The Web Transformation team are busy preparing for the launch of the staff and student portals next February, a University-wide initiative involving the input of thousands of people from across the campus. We caught up with Web Transformation Project Manager Rich Powell to hear the latest on what we can expect from the new portals.

The new portals launch on 13 February is fast approaching. What changes can we expect?

It will be easier to find information, do your job, and collaborate with others. Everyday tasks will be faster to complete.

You’ll be able to customise links to University applications, news and events that suit you. Search is also being re-built to ensure information is easier to find. The removal of duplicates will also increase search speed.

Our students need mobile access to web information so the portal will be fully accessible on mobile phones and tablets, and a new app for Android and iOS will be launched. We also know students need a consolidated calendar of their assessments, class timetable, and key university dates. This will be delivered in the new portal and mobile app in February.

Visit the website for a sneak peek of the look and feel.

How many people have been involved in building the new portals?

A lot! The Web Transformation team has more than 12 web specialists working closely with IT, Marketing and two external partners – Squiz and Empirical Works. Three students currently work on the project team and a University-wide team of 208 staff are working on the update of the website content.  About 1000 students and nearly 1000 staff have also been consulted on their expectations and web experiences.

When you have a large project like this, how do you set priorities? 

Improving the experience of users has always been the top priority. The most common prioritisation challenge is balancing the user experience with the needs and understanding of the website owners. Our job is to strike the right balance in putting the audience’s needs first.

Updating a website involves many moving parts; what’s been the biggest challenge with this project?

We started with the challenge of working out exactly how many web pages the University has, and who owned them. Quickly we discovered a great variety of different usages, strategies and technologies. Some websites were being used just to store files, which is not best practice. Again, the challenge is prioritising in order to make the site easier for others to use, even if that means it’s harder to maintain or govern.

What’s the latest in best practice for university websites?

University websites are complex; they need to simultaneously cater for campus, research and enrolment requirements, as well as internal needs, with a broad and diverse set of audiences. 

Benchmarking across eight industry sectors by Global Reviews shows that the university sector lags behind other industries in user satisfaction. I think this is because the activities conducted at universities are advanced and specialised, which creates big challenges around structure and communication of information. 

We’ve set out to create a presence that leapfrogs other universities by adopting best practice from other industries. Other universities can, of course, also do this, such moves require major culture shifts towards user-centred thinking.

What’s next after the portals are delivered? 

Work doesn’t end with the 13 February launch, there’s an ongoing need to continue to keep our online presence current, and up-to-date with best practice. 

Post launch, Marketing will be the business owner of the portals and the mobile app, with support provided by IT. Ongoing development and maintenance of new portals will also be guided by the Web Steering Committee and Web Taskforce.

Got any questions on the upcoming portals? Contact the Web Project team. If you are interested in learning more about future trends in digital and how universities can stay relevant in the digital age, attend a presentation conducted by Grace Woodrow Kraus, Head of Content at Squiz  December 13 2pm – 3pm at E7B 100 Theatrette.