We all know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but we don’t always take it to heart. We skip well doctor visits. We go too long between oil changes. And we let websites sprawl and morph and get out of date. As someone who’s been on both sides of website creation and maintenance — first as a marketer and content manager, now as a user experience designer — I know the struggle is real. Together we’ll explore how to conduct periodic checkups and adopt healthy practices to keep your website in shape between redesigns.

1. Website Wellness &
Preventive Care
Jennie Salamoun, UX Architect
NewCity
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty

2. User Experience Architect at NewCity
(Blacksburg, VA)
Former Marketing Manager responsible for
three websites
Hi, I’m
Jennie Salamoun
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty

3. website healthy?
What makes a
Source: FreeImages.com/Richard McMillan #OUTC16 @NewC1ty

4. unhealthy?
What about
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5. Takeaways
Understand what stage and state your website is in.
Identify 2-3 things you can start doing (now) to improve the
health of your site.
Envision how your next redesign might be different…
Introduction
Look for these!
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6. LAUNCH POST-OP PRE-OPPREVENTIVECARE
+ 0-6 MO + 3-5 YEARS + 0-3 MO
Timeline of a website
Introduction
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7. LAUNCH POST-OP PRE-OPPREVENTIVECARE
+ 0-6 MO + 3-5 YEARS + 0-3 MO
Timeline of a website
Introduction
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty

8. LAUNCH POST-OP PRE-OPPREVENTIVECARE
+ 0-6 MO + 3-5 YEARS + 0-3 MO
Timeline of a website
Introduction
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty

9. LAUNCH POST-OP PRE-OPPREVENTIVECARE
+ 0-6 MO + 3-5 YEARS + 0-3 MO
Timeline of a website
Introduction
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty

10. Post-op
Source: FreeImages.com/Jacque Stengel #OUTC16 @NewC1ty

11. Pre-launch communication
Research → Strategy → Every decision on the website
Change is okay.
But… no new (major) changes for 3 months.
You are not the target audience. #sorrynotsorry
We’ll ask for feedback (when we’re ready for it).
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty
Post-op

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13. Post-op
Recording
Behavior
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14. Troubleshooting & QA
spelling
broken links
W3C compliance
accessibility
responsive issues
loading/speed issues
missing content
Post-op
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty
OU Campus
Page Check
(and soon…
OU Insights)
— www.browserstack.com
— www.yslow.org
— humans☺

15. Post-op
Google Site
Satisfaction
Survey
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Post-op
Google Site
Satisfaction
Survey (cont.)

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Post-op
Google Site
Satisfaction
Survey (cont.)

18. #OUTC16 @NewC1ty
Post-op
Google Site
Satisfaction
Survey (cont.)

19. #OUTC16 @NewC1ty
Post-op
Google Site
Satisfaction
Survey (cont.)

20. #OUTC16 @NewC1ty
Post-op
Google Site
Satisfaction
Survey (cont.)

21. Check site search logs
Post-op
For more info, see
Search Analytics
for Your Site
by Louis Rosenfeld
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22. Run “Peek” tests
www.peek.usertesting.com
Testers will answer:
What is your first impression of this
web page? What is this page for?
What is the first thing you would like
to do on this page?
What stood out to you on this
website?
What, if anything, frustrated you about
this site?
Post-op
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23. How well do you think page/feature
helps us accomplish project goal
for audience type?
Surveying for
internal feedback
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Post-op

24. Preventive Care
Source: FreeImages.com/marsy #OUTC16 @NewC1ty

25. Concurrent Efforts
Preventive Care
1. Continuous Improvement
2. New Content Creation
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26. Continuous
Improvement
Source: FreeImages.com/Philipp Pilz #OUTC16 @NewC1ty

27. An iterative sprint approach
Preventive Care — Continuous Improvement
Identify the scope.
Examine what’s going on.
Research, if needed.
Revise the design, content, IA…
Revisit your tests and analytics.
Repeat, if necessary.
Move on.
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty

28. Identify the scope of your sprint
Based on:
audience/user goals
organizational goals (conversions)
seasonal happenings
most trafficked pages
something surprising in analytics, site search, or user feedback
Who to involve?
For how long?
Preventive Care — Continuous Improvement
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty

29. Examine the
analytics
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30. Examine the analytics (cont.)
Preventive Care — Continuous Improvement
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31. Examine the analytics (cont.)
Preventive Care — Continuous Improvement
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32. Examine via testing
Preventive Care — Continuous Improvement
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For IA issues:
Quantitative task
completion tests
Possible tool:
Loop11

33. Examine via testing (cont.)
Preventive Care — Continuous Improvement
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty
For usability, content, and
design issues:
Qualitative user tests
Possible tool:
UserTesting

34. Examine via
testing (cont.)
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For usability, content, and
design issues on a single page:
Annotate tests
Possible tool:
Verify

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39. Conduct additional research if…
you need to look at a subset of your audience
there is a major demographic, industry, or competitive shift
your brand is being re-worked
Preventive Care — Continuous Improvement
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty

40. Original Revised
Revise
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41. Revise (cont.)
All about accreditation
Program/Course
info in PDFs
Academic, impersonal language “You,” “your,” sounds human
Preventive Care — Continuous Improvement
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42. Revisit
After making revisions, be sure to
check the same metrics,
and run the same tests.
If you like what you see…
Move on
Preventive Care — Continuous Improvement
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty

43. New Content
Creation
#OUTC16 @NewC1tySource: FreeImages.com/abcdz2000

44. Create a calendar
Start of
School Year
Fall Semester
End of Fall
Semester
Spring
Semester
Spring Break
End of
School Year
Summer
Busy Moderate Busy Moderate Slow Busy Slow
The Game
Move In
New Lancer
Days
Rock the Block
Parent’s
Weekend
Convocation
Involvement Fair
Oktoberfest
(Color Wars)
Fall Break
Book Festival
Greek Week
Thanksgiving
Dinner
Late Night
Breakfast
Holiday Lighting
Final Exams
Study Paws
Fort Finals
Early
Applications
Due
Annual Giving
Campaign
Greek
Recruitment
MLK Service
Day
Crash on
Campus
Recruitment
Career Fair
Applications
Due
Spring Break
Alternative
Spring Break
Spring Weekend
(Oozeball)
Final Exams
Senior Week
Move Out
Chi Burning
Commencement
Princepts Reveal
Deposit Deadline
Girls’ State
Orientation
Preventive Care — New Content Creation
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty

45. Be realistic
Preventive Care — New Content Creation
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NewCity blog article:
How Long Does Good
Web Content Take?
ow.ly/XR3Pi

46. What content is most valuable to your audience(s)?
Be realistic (cont.)
-or-
Preventive Care — New Content Creation
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47. Pre-op
Source: FreeImages.com/Iwan Beijes #OUTC16 @NewC1ty

48. Talk to your
stakeholders
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49. Understand perceptions
How does your website compare to your competitors?
Pre-op
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50. Audit your site
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51. #OUTC16 @NewC1ty
A new kind of
redesign…

52. This is a subtitle - delete if you don’t need it
Questions?
Feel free to reach out…
jennie@insidenewcity.com
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty

53. All the tools!
Google Analytics
BrowserStack
YSlow
Google Site Satisfaction Survey
Peek (by UserTesting)
Page Analytics (by Google) Chrome Extension
Crazy Egg
Loop11
UserTesting
Verify (Annotate Test)
Review
#OUTC16 @NewC1ty