Rating Higher Education Websites: The Student Experience

Rating Higher Education Websites: The Student Experience ©Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D. 2009 ACT Enrollment Planners Conference July 16, 2009 Chicago, Illinois Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 1

Customer Centric Index (CCI) survey… Asks website visitors to select from 13 website attributes to identify top 3 positive or negative experiences CCI = % of positive votes cast 4 audiences to survey: – Current students – Possible future students – Faculty and staff – Alumni Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 2

13 survey topics in 3 groups… Information Architecture Content Social Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 3

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE FACTORS Factor Positive Negative Helpful search Search results Poor search results Clear menus and Confusing menus Navigation links and links Simple layout / Cluttered layout / Layout easy to read hard to read Looks attractive / Looks unattractive / Visual appeal appealing unappealing Speed Fast to do things Slow to do things Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 4

CONTENT FACTORS Factor Positive Negative Up-to-date Up-to-date Out-of-date information information Accurate Inaccurate Accurate information information Complete Incomplete Complete information information Full of jargon, Language Plain language corporate speak Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 5

SOCIAL FACTORS Factor Positive Negative Easy to contact a Hard to contact a Contact person person Easy to participate Hard to participate Participation / give feedback / give feedback Gives me the facts Misleading / not Open / transparent transparent Has ratings, Has no ratings, Recommendations reviews, reviews, recommendations recommendations Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 6

•Please choose the THREE factors from the list below that best describe your actual experience with the Enormous State University website. •Give a score of 3 to the factor which best describes your experience, 2 to the next best description, and then 1. •Please give only one score of 3, 2 and 1. •Leave the rest blank. Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 7 Copyright © Customer Carewords Ltd.

CCI at 10 schools… 7 in presentation 3 not in presentation – DePaul University – University of – East Stroudsburg Hertfordshire (UK) University – University of Manitoba – Fordham University – University of Oslo – Lund University On next CCI ratings (Sweden) page only – Tyler Junior College – University of Missouri – University of Waterloo Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 9

8 CCI ratings to date… 76% %External voters… 91.6% 74% 79.6% 70% 86.1% 67% 89.3% 62% 51.0% 61% 27.7% 52% 4.8% 45% 10.2% Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 10

Overall results… External users were happier than internal users – Future students were happier than current students – Alumni were close to future students High concern with deficiencies in: – Navigation – Search Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 11

Total Results from 4 Audiences Current students Future students Faculty & Staff Alumni Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 12

Voters by audience category… Future students… 3,326 Alumni… 1,397 Current students… 905 Faculty & staff… 480 Total voters… 6,108 Total votes cast… 18,338 Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 13

Areas of interest by votes received… IA… 9,843 votes = 53.6% of total – Visual Appeal (2,184) High: 87% Low: 67% – Layout (2,343) High: 85% Low: 61% – Speed (1,141) High: 84% Low: 49% – Navigation (2,578) High: 62% Low: 35% – ►Search (1,597) High: 55% Low: 24% Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 14

Areas of interest by votes received… Content… 5,116 votes = 27.8% of total – Language (843) High: 100%Low: 79% – Accurate (1,339) High: 93% Low: 63% – Up-to-date (1,551) High: 86% Low: 41% – Complete (1,383) High: 82% Low: 40% Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 15

Areas of interest by votes received… Social…. 3,379 votes = 18.4% of total – Open (1,231) High: 90% Low: 67% – Contact (1,170) High: 72% Low: 42% – Participation (632) High: 73% Low: 44% – Recommendations (346) High: 76% Low: 0% Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 16

Audience specific results… Future Students Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 17

Areas of interest by votes received… IA… 4,990 votes = 51.9% of total – Visual Appeal (1,059) High: 93% Low: 4% – Layout (1,194) High: 96% Low: 26% – Speed (714) High: 87% Low: 41% – Navigation (1,332) High: 83% Low: 24% – Search (701) High: 92% Low: 50% Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 18

Areas of interest by votes received… Content… 2,763 votes = 28.7% of total – Language (424) High: 100%Low: 79% – Accurate (810) High: 93% Low: 63% – Up-to-date (677) High: 86% Low: 41% – Complete (852) High: 82% Low: 40% Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 19

Areas of interest by votes received… Social…. 1,856 votes = 19.3% of total – Open (739) High: 100%Low: 76% – Contact (575) High: 100% Low:32% – Participation (314) High: 100% Low:59% – Recommendations (228)High: 100%Low:61% Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 20

Audience specific results… Current Students Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 21

Areas of interest by votes received… IA… 2,484 votes = 68.6% of total – Visual Appeal (281) High: 88% Low: 59% – Layout (303) High: 88% Low: 61% – Speed (193) High: 74% Low: 48% – Navigation (436) High: 62% Low: 24% – Search (366) High: 38% Low: 20% Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 22

Areas of interest by votes received… Content… 661 votes = 18.2% of total – Language (88) High: 100%Low: 77% – Accurate (157) High: 88% Low: 74% – Complete (180) High: 74% Low: 39% – Up-to-date (236) High: 65% Low: 38% Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 23

Areas of interest by votes received… Social…. 475 votes = 13.1% of total – Open (141) High: 90% Low: 57% – Contact (218) High: 78% Low: 52% – Participation (80) High: 82% Low: 15% – Recommendations (36) High: 57% Low: 0% Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 24

Key comparison areas… Current students vs. Future students Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 25

Top 5 factors by votes cast… Current students Future students – Navigation – Navigation – Search – Layout – Layout – Visual – Visual – Complete – Up-to-date – Accurate Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 26

Highest difference between positive and negative votes… Current students Future – Participation – Visual – Recommendations – Layout – Navigation – Contact – Complete – Navigation – Recommendations Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 27

Least difference between positive and negative votes… Current students Future students – Accurate (positive) – Language – Search (negative) (positive) – Language – Accurate (positive) (positive) – Open (positive) Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 28

What does it mean? Difficult for one website to meet internal and external users needs Argues for Internet and Intranet websites – Intranet users need “nuts and bolts” website that focuses on frequent task completion Special attention to navigation & search… – Help people find things quickly Less focus on “beauty” & “cool” Increased audience research Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 29

Thank You! Bob Johnson, Ph.D. President and Senior Consultant Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 248.766.6425 bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com http://twitter.com/HighEdMarketing Customer Carewords Research for Online Marketing Success: http://www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/customercarewords.html Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 30

Example of CCI Report Pages Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 31

Voting spread… Negative votes Positive votes 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 5% 10% Up-to-date Accurate Complete Plain language Contact Participation Open Recommendations Search Navigation Layout Visual appeal Speed Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 32

Where to invest resources… Content 28% Information Social Architecture 4% 68% Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 33

Action priorities… Search Navigation Up-to-date Layout Speed Accurate Complete Participation Plain language Visual appeal Recommendations Open Contact 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 34

Rating Higher Education Websites: The Student Experience

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Notes on slide 1

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