"New Look" Web Sites Earn Praise
After nearly a year of discovery and design, Rider University has launched both a new University Web site and a new athletics Web site, and the reviews have been superlative.
The Office of Enrollment Management began the process to address a new overall design for the Web site in early 2007. Focus groups were held on campus for current students, faculty, and staff members to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the current site and to ascertain future development objectives. More than 400 students on both campuses, Student Senates, and the Student Government Associations were consulted, as well as more than 125 prospective students through surveys and online focus groups.
Support for the new Web site has been overwhelming. “We've received a lot of great feedback – I think due in part to the rigorous discovery process that we went through,” said Jennifer Therien, director of Enrollment Planning, Reporting and Internet projects. “We really listened to everyone’s opinion, and we continue to get suggestions about how we can make it better. For example, we recently added a text-sizer to every page of the Web site, because we had some users tell us that they had difficulty reading the font size. The Web site is a wonderful tool because it is forever evolving into something better, and we continue to receive positive feedback on our improvements.”
After three initial design options were presented, over 900 students, community members, and Web site visitors voted for their favorite design. Throughout the summer and fall months, refinements were made based on the feedback received.
Functional changes include:
- The new Rider University events calendar at www.rider.edu/calendar.
- Changes to the Rider University Campus Directory, which now also includes
information on faculty office hours. - Better search functionality through Rider’s own Google service.
- Prominent and accessible Campus Safety information, which is available from the top of every page.
Based on community feedback, the new Web site:
- Centers the Web site on the computer monitor.
- Improves navigation.
- Increases the use of candid photography.
- Uses the Rider red cranberry color with subtle complementary hues.
- Introduces a dynamic home page for the Westminster College of the Arts, as well as new navigation on the College pages.
- Offers redesigned Current Students and Faculty & Staff service areas.
- Offers students the opportunity to find campus employment online using MonsterTrak.
Submitted on February 29, 2008
The Department of Athletics began its discovery process for the redesign of www.gobroncs.com in July 2007. Functional changes and improvements include:
- Live and on-demand streaming audio and video.
- Online ticket sales for the 2008-09 men’s and women’s basketball and wrestling seasons.
- Merchandise sales.
- Fan polls.
- Photo store.
- Downloads.
- Integration of the new Rider Athletics logos.
- Improved navigation tools.
The vibrant look and interactive ability of the site have made it a fan favorite. “Since the launch of the new athletics Web site on January 16, we've received an overwhelming number of e-mails and phone calls from students, faculty, staff, alumni and fans in favor of the new look and added features to gobroncs.com,” said Karin Torchia, associate director of Athletics for marketing. “The old site was very comprehensive in terms of the information it provided, but the new site’s technological enhancements, including streaming video, a photo store and online merchandise sales options, seem to be the favorite improvements among our various constituents.”
