Break Through the Administrative Barriers and Focus on Your Users.
http://miupa.org/fresh/break-through-the-administrative-barriers-and-focus-on-your-users/
Unraveling Hypertext_ Analyzing Postmodern Elements in Literature.pptx
MIUPA - Focus on Your Users
1. FOCUSING ON USERS
Nick DeNardis
@nickdenardis
http://nickdenardis.com/
2. WHO I AM
• Associate
Director of Web Communications at
Wayne State University
• Host of EDU Checkup.
10 minute Web site reviews through the eyes of a prospective student
• Staff writer at .eduGuru
• Officer for Refresh Detroit
4. WHY WE ARE HERE
• Explain my experience working in Higher Education
• Create a plan, test and modify based on real users
• Experience makes you stand out
• 10 second test for primary objectives
• Does accessibility really matter?
5. HIGHER EDUCATION
IS CRAZY
• Board of Governors
• President
• Chief of Staff
• Associate Vice President of Marketing
• Associate Director of Web Communications
• Web Workers
6. HIGHER EDUCATION
IS CRAZY
• Provost • Faculty
• Dean’s • Overactive Staff
• Admissions • TheDean’s son’s friend’s
cousin who does web sites
• Computing on the side
7. IT STARTS WITH THE
TECH PEOPLE
Without them on your side you’re screwed.
13. HOW TO STAND OUT WHEN
EVERYONE SELLS YOUR
PRODUCT
• Don’t try to be clever
• Would a web experience be the deciding factor for you to
attend a university?
• More than likely it can be a detractor
• Out of date content is the biggest issue
14. WORKFLOW OF A
BROWSING STUDENT
• Do they have the degree I want?
Is this place going to be fun?
• What are the requirements?
Am I going to get a job after I graduate?
• How do I apply?
Why do I have to create an account?
• Where is my financial aid?
Scholarships?
15. REAL 10 SECOND TEST
• Decide
the three next steps or impressions for a user to your
homepage
• Havesomeone who didn’t work on the site pick someone in
your primary audience
• Havethem put your site in front of them for 10 seconds and
see what they remember
• Ask them what they would click on or do next
17. ACCESSIBILITY
• Relying on Flash sucks but soo many people do it
• Relying on Javascript sucks but soo many people do it
• Make sure mobile is an option
• Don’t forget to clean up your print style
• MinifyJS and CSS
Fast loading pages get more pages views per visitor
Ask what the landscape of the audience is.
- Usability Experts
- Designers
- Developers
- Writers
- Administrator who need to touch everything to take credit
- To combat those ‘okay fine’ decisions
...Oh yea and dont forget about
Notice student’s are not on the list?
- Have just one main contact, get signoff’s for everything.
No joke, include them in everything, make their life easier otherwise they will bitch all day long to make your clients life miserable. Listen to all input.
Don’t diver right into design, get to the meat and design around that.
Explain theirs first, then yours then throw something weird in the mix.
Woopra. It turns visitors from numbers to individuals.
See every visitor, where they came from, where they went, what they ate for breakfast.
This is not something you could see with Google Analytics
If your site does not accomplish what you envisioned.
- Change and try try again.
- What it comes down to is users dont want an experience, they want your content.