FOCUSING ON USERS
Nick DeNardis
@nickdenardis
http://nickdenardis.com/

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

WHO YOU ARE

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?

HIGHER EDUCATION
IS CRAZY
• Board of Governors
• President
• Chief of Staff
• Associate Vice President of Marketing
• Associate Director of Web Communications
• Web Workers

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

IT STARTS WITH THE
TECH PEOPLE
Without them on your side you’re screwed.

FOCUS ON THE CONTENT
Use wireframes templates

PROVIDE DESIGN OPTIONS
What they want
What you want
An oddball

YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND

YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND
Personalized
Analytics.
Woopra

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• Out of date content is the biggest issue

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?

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

DON’T BE DISAPPOINTED

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

QUESTIONS?

LINKS
• Nick DeNardis - http://nickdenardis.com/
• Wayne State University - http://wayne.edu/
• EDU Checkup - http://educheckup.com/
• .eduGuru - http://doteduguru.com/
• Refresh Detroit - http://refresh-detroit.org/
• Woopra - http://woopra.com/

THANK YOU
Slides will be available at nickdenardis.com
@nickdenardis on Twitter