3. Web Services at JSU
• Chris started 1998, Graham started 2007
• Web Services is based out of IT - There is a
Marketing Dept but they are predominantly
for print media.
• About 150+ Cascade users / about 100+ sites
• One web server for the University
4.
5. Our Problems
• Limited Staff
• Site Structure based on Campus Structure
• Lack of consistency
6.
7. Lack of Consistency
• 20+ HTML editing methods
– Dreamweaver, Frontpage, Word (really), etc
• No “branded” look or design
• No shared/uniform content
• No way to train
8. Site Structure
• Compartmentalized Silos
• No “overall” picture
• Internal Terminology
• Territorial claim to content
9.
10.
11. Our Audience
• Students
– Future Students
– Current Students
• Alumni
• Faculty/Staff
12. Future Students
• What do future students want?
– Go to local high schools and meet with students
• Asked them to find key areas of the website
• Observed their interaction
• Asked them to read key pages
– What did we learn?
• Students expected everything to be in Admissions
• They had no idea about departments or “ownership”
• The could also detect “happy talk”
• They don’t want to read – they want “the answer”
13.
14.
15. Current Students
• What do current students want?
– Met with student organizations
• Do you use your departmental website?
- Typically No, they ask the secretary
- If yes, it was to find faculty member’s info
• Need one spot to find relevant info fast
– What did we learn?
• Department should focus on future students
• Consistent Faculty/Staff content
16.
17.
18.
19. Training Sessions
• Initial Group Training
• Individual Training
• Best Practices -KISS
20. How We Train
• Initial Group Training
– 2 weeks, 2 sessions a day
• Individual Training
– Basic overview of Cascade – 1.5 Hours
– Have them use the Web Help form to submit
questions
• Best Practices –KISS
– No editing. Concepts and “how to think” as your
audience
21.
22. Best Practices
• Think Mobile First
Reduce Content
• Bulleted Lists
• No Happy Talk
• Give them only information they need
• Reduce Clutter
23. Best Practices
• Think of Your Audience
Meet Expectations
• Use terms they will understand
• Include News/Events
Make Content a Conversation
• “You” instead of “a student”
• Make it personal
• Give them a “Call to Action”
24. Best Practices
• Categorize Navigation
Most important items on top
Focused content groupings
Reduce amount of items
25.
26. Users as Limitations
• Users are typically secretaries that are busy
• Limited Web knowledge
• They only do what they are told
Ex: “My dean wants this on the website”
• Time/Skill Limitations for ALL users
27. Working with Limitations
• Less options = More Production
Ex: Custom editors in Cascade
– Users are limited to fields instead of full WYSIWYG editor
– Focus is on content rather than format
Ex: All forms are handled through Wufoo.com
– Users can edit forms easily
– Embedded in current page structure
– Conditional logic and more options
– Frees us up from manually creating HTML forms
28.
29.
30.
31. Moving Forward
• Digital Signage
– Using the Rise Vision Platform and Cascade
– Saved $70,000 with this method
– Slowly adding more signs across campus
• Monthly Quiz Based Training
– Keep users active by giving them monthly
exercises
– Can run audits to see who has done the work
32.
33. Moving Forward
• Meet monthly with Marketing
– Coordinate homepage images and featured videos
– Compare projects and work together to
accomplish tasks
• Open lab on a schedule
– bi-weekly open lab where users can come to
computer lab to ask questions and get help
– users can learn from other users as well
