Look at the use of single templates on higher education websites. Implementing an institution-wide template sounds like a good idea at first but how does it perform in the real world? Get insights into the pros and cons of implementing a single template across all institution websites. We will explore what works and what doesn't, from both the management and end-user prospective. Discover techniques to embrace the uniqueness of each area of your institution and how to engage your visitors along the way. http://nickdenardis.com/

1. Follow
the
2010
CASE
V
Conference
on
Twitter
#CASEV
Flexible
Web
Branding,
the
Case
Against
Single
Web
Templates
Communications
and
Web
Track
sponsored
by
Alumni
Magnet

2. Nick DeNardis
@nickdenardis
Associate Director of Web Communications
Wayne State University
http://wayne.edu/
Host of EDU Checkup
http://educheckup.com/
Writer for .eduGuru
http://doteduguru.com/
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

3. Who are you?
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

4. Who are you?
Directly control your entire institution’s website?
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

5. Who are you?
Directly control your entire institution’s website?
Directly control the homepage or a portion of the site?
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

6. Who are you?
Directly control your entire institution’s website?
Directly control the homepage or a portion of the site?
Are a one person shop?
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

7. Who are you?
Directly control your entire institution’s website?
Directly control the homepage or a portion of the site?
Are a one person shop?
Have one central CMS?
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

8. Who are you?
Directly control your entire institution’s website?
Directly control the homepage or a portion of the site?
Are a one person shop?
Have one central CMS?
Are you currently going through a redesign?
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

9. Who are you?
Directly control your entire institution’s website?
Directly control the homepage or a portion of the site?
Are a one person shop?
Have one central CMS?
Are you currently going through a redesign?
Have an in house Web team?
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

10. The golden rule of the web
Treat users as you would want to be treated
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

11. Higher Education:
The Toughest Gig in All the Web
- Mark Greenfield
3pm today in the Ballroom II
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

12. Benchmarking
http://edustyle.net
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

13. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

14. Goal: Make it noteworthy
But what makes a noteworthy site?
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

15. Noteworthy in the past year
Boston University x 7 Saxion Universities of Applied
Sciences
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Dickinson College
Wofford College
University of Puget Sound
Connecticut State University System
Freed-Hardeman University
Century College
Southwest Minnesota State
Mills College
University
University of Missouri
NC State University
Cornell University x 2
The University of Alabama
Kent State University Grand Valley State University
Cornell University
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

16. Examining the noteworthy
sites from the past year
Mainly redesign
An opportunity to implement a new direction
Small iterations don’t make the list
What is the shelf life of a redesigned site?
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

17. Three examples
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

18. Wofford
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

19. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

20. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

21. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

22. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

23. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

24. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

25. University of Nebraska–Lincoln
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

26. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

27. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

28. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

29. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

30. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

31. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

32. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

33. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

34. Boston University
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

35. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

36. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

37. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

38. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

39. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

40. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

41. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

42. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

43. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

44. What did we just learn?
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

45. What did we just learn?
Single web templates are not a silver bullet
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

46. What did we just learn?
Single web templates are not a silver bullet
Old sites need to be redesigned
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

47. What did we just learn?
Single web templates are not a silver bullet
Old sites need to be redesigned
Competition between complete or no control
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

48. What did we just learn?
Single web templates are not a silver bullet
Old sites need to be redesigned
Competition between complete or no control
To think like a user you have to be a user
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

49. A happy medium :-)
Flexible branding from the start
Good communication
Proper training
Reward the rule followers
Pick your battles
Sometimes you just have to let go
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

50. Tiered branding
Tier 1
Admissions
Financial Aid, Housing, Advising
Tier 2
Current Student Services
Offices & Departments
Tier 3
Staff & Administration Sites
Centers & Institutes
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

51. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

52. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

53. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

54. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

55. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

56. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

57. Departmental interview
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

58. Departmental interview
Have the dean/department head/director there
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

59. Departmental interview
Have the dean/department head/director there
Meet with the advisors, admissions & other staff
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

60. Departmental interview
Have the dean/department head/director there
Meet with the advisors, admissions & other staff
Get a list of differentiators
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

61. Departmental interview
Have the dean/department head/director there
Meet with the advisors, admissions & other staff
Get a list of differentiators
You will find more commonality than differences
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

62. Departmental interview
Have the dean/department head/director there
Meet with the advisors, admissions & other staff
Get a list of differentiators
You will find more commonality than differences
Make sure it is all about the end user
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

63. Departmental interview
Have the dean/department head/director there
Meet with the advisors, admissions & other staff
Get a list of differentiators
You will find more commonality than differences
Make sure it is all about the end user
Solve problems, setup goals
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

64. Get the designers involved
Involve them early
Make sure they are aware of the requirements
Don’t re-invent the wheel
Keep to constructs
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

65. Average highered website
Header News & announcements
Navigation Promotion area
Main branding area Contact information
Search box Footer
1-2 Sentence “why we
exist”
Upcoming events
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

66. Common unique items
Student/faculty/alumni profiles
Image gallery
Video gallery
In the news
Sign up for updates form
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

67. Totally unique elements
Night sky calendar
Picture of the week
Top 10 pages visited pages
System availability
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

68. Wireframes
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

69. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

70. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

71. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

72. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

73. Grid based
http://960.gs/
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

74. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

75. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

76. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

77. Example
Wayne State University - Library Science
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

78. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

79. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

80. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

81. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

82. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

83. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

84. Example
University of Maryland - Nursing
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

85. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

86. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

87. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

88. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

89. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

90. CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

91. “No no’s”
Letter from the dean/director
“Quicklinks”
Non-standard colors
Unapproved wordmarks
Departmental “logos”
Creating a “destination” site just because
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

92. Making exceptions
Pick your battles
What are valid reasons for making exceptions?
“Our students are different”
Document reasoning
Try not to do it on your homepage
Flash, moving elements, different colors, fonts
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

93. Summary
Treat users as you would want to be treated
Every department cannot fit into the same box
Create constructs everyone can use
Have fun while still being professional
It’s just the web
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

94. Questions?
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis

95. Thank You!
http://casefive.org/conference/presentations/
CASE V 2010 @nickdenardis