Ball State University engaged mStoner to redesign its website to better convey the university's balance of being both a large research institution and providing an intimate learning experience. mStoner created a new information architecture with topic, audience and task-oriented sections. They also designed a visual layout using images and profiles to highlight the university's work. A new content management system was selected and configured to support distributed authoring. The redesigned website launched in 2008 and was recognized with several awards, experiencing a 38% increase in applications.

1. Case Study: Striking the right balance for a large university
From left to right: images from Ball State’s award-winning site
Like many state research universities, Ball State is a complex
organization, providing both wide-ranging opportunities and an Client at a Glance
Ball State University
intimate learning experience. How can a website convey the big
‣ State-run research university located
ideas—and the small ones? in Muncie, Indiana
Ball State University got its start more than 100 years ago as the Eastern Indiana Normal School, ‣ More than 20,000 students enrolled,
dedicated to educating teachers. Today, it has more than 20,000 students and is home to exciting including 1,500 postgraduates
research in many fields. The University offers members of its community a long tradition and a history ‣ More than 170 majors offered
of focus on education. At the same time, Ball State is a modern, world-class university, offering
‣ Established in 1918
students cutting-edge opportunities in fields like telecommunications, architecture and teacher
education.
challenges in scope and organization Project Overview
For Ball State’s website (www.bsu.edu), illustrating this contrast was just one of the challenges. Though challenges:
its original website had some excellent features in place, mStoner was engaged to relaunch the website ‣ Redeveloping the website
and achieve the following objectives:
results:
‣ Re-architect the Ball State website to use logical and intuitive information structure that make sense ‣ 2008 Webby Award Honoree
to the outside visitor, not just the University ‣ 2008 “Best Overall Site” from the
‣ Infuse the new website with branding messages that help to build the argument “Why Ball State?” eduStyle awards
for prospective students and their influencers ‣ Merit Award winner, the Annual
‣ Design a new look and feel that’s aligned with the visual essence of the branding work, and highly Admission Advertising awards,
accessible for and usable to BSU’s key audiences Internet/Website category
‣ Implement a new content management system (CMS) that supports distributed authorship and ‣ Applications up 38% in the year
decentralized site management without compromising site integrity, and provide the necessary following site launch; while this
systems and training for staff to make the new site sustainable long term cannot be attributed solely to the new
‣ Increase applications to the University by helping to promote the value of a BSU education in ways website, the on-campus team feels
that are meaningful and persuasive to prospective students and their influencers that it played an important role.
‣ Increase giving by building a strong case for support of the University and by providing essential
information to prospective donors who conduct their personal research online

2. Case Study: Striking the right balance for a large university
creating clean organization and architecture
To ensure visitors an optimal experience on the site, and to control the messages conveyed, mStoner’s
team first created a grid of key audiences and the information they’re looking for, followed by the tasks
that they’d like to perform on
the site. Our audience grid
led to a refined information
architecture that streamlines
the homepage of the site
while allowing visitors to
easily dig deeper in many
different directions.
The IA divides content into topic-based, audience-based, and task-oriented links. Topic-based sections
include the general “About Ball State” information, admissions, academics, student life, etc. Audience-
based links, based on the visitor types discussed above, provide a different approach to content for
students, faculty, alumni, parents, etc. Finally, the task-oriented links cut right to the chase with
immediate access to things like the search and directory functionality, giving visitors the option to go
straight to the answers that they’re looking for.
Our recommendations also included suggestions on blogs and alumni features, an event calendar, and
academic templates to ensure consistency throughout the site.
a design to bring life to the organization
Once the architecture for the site was established, mStoner’s design team went to work creating a
design that would not only present the links described above in an orderly fashion, but also would
create a lively and attractive interface for site visitors. While the organization of a site determines some
of the information that will be presented on the homepage, the real strength of a good design is
everything else that the visitor finds on arrival.
Ball State had specific messages to convey to site
visitors. The balance of being a large university
with an intimate focus, for example, or of a long
history combined with a vision for the future. The
design for Ball State’s homepage conveys these
messages in an innovative way, with compelling
image pairs that lead to more detail, which in turn
lead to pages deeper within the site. Profiles of
students and faculty and news items are also used
to highlight some of the exciting work and projects
that are taking place on campus. The design also
establishes the Ball State brand through logo, color
palette, imagery and tone, and creates a clear
visual hierarchy on the page using visual cues to
convey importance.

3. Case Study: Striking the right balance for a large university
content management: the right functionality, the right fit
Ball State had a content management system going in to the website redesign project. The university
was fortunate to have a good understanding of what a CMS can do, and a relatively large number of
people prepared to jump in and participate in maintenance. However, a new system was required to
manage all the functionality being imagined for the updated site.
Nine out of ten mStoner projects include some form of CMS selection and configuration, so we had a
general idea of what would be required when we began work with Ball State. We worked with Ball State
to determine a list of specific functionality required for the site, and then assisted them with a selection
process that included: pre-qualification, user testing, extended advanced testing, financial review and
references, and vendor selection/contract negotiation. mStoner also made staffing recommendation so
that the right team would be in place to make use of the CMS.
While there was a good deal of work to do in customizing the final choice for Ball State, the new site is
running smoothly with active content contribution.
the relaunched bsu.edu: award-winning results
The new Ball State University website was launched on October 1, 2008. Response to the site was
overwhelmingly positive from the Ball State community, from students to administrators. The site has
already garnered industry-wide recognition as well:
‣ 2008 Webby Award Honoree
‣ 2008 “Best Overall Site” from the eduStyle awards
‣ Recognition from the “Content Marketing Today” website:
“The website and the research it showcases represent the very best of content marketing...A very
cool University. An excellent website.”
‣ Merit Award winner, the Annual Admission Advertising awards, Internet/Website category
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