3. Current site
home page
The content
that changes
is the News
and the
Events in the
center of the
page, but the
design draws
attention away
from it.
The biggest
visual element
on the page,
the image in
the top
banner, has
nothing to do
with our most
valuable
assets on this
page (the
news about
our research
and faculty). It
also doesn't
change, giving
the impression
that our home
page is static.
4. Current site
faculty profile page
The quality of the
content on faculty
profile pages vary
wildly from one faculty
member to the next,
depending on how
frequently they update
their information.
Also, all the
information has to be
manually entered,
creating extra work for
the faculty (if your
office address
changes, you have to
update it in your UNC
directory and on
pharmacy.unc.edu.
6. New UNC.edu
home page
The design
allows the
University better
tell our story.
The main image
is tied to
relevant story
and can be
changed as
needed.
News and
events are
prominent as
are social media
tools.
Visitors are
allowed to
contribute their
own items to the
photo stream at
the bottom of
the page
(submissions
are screened)
7. The new UNC design will be a federated
design, meaning it aims to implement a
consistent look across the sites of all campus
units. Adoption of the design and
accompanying content management system
are not required. ITS will provide support.
8. New Office of
Research and Economic
Development site
following the federated
design (now live)
http://research.unc.edu
9. New Art Department page
following the federated design
(now live)
http://art.unc.edu/index.htm
11. Departments on campus are encouraged, but not required,
to incorporate the new design into their sites.
Also, each department can pick and choose which elements
of the new design it wants to implement. Because the time
lines, capabilities, and support availability of the University
CMS are largely undefined, we have decided to continue
developing the School site independently while adopting
some of the elements of the UNC design.
Taking into account our needs and incorporating elements
from the UNC federated design, we developed an in-house
design for pharmacy.unc.edu as a starting point.
12. Our design
home page
Rotating
headlines at the
top to better
highlight our top
stories (usually
research- and
faculty-related).
The dominant
visual on the page
is now tied to the
content and thus
changes
frequently.
Provides quick
links to some of
the most
frequently viewed
information for
each academic
program, making
it easier for
visitors.
Dynamic
dropdown menus
in the top
navigation bar to
improve
navigation.
13. Our design
faculty profile page
Our aim is to automatically pull
information from as many databases as
possible to populate the faculty profile
page, making it look good even with
relatively little effort by the faculty
member.
To start, we'll tap the PubMed database
to populate the Publications section.
We are also looking into other
databases such as Ramses for grants.
14. We shared our designs with the Rivers Agency, whom we
have been working with since last year to update of the
backend system driving our site. We asked them to use our
mockups and UNC's new design as starting points and add
their own touch. They have created two different designs.
19. Your Feedback
1. Evaluate the design overall. Do you like it? Do you think it is
an improvement? Does it compare well with our peers at UNC
and with pharmacy schools at other universities?
2. Make any specific observations about the designs and layout.
Think about the use of color, the arrangement, the density of
links and information, and the prominence of different elements.
3. I'll aggregate and filter the observations and suggestions and
share them with Rivers and to all of you who have contributed.
