paths that simply take too long to traverse. Navigation troubles (coupled
with the poor performance of the internal search bar) have lead many users to use Google
as a way to get around the site.
By looking at the Like/Dislike data as a whole, it is apparent that the necessary information
is likely somewhere on the site but cannot always be found quickly or easily. A clean, fresh
look is greatly desired, as well as content that is more immediately accessible.

10. Q6 – What other college or university sites do you like, if any?
The most popular response to this question involved users praising the newly redesigned
Top Level pages, specifically the homepage. There is always the possibility of bias
regarding this answer, but many users also recommended other sites that Web
Communications has recently redesigned, such as Study Abroad, Human Resources, and
Bienen School of Music.
Several other popular suggestions have been listed below.
12 users: Stanford - http://www.stanford.edu/
o Clean and modern. Not cluttered.
9 users: University of Chicago - http://www.uchicago.edu/
o Organized, easy to navigate.
7 users: Yale - http://www.yale.edu/
o Contains a more manageable amount of information. Clean.
6 users: Harvard - http://www.harvard.edu/
o Professional. Easy to navigate.
5 users: Duke - http://www.duke.edu/
o Good use of images. The layout is structured nicely.
3 users: Penn State - http://www.psu.edu/
o Incorporates multimedia very well.
3 users: Middlebury - http://www.middlebury.edu/
o Such a unique, professional design.
2 users: Vassar - http://www.vassar.edu/
o Clean, with daily updates to images and stories.
2 users: Boston University - http://www.bu.edu/
o Aesthetically pleasing. Navigation is free-flowing and assisted with images.

11. Q7 – Would you like to see a stronger social media presence on the “Department”
site?
Q7 - Filtered by audience
57.8
Staff
42.2
91.1
Faculty
8.9
No
Yes
60.6
Undergraduates
39.4
0
20
40
60
80
100
Overall, roughly two thirds of users are not interested in a stronger social media presence
on the “Department” website. Staff and Undergraduates were much more favorable
towards social media than Faculty, but none of the audiences were able to reach a 50/50
split on the data.

12. Q8 – What types of social media would you prefer?
Much like the chart above, each individual audience selected Facebook, YouTube, and
Twitter as the most important types of social media (in that order). The underwhelming
response to Google+ and Tumblr suggests that they may not be viable for use on the
“Department” site.

13. Q9 – What types of news or other stories would you enjoy reading about?
Undergraduate
270: New academic programs
239: Student activities and awards
163: “Department” College accomplishments
162: Faculty research
123: Alumni profiles and news
Faculty
56: Faculty research
45: Student activities and awards
44: New academic programs
30: “Department” College accomplishments
18: Alumni profiles and news
Staff
66: New academic programs
61: Faculty research
60: Student activities and awards
58: “Department” College accomplishments
39: Alumni profiles and news

14. Q10 – What areas of the “Department” site would you most likely access via a mobile
device?
Undergraduates
51: Distribution requirements
38: None of the site
28: Major/Minor worksheets
27: Course descriptions/course catalogues with locations and times
22: Degree requirements
19: Advising
11: Contact info
11: News & Events
Faculty
18: None of the site
10: Contact information
8: News & Events
7: CAESAR/Blackboard
5: IT requests
3: Department info
3: All of the site
3: Academic calendar
Staff
22: None of the site
10: Directories
8: Contact information
7: Departments
4: News & Events
3: All of the site
3: Academic calendar
2: Dean’s Office
There are some similarities between the audiences such as Contact Information, News &
Events, and an Academic Calendar. The Undergraduates had the most diverse responses
with answers such as Distribution Requirements, Major/Minor worksheets, and Advising.
Also, it is important to note that while some users would not view the site on a mobile
device, a responsive design simply cannot be ignored.

15. Q11 – If you have any additional comments, please leave them below.
Undergraduates
“I really don’t think the information in the right column is useful. It doesn’t feel like a
quality use of space”
Faculty
“Please incorporate more visuals, less purple font (mix in some grey!), and use
shorter paragraphs for announcements. Too many details = too much clutter.”
“Fixing the search function is the single biggest thing you could do to make the site
more useable.”
Staff
“Less is more.”
“I personally feel that you need to do a better job of branding. Every department’s
webpage has a differentlook and feel. There’s no consistency.”