The enterprise site was an ambitious undertaking with some unique design and user experience obstacles along the way. Fortunately, AllCampus has the people, processes and technology to make an awesome-looking, high-performance online hub that fits seamlessly into a university\u2019s brand. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n
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The Challenge: An Enterprise Site Custom-Built for Higher Education<\/h2>\n
By 2020, AllCampus managed marketing and enrollment services for seven of Pace\u2019s online graduate and undergraduate programs in fields ranging from business to literacy. The digital design team built an online presence for each of these programs, creating custom websites across four different subdomains. But complications emerged when AllCampus committed to manage all of Pace\u2019s online offerings going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we entered into this agreement we felt it wasn\u2019t scalable to continue to launch individual programs on individual subdomains and approached the idea of a dedicated site for all online programs that AllCampus would manage,\u201d said AllCampus Vice President of Creative Design Steven Robinson.<\/p>\n
Making that one-stop portal for all the university\u2019s online degrees and certificates would require addressing several key issues:<\/p>\n
Design Challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n Collaboration and communication were critical from the start as AllCampus set out to create a highly user-friendly site that would welcome and guide prospective students as they researched the next step in their education. The design team met with stakeholders from more than 50 programs to ensure that the final result would meet the needs of everyone from faculty and program directors to Pace’s marketing and communications team. Those discussions informed the portal\u2019s structure, appearance and language.<\/p>\n AllCampus designers assembled a high-fidelity mockup to show how they would incorporate Pace\u2019s style guidelines into the proposed site while previewing its navigation and structure. <\/p>\n \u201cThe mockup was an important component of the process to get buy-in from the different stakeholders from Pace,\u201d said AllCampus Senior Digital Designer Noel Robinos. \u201cIt was also a great way to present design ideas and get pre-development feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n That sneak peek went a long way toward ensuring that the portal would not just meet Pace\u2019s functional needs, but become a compelling resource for prospective students looking for the next step in their education. The team garnered valuable responses to their work that led to revisions like incorporating more images that emphasize Pace\u2019s New York location and adding icons to clearly indicate which programs are available on campus.<\/p>\n Obtaining the university\u2019s go-ahead for the overall design at this early stage forged a productive relationship that would carry on throughout the rest of the development process. AllCampus maintained open lines of communication and stayed flexible in order to achieve a look and feel that would become a prominent expression of Pace\u2019s online identity. <\/p>\n But just making a site that looked great wasn\u2019t good enough. The portal brought together extensive content for many different programs, targeting audiences at various points in their education and careers in a wide range of fields. AllCampus had to make it as easy as possible for prospects to find relevant information, while still indicating the full breadth of Pace\u2019s online program offerings.<\/p>\n The design team and front-end developers at AllCampus teamed up to simplify site navigation by implementing:<\/p>\n\n
\nDesigning a Partnership\u2019s Future<\/h2>\n
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