<p>I'm on a committee to redesign the <a href="http://www.uchicago.edu%5B/url%5D">www.uchicago.edu</a> website. I have a few questions for enrolled and prospective students. It would really help us if you could take a few moments to answer them.</p>
<p>How do/did you use the <a href="http://www.uchicago.edu%5B/url%5D">www.uchicago.edu</a> website when you were a prospective student? What did you look for? Why did you choose to look for it on the main website as opposed to, say, the main college admissions site (collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu)</p>
<p>Did you find it helpful?</p>
<p>Any comments on the design?</p>
<p>Any schools we should look at when we make plans to redesign our site? Functionality? Design-wise?</p>
<p>My only suggestiong is to streamline the site. It seems like there are several different templates that were used in the history of the website (eg: the marroon and beige background, the white background, the retro 70's Class of 2010 background). It would be easier on the eyes if one template was adopted for the entire site. I also don't like the fact that you have to be on campus to see the professor rating site. Why can't that just be encrpted with the Cnet ID?</p>
<p>I hope this turns out well, but I'm keeping my mouth shut since I know everyone involved. Anyways, I'm just here to answer the technical questions.</p>
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I also don't like the fact that you have to be on campus to see the professor rating site.
<p>I think U chicago website is one of the best among all the schools. It is sincere, serious, intellectual yet very approachable. UNCOMMON indeed. Yeah I think it could be even better if only one template can be used. For example the log in page for uncommon application does not really suit the website.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, Libby is talking about redesigning <a href="http://www.uchicago.edu%5B/url%5D">www.uchicago.edu</a>. The various websites around Chicago are designed by many different people in many different organizations. Some, like cMail, are not able to be redesigned for technical reasons. On top of this, to redesign all the sites at Chicago would be massive undertaking and is well beyond the purview of this committee.</p>
<p>So "making all the websites use the same template" is impossible for practical, technical, and political reasons.</p>
<p>I personally think that there are just too many links on the main page. Maybe you could find a way to condense the amount. After on clicking on the "about the university" link, I'm hit over the head with the number of links on the page. It just looks a little overwhelming and less professional. Finally, I think the main site is just too plain. I know Cornell recently improved their website, and I think they did a fabulous job of making the site look organized, professional, and interesting with many pictures (the changing large one on their site is fantastic).</p>
<p>I used the virtual tour thing (because I haven't been able to go on any college visits, unless you count the parking lot of my boyfriend's dorm at NCSU, and using the library there for a research paper last year, I've been relying on those for all of the schools I want to go to). That was good. And I like the fact that there's this underlying sense of humor that encompasses the prospective students section of the site (something about sending your application by carrier pigeons, and something else about Frank Lloyd Wright being short both made me laugh).</p>
<p>Other than that I havne' really explored the site that much. That's just what sticks out in my mind right now.</p>
<p>The main page should be livelier. Having color is always good on the eyes and a good indicator of the spirit of a campus. Also, more article profiles on the page, too, that are more student-centered would be nice. One look at the website profiles now and all I see are professors and professionals. As a student, I want to see my peers being equally highlighted, doing amazing things, too. [Having student profiles left out is a disservice to the vibrancy and uniqeness of the student body. Not to mention, having lively figures, not only Rhodes Scholars and the likes, who represent the student body will help to add dimension to the stereotypical image of gawky Chicago students.] Lastly, the page should be spread out more. There shouldn't be those big margins on the page. Everything should be proportional and evenly spaced.</p>
<p>Libby, I am a parent, not a student - but I also happen to be a web designer and I spent plenty of time last year on the Chicago site. Quite frankly I found it frustrating and hard to navigate. It's hard for me now to remember specific areas where I had problems, but I think one issue is that you have to click repeatedly to get at information; and the other thing is that the clicks keep taking you to new areas with a different look or feel - so there is no consistent navigational array. </p>
<p>Here's an example -- suppose I want to find out what foreign language majors are offered at Chicago. From the home page, I click departments and schools. By "Humanities" I see that there is a "List of Departments" -- great! -- but then a list pops up that does not have any clickable links -- so I've got a list but I can't use the list to navigate, and as soon as I go back to the main page the list loses focus so it disappears behind everything else on my desktop. So then it is 2 other clicks to get to a page with a list of hot links -- why couldn't the first list have links in it? </p>
<p>Anyway, the site is full of dead ends like that. So I think that the first thing the site needs is a consistent and informative navigational array, and a theme in terms of layout that is carried throughout the site.</p>
<p>One rule I follow for the sites I design is that everything on the site should be no more than 3 mouse clicks away -- if it takes more than that to find something,then there should be direct links higher in the navigational array.</p>
<p>One of the things I liked about the Reed College site is the availability of sample first year syllabi for students to examine. My S liked the ability to easily look at the academic requirements of typical courses. I know one can search and at times find a syllabus or two for a course, but having them easily accessible would be a plus. I also agree with calmom that often too many clicks are required and there is not a consistent look and feel. I do like the dignified appearance of some of the pages, I think that is something U of C should emphasize and not get too "light hearted."</p>
<p>Also, the whitespace bugs me from a design standpoint. I know, it's bad to try and fit the site on one page, but with a LOT of room to work with, it could be so much more userfriendly. Plus the fact that EVERYTHING is images is obnoxious.</p>