Audience research sub-group
Meeting November 12
The Audience Research Sub-Group met on November 12. Our discussion was guided by a blog posting that asked “What makes a good university homepage?”
- Clear pathways to further information
- An uncluttered interface that serves only the users, not the wishes of every group on campus with a website that wants a link.
- Clear and consistent branding
- Pleasing graphic design that appeals to the largest target audience group of the page without alienating other groups completely
How to design a homepage:
- Identify your audiences and place them in a hierarchy of importance
- Develop a clear idea as to why these audiences are coming to the site and prioritise their tasks
- Reflect the strategic goals of the university while illustrating an image of the University
- Wrap it all in a graphic design which appeals to your largest user base, while not alienating other small user groups
We began the exercise with the first task: Identifying our audiences and placing them into a hierarchy:
1. Future/Prospective students
- grades 9-12 students domestic
- teachers and guidance counsellors
- parents
- transfers from other universities
- prospective grad students
- mature students
- continuing education/ distance education
- grade-school students
2. Current students
- undergraduate
- graduate
- co-op students on co op
- continuing education/ distance education
3. International outreach
- students – recruitment
- activities
- research
- faculty – recruitment
4. Alumni and other former students
- parents
- co-op employers
- donors (potential and actual)
5. Faculty
- Professors + lecturers
- Instructors
- Teaching Assistants (TAs)
- Visiting scholars
- Post docs
6. Staff and administration
7. Job seekers (both faculty and staff)
8. Job providers/employers for students and graduates
9. Faculty, staff and administrators from other universities
10. Parents of current students
11. University of Waterloo retirees
12. Community members
- Local government
- Local businesses and community groups
- Regional residents interested in campus activities, including families bringing children for camps
13. Partners
- Businesses (beyond local)
- Granting organizations
- Consortium members
14. Media
- local
- national
- international
15. Donors (beyond alumni)
- Prospective donors
- Current donors
- Past donors
16. Prospective community members (people thinking of moving to the area)
17. Vendors selling to the university
- Preferred vendors
- Travel companies
- Affinity partners
18. Web developers from other universities looking for inspiration for their own home page redesign
19. Miscellany visitors
The list confirms that our audience is diverse, different depending on the department/faculty and that having an articulated strategy for both the University and departmental/faculty web presences are key to being able to move forward to prioritizing the lists. Kelley organized the audiences informed by the 6th Decade Plan as the latest strategy document for the University. However, the “pillars” of University of Waterloo's 6th Decade Plan are similar to what many other universities are pursuing: growth in grad, research and international; making sure not to neglect undergraduate studies in the process. So she also tried to identify what makes Waterloo different and stand out from others. Kelley’s documents will be further discussed at our next meeting in light of the original goals of the subgroup.