Presenters: Janeen Alliston and Brett Lee Students are busy. They are focused on the exam they have to write tomorrow or the paper due at the end of the month. So how do you create a stellar online experience that makes it easy for students to find and use the information they need, delight them while on your site and make them want to come back? The centralized student service offices at UBC (The University of British Columbia) decided to tackle this challenge by using key elements of the student experience, rather than organizational structure, in the redesign of their website, students.ubc.ca. This session will discuss the overhaul of students.ubc.ca, a project initiated by the need to replace the CMS being used to manage the site but really about creating a user-centered student affairs website designed around the needs and preferences of current students, not the business owners. The redesign and redevelopment of students.ubc.ca involved the migration of approximately 12,000 pages of content from 12 distinct microsites into one meaningful, connected and comprehensive site. The content was split into flexible components that can be published in any location on any of the roughly 700 new dynamic site pages. Learn how the redesign project was designed to ensure the new and improved site delivered on the site goals to make it easy for students to find the information they’re looking for when visiting the site, anticipate the information needs of students as they progress through their studies and experience at UBC, delight students with content and functionality that surpasses what they came to the site for and deliver an intuitive and seamless experience designed around the student experience that helps students act on the information and the invitation to participate. The presenters will provide a tour of the redesigned site, including before and after, highlighting the site structure, visual design and structured content strategy.

1. The Content
is the Experience
Lessons in Creating a Student-Centered
Student Affairs Website
TIE9
October 21 2014

2. Your presenters
Janeen Alliston
Director, Student Communications Services, UBC
@janeenthebean
!
Brett Lee
User Experience / Web Designer Student Communications Services, UBC
Twitter Lurker
!

4. The problem

7. By the numbers
1.2M page views per year
12K-30K page views per day
average time on page: 1m10s
Overall satisfaction = 65%
Task Completion = 71%
!
Jan 2010-Feb 2012
|

8. “Communication from the University is
impersonal, repetitive,
and self-aggrandizing.”
-current UBC student

9. “Maybe I'm an idiot, but I'm
annoyed that information like that might
be so hard to find that I have to go through
Google to find it, rather than being able to
find it easily on the UBC website.”
-(yet another) current UBC student

10. “Students have clearly and consistently
indicated that they want opportunities to
choose what information they receive, and
how they want to receive it.”
-Kirk Report, 2008

11. As one of the world’s leading universities,
UBC creates an exceptional student
experience, where all students can achieve
their full potential and contribute to a civil
and sustainable society. An exceptional
student experience is defined by a
supportive and inclusive environment, on
a dynamic, vibrant campus, where
students can achieve their full potential
and are connected to the world.

12. “The challenge for the University is to give
students more choices while also
communicating necessary information to
students.”
-Kirk Report, 2008

13. Our vision

14. The goals

15. 1
Make it easy for students to find the
information they’re looking for.

16. 2
Anticipate the information needs of
students.

17. 3
Delight students with more than
what they came for.

18. 4
Deliver a great digital experience that
helps students act on the information.

19. And while we’re at it…
Improve relevance and reliability
Reduce the burden of managing so
much content
Consolidate the site
!
!

20. The redesign

21. This is a case study about
structured content authoring
was used to meet our
communications goals.

22. But first, context.

23. User scenarios

24. Plan for
success
Have some
fun
Manage
my courses,
money and
enrolment
Know my
campus I want to…
Build my
career
Live well to
learn well

25. Plan for
success
Know my I want to…
campus
Live well to
learn well
Have some fun
Manage my
courses, money
and enrolment
Build my career

35. Structured content:
the idea
Carrot Halwa
!
Serves 4!
!
1 pound carrots, peeled!
2 tablespoons ghee or neutral cooking oil!
8 green cardamom pods, seeds only, crushed!
3 cups whole milk!
1 1/4 cup sugar!
1/4 cup raisins!
Pinch saffron threads!
1/4 cup unsalted pistachio nuts, chopped!
!
Grate the carrots coarsely using a cheese grater. Heat the ghee or oil in a heavy,
high-sided skillet or saucepan. Add the crushed cardamom seeds and stir for about
30 seconds, until they are fragrant. Add the grated carrots to the pan and fry for
about 3 minutes.!
!
Add the milk and bring it up to the boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Then
turn the heat down to a low and simmer the halwa, uncovered, for about 1 hour. Stir
every so often to stop the milk forming a film or scorching on the bottom. The milk
should have reduced by over a third by the end of the hour.!
!
Add the sugar, raisins, and saffron to the pan and stir. Turn the heat up to medium
and cook, stirring frequently, for until the halwa is thick and glossy, 15 to 20 minutes.!
!
You can serve the halwa warm or cold. If serving warm, scoop into bowl, sprinkle
pistachios over top and serve. If serving cold, press the halwa mixture into small
ramekins. When ready to serve, overturn on to plates, sprinkle over the pistachios
and serve.

36. Structured content:
the idea
Carrot Halwa
!
Serves 4!
!
1 pound carrots, peeled!
2 tablespoons ghee or neutral cooking oil!
8 green cardamom pods, seeds only, crushed!
3 cups whole milk!
1 1/4 cup sugar!
1/4 cup raisins!
Pinch saffron threads!
1/4 cup unsalted pistachio nuts, chopped!
!
Grate the carrots coarsely using a cheese grater. Heat the ghee or oil in a heavy,
high-sided skillet or saucepan. Add the crushed cardamom seeds and stir for about
30 seconds, until they are fragrant. Add the grated carrots to the pan and fry for
about 3 minutes.!
!
Add the milk and bring it up to the boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Then
turn the heat down to a low and simmer the halwa, uncovered, for about 1 hour. Stir
every so often to stop the milk forming a film or scorching on the bottom. The milk
should have reduced by over a third by the end of the hour.!
!
Add the sugar, raisins, and saffron to the pan and stir. Turn the heat up to medium
and cook, stirring frequently, for until the halwa is thick and glossy, 15 to 20 minutes.!
!
You can serve the halwa warm or cold. If serving warm, scoop into bowl, sprinkle
pistachios over top and serve. If serving cold, press the halwa mixture into small
ramekins. When ready to serve, overturn on to plates, sprinkle over the pistachios
and serve.

37. Just a few of the benefits
1 More flexibility in display
2 Data you can operate on
3 Reusability

38. Reality check.

39. Reality - choose one:
!
# $

40. Reality - choose one:
!
#$

41. What are the
content types?

51. Like LEGO™, only for content

55. Snowball effect

57. More layouts

65. Lessons learned

66. 1
Structured content is front-loaded
and complex

67. 2
Think hard about where you’ll cut
corners.

68. 3
Always have a fallback

69. 4
Achieve excellence through iteration

70. 5
Content in context is King

71. Lessons learned
strategy edition

72. 6
Your context matters

73. 7
Think about your broader vision

74. 8
Never forget your users

75. Thank you