Web Redesign
Research Summary
Goals
To provide qualitative and quantitative data regarding the CSU, Chico
Web site, it's users, as well as other university Web sites, so that the
team may make the most informed decisions possible with regard to
the functionality, structure and design of the new CSU, Chico home
page. Specifically, this research will provide:
•Qualitative and quantitative data regarding the current CSU, Chico Web site
•Qualitative and quantitative data regarding the users of the CSU, Chico
Web site
•Qualitative and quantitative data regarding other university Web sites
Methodologies
• Browser Statistics
• Google Analytics
• Crazy Egg
• Search Statistics
• User Surveys
• Best Practices Analysis
Results
Browser Statistics
Pageviews – All Pages
Rank
Page Title
Non-Bounce
1
Home Page
274,897
1,062,409
2
Search - CSU, Chico
82,324
124,745
3
CSU, Chico - 2007-2009 University Catalog
50,204
79,619
4
Directory - CSU, Chico
26,098
29,617
5
CSU, Chico -- Class Schedule
25,646
51,779
6
The Spring 2009 Class Schedule - CSU, Chico
23,307
49,036
7
CSU, CHICO: 2007-2009 University Catalog
21,979
28,160
8
Recreational Sports
21,224
29,235
9
Student Computing, California State University, Chico
21,086
71,853
10
California State University, Chico - Colleges & Departments
16,763
23,705
11
The Spring 2009 Intersession Class Schedule - CSU, Chico
14,421
20,276
12
Academic Calendar
11,520
15,673
13
California State University, Chico - Degrees & Majors
10,844
13,297
14
Human Resources - Job Opportunities - California State University, Chico
8,709
20,163
15
File Not Found - Error 404
8,297
30,099
16
Department Index - Directory - CSU, Chico
6,895
7,597
17
Map of CSU, Chico
6,834
9,481
18
Study Abroad
5,252
9,516
19
California State University, Chico - Events and Calendars
5,024
8,587
20
CSU Chico - School of Graduate, International, and Interdisciplinary Studies (GIIS)
4,940
7,760
21
Graduate School
4,643
7,708
Only includes pages from the www subdomain
Pageviews
Pageviews – Top Level Pages
Rank
Page
Non-Bounce
1
Home Page
7
Colleges & Departments
Pageviews
323918
747585
13419
18981
15
Degrees & Majors
8744
10728
25
Current Students
3005
5899
27
Life in Chico
2295
5513
38
Faculty & Staff
2945
4077
46
Campus Resources
1302
2656
60
Alumni, Parents & Friends
1395
2059
Non-Bounce Pageviews
Home Page
Colleges & Departments
Degrees & Majors
Current Students
Life in Chico
Faculty & Staff
Campus Resources
Alumni, Parents & Friends
Visitor Locations
• 96% from US
• 88% From CA
•
•
•
•
•
•
Northern CA (70%)
Bay Area (13%)
Southern CA (8%)
Sacramento Area (3%)
Central Valley (2%)
Other (2%)
• 79% of visits from off
campus IP addresses
Search Terms (Internal)
2003
Rank
2006
Rank
2008
Rank
Search Term
Pros Stu.
Cur Stu.
2
1
1
campus map
x
x
6
5
2
jobs
23
13
3
calendar
7
2
4
transcripts
x
30
12
5
career center
x
10
4
6
housing
x
x
31
6
7
academic calendar
x
x
22
9
8
health center
x
8
7
9
vista (webct)
x
14
8
10
tuition/fees
x
x
27
18
11
nursing
x
x
3
19
12
portal
x
x
x
26
22
13
library
x
x
x
4
3
14
financial aid
x
x
5
15
15
bookstore
9
14
16
athletics
x
x
13
11
17
class schedule
x
x
25
17
18
study abroad
x
x
20
24
19
cave
x
-
10
20
finals schedule
x
12
26
21
student employment
x
x
x
Alumni
x
Faculty
x
Staff
Comm.
x
x
x
x
x
Parents
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Heatmaps – Home Page
Heatmaps – Landing Pages
Colleges & Departments
Degrees & Majors
Life in Chico
Link
Maps, Pictures, & Information...
7.8%
Chico Cam
6.5%
Search Chico State
6.3%
Events and Calendars
5.2%
Chico Enterprise Record
4.1%
6.8%
City of Chico
3.7%
Index to Programs
6.5%
Athletics, Recreational, and Club…
3.4%
The Colleges and Departments
5.2%
University Housing & Food Service
3.0%
Degrees and Majors
2.9%
Student Activities
2.7%
The University Catalog
2.8%
Community Information & Maps
2.6%
Catalog
2.5%
The University Curriculum
2.0%
Admissions
1.8%
Colleges and Departments
1.7%
Link
Index to Degrees and Majors
Link
Engineering, Computer Science…
Percent
12.8%
Humanities and Fine Arts
9.6%
Behavioral and Social Sciences
8.7%
Academic Departments
8.5%
Communication and Education
8.4%
Business
7.9%
Natural Sciences
7.8%
Search Chico State
7.7%
Percent
Search Chico State
Percent
40.4%
Heatmaps – Landing Pages
Current Students
Faculty & Staff
Campus Resources
Link
Search Chico State
Link
Faculty and Staff Directory
Link
Search Chico State
Percent
18.8%
Student Services
8.0%
Portal Logo
6.3%
Academic Advising Programs
5.0%
Percent
35.6%
Directory
8.5%
Search Chico State
7.1%
Faculty and Staff
5.8%
Departments
4.6%
Human Resources
4.1%
Job Announcements
2.7%
E-mail
2.5%
Human Resources
1.8%
Colleges and Departments
1.8%
Percent
25.5%
Service Centers
6.2%
Meriam Library Services
3.5%
select
3.2%
Administration
3.0%
MORE
2.8%
FMS
2.8%
Resources for the Public
2.5%
Student Services
1.6%
Sponsored Programs
1.6%
User Survey
User Survey
• Survey sent to 17,000
• Total Responses: 1253
Relationship
Responses
Percent
Prospective Student
405
32.3%
Undergrad Student
273
21.8%
Parent
179
14.3%
Staff
161
12.8%
Alumni
109
8.7%
Other
80
6.4%
Faculty
71
5.7%
Grad Student
54
4.3%
Prospective Parent
34
2.7%
Public
23
1.8%
Admin
15
1.2%
Media
2
0.2%
Responses by Age Group
Responses by Age Group
Number of Responses
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
<18
18-20
21-24
25-35
35-44
Age Group
45-54
55-64
65+
Decline
to
State
Responses by Audience
Preferred Methods of Finding Information
Method
Undergrad
Grad
Student
Pros.
Student
Parent
Pros.
Parent
Alumni
Faculty
Staff
Admin
Media
Public
Searchbox
30%
34%
24%
29%
28%
33%
32%
37%
36%
33%
28%
A-Z Index
8%
12%
10%
9%
11%
7%
12%
9%
3%
17%
11%
Links on Home Page
18%
14%
17%
20%
16%
12%
15%
15%
19%
0%
13%
Quick Links
25%
19%
29%
26%
30%
23%
22%
22%
28%
33%
28%
Nav Menu
18%
18%
20%
14%
16%
22%
16%
16%
11%
17%
19%
1%
2%
0%
1%
0%
3%
4%
2%
3%
0%
2%
Faculty
Staff
Admin
Media
Public
Other
Media Wanted on Home Page
Data
News Feeds
Undergrad
Grad
Student
Pros.
Student
Parent
Pros.
Parent
Alumni
27%
23%
21%
32%
22%
23%
23%
24%
22%
25%
17%
Videos
13%
8%
14%
10%
6%
9%
7%
8%
6%
25%
18%
News Stories
22%
23%
17%
25%
21%
26%
30%
26%
31%
0%
17%
Changing Images
23%
31%
23%
14%
21%
22%
25%
25%
31%
50%
27%
Virtual Tours
13%
10%
25%
16%
30%
16%
9%
11%
8%
0%
20%
3%
3%
1%
3%
0%
4%
6%
6%
3%
0%
2%
Other
User Survey Responses
• 90% of users feel that site
content is relevant
• 88% of users feel that site
content is timely
• 88% of users feel that site
content is easy to understand
What do you like most about the web site?
Like Most
Total
Percent
282
42.1%
Useful/current content/info
84
12.5%
Other
57
8.5%
Attractive/professional design
31
4.6%
Well organized
31
4.6%
Photos
30
4.5%
Search
18
2.7%
Photos of campus
16
2.4%
Colors/colorful
15
2.2%
Bottom photo links
11
1.6%
Quick links
10
1.5%
Simplicity
10
1.5%
Gives feel for campus/Chico
8
1.2%
Athletics
7
1.0%
Calendar
7
1.0%
Easy to use/navigate
What do you like least about the web site?
Like Least
Total
Percent
Difficult/confusing Navigation
121
21.9%
None
106
19.2%
Other
45
8.1%
Boring/plain design
40
7.2%
Poor search results
38
6.9%
Busy/cluttered looking
30
5.4%
Needs more pictures of campus
22
4.0%
Broken links/outdated info
20
3.6%
Lot of clicks/tabs to get to Portal/Vista
19
3.4%
Lack of design consistency
15
2.7%
Too Little Information
15
2.7%
Admission status not available
10
1.8%
Old photos on home page
8
1.4%
Vista
8
1.4%
Separate login for Wildcat Mail
7
1.3%
What did you not see that you would have liked to?
Not Seen
Total
Percent
125
27.23%
Other
52
11.33%
News/Events
31
6.75%
Academic Calendar
29
6.32%
Application/Admission Status
23
5.01%
Better navigation/search
18
3.92%
Athletics
17
3.70%
Student life
16
3.49%
Campus/regional info
15
3.27%
Program Info
15
3.27%
Housing Info
13
2.83%
More photos
11
2.40%
Virtual tours
11
2.40%
More campus photos
9
1.96%
Financial aid/payment info
8
1.74%
Nothing
Likes and Dislikes – by Audience
User Group
Like
Prospective Students and
their parents




Current Students
Don’t Like
Want
 Not finding admissions status
 More info
 More photos
 More tours
 Using search
 News
 Ease of use
 Bookstore site
 Logging into portal
 Difficult/confusing navigation
 Less information
 Wildcat card balance
Parents
 Using search
 News
 Ease of use
 Busy/cluttered site
 Difficult/confusing navigation
 Academic calendar
 Financial aid info
 Degree requirements
Alumni
 Using search
 News
 Ease of use
 Difficult/confusing navigation
 Demographic Info
Faculty
 Using search
 News
 Ease of use
 Difficult/confusing navigation




Staff




 Boring/plain design
 Difficult/confusing navigation
 Campus/regional info
Quick links
Virtual tours
Ease of use
Campus photos
Using search
News
Ease of use
E-mail
Graduation info
Program info
Virtual tours
Vista/Portal
Best Practices Review
University Sites Analyzed
2006
2007
2008
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Stanford University
University of Florida
University of Michigan
Yale University
Cornell University
University of Washington
Duke University
University of Texas at Austin
Princeton University
University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign
University of Wisconsin - Madison
New York University
Ohio State University
Boston University
University of Colorado at Boulder
Florida State University
Brown University
University of Arizona
Utah State University
Syracuse University
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Saxion Universities of Applied
Sciences
Rice University
Denver Seminary
Indiana University - Purdue
University Indianapolis
Cornell College
Imperial College London
Loyola Marymount University
Ball State University
Carnegie Mellon University
Notre Dame University
Portland State University
Biola University
University of Tennessee Knoxville
Rocky Mt. College of
Art+Design
North Carolina State University
University of St. Thomas
Our Lady of Holy Cross College
Skidmore College
•
•
•
Drew University
Emory University
Holy Names University
University of North Alabama
Ohio State University
Pittsburg State University
University of Rochester
Lynn University
Colorado School of Mines
UC Riverside
William & Mary College
Case Western Reserve
University
Vermont Law School
Champlain College
Asheville School
Methodologies
• Home page analysis
• http://futureendeavour.blogspot.com/
• Professional Relationships
• HiEdWebDev Conference (2006, 2007, 2008)
• UWebD ListServ
• Twitter
• Blogs
• www.edustyle.net
• www.educheckup.com
• http://www.bloghighed.org/
Home Page Content
Element
Sites 2006
Sites 2007
Sites 2008
Photos
100%
100%
100%
Primary Navigation
100%
100%
100%
Search Box
100%
94%
100%
News
85%
83%
93%
Events
30%
67%
87%
Secondary Navigation
70%
78%
73%
Feature/Spotlight Story
55%
78%
73%
Top Banner
90%
78%
60%
Quick Links
45%
22%
33%
Home Page Navigation
• Hierarchical navigation structures are the
norm
Most common audience links
• Typically arranged by
Link
• Topical
• Audience
• Other
• Organizational
• Informational
• Misc.
Alumni
88%
Current Students
78%
Faculty/Staff
72%
Prospective/Future Students
56%
Parents
44%
Most common other (tertiary) links
Most common topical links
Link
% of Sites
% of Sites
Link
% of Sites
About (university)
88%
Contact Us
56%
Academics
72%
Employment/Jobs
50%
Athletics
67%
Directory/A-Z Index
39%
Admissions
67%
Maps
39%
Campus Life/Student Life
61%
Site Map
39%
Research
50%
Giving
33%
Portal
33%
• www.stanford.edu
• www.humboldt.edu
Home Page Content Placement
Top Banner
Branding/Logo
Search Box
Main Navigation
Secondary Navigation
Tertiary Navigation
Home Page Content Placement
Main Photo
Other Photos
Quick Links
Feature Item
Events/Calendar
News
Home Page Dimensions
• Average page
width: 924 pixels
• Average page
height: 1027 pixels
Photography
• Photographs take up the largest percentage of real
estate on virtually every home page
• Photographs should be prominent and of professional
quality
• They should change
•
•
Many sites use Flash or other technologies to change photos/stories
while user is on the page
At the least, photos should change with every visit
• They should be tied to a story
•
The story should focus on something that makes your school
special/different/worthy of attention
•
•
Photos of smiling students are insufficient
Photo should be captioned with story teaser
• User-controlled navigation through photos/stories
should be provided
• Examples:
•
•
•
•
Humboldt State
Simmons College
University of Texas Office of Communications
Florida State University
Photography
Scenics = Off-campus scenic imagery
Purpose
• The trend is toward making home
pages focused
• Marketing to external audiences (prospective
students)
• News and events
• Branding and image
• While maintaining functionality for internal
audiences
Conclusions
Browser Statistics
• Site usage has not changed much
over the past 5 years
• Statistics tell you only so much
• The current site content and structure
are primarily directed toward internal
audiences (e.g., current students)
• Internal audiences are the main users
of the site
• Caveat: Prospective users are directed to the EM site for
which we have no stats
• Home and top level pages are not
effectively leveraging their prominent
location
User Surveys
• Overall we are doing a good job in providing usable,
findable, relevant content to users
• Site navigation was both most and least liked
• People like to use search, but results could be more
relevant
• Overall, people feel the design is a bit plain or boring,
some felt it was busy or cluttered
• People like photos and want more
• People want more news and events
• Users want more feel for Chico and the campus
• Users want us to maintain the welcoming feeling of
the site
Best Practices
• Navigation standards are
emerging
• Layout standards are emerging
• Relevant, up-to-date, regularly
maintained content is vital
• Including photos, news, events, features, profiles,
etc.
• Required to keep sites fresh and competitive
• “Purposeful” home pages are
becoming standard
Overall Conclusions
• The top level pages need to do a
better job of telling the Chico story
and providing relevant information
• We need to do a better job of
providing information and resources
to external audiences
• While maintaining the site’s usefulness to internal
audiences
• Providing up-to-date news, photos,
stories and events will require an
ongoing commitment of resources
Going Forward
• This information will guide us
•
•
•
•
In
In
In
In
developing the information architecture
developing the new design
developing content for the new site
further research
• Focus groups
• Usability testing