Sector(s)
Team Members
Project Team
Peter Ross, Senior UI/UX Designer; Audra Berner, Director of Internet Services, Lehigh University
Like most higher education institutions in the current environment, Lehigh relies heavily on its website to engage and recruit prospective new students.
Concerned that it did not have enough significant data about users to drive decisions designed to improve the usability of the existing site, and interested in gaining insight into the navigational elements that prospective undergraduates were most comfortable with or found frustrating, Lehigh University partnered with Promet Source on a usability testing initiative.
Promet’s engagement with Lehigh University was guided by an approach that characterizes much of what the university is known for: questioning assumptions, digging deep, and backing up decisions with research and data.
About the project
Promet developed and executed three distinct website usability studies, which included stakeholders, along with in-depth, one-on-one interviews with prospective undergraduate students.
Key to the success of the research initiative:
- Video and audio recordings of one-on-one virtual observational interviews eliminated potential discrepancies between menus and navigational elements that interviewees would have said they preferred, vs. their actual experience navigating the menus.
- Supplemental usability testing helped to reproduce and validate the findings from preliminary user surveys.
- Research-informed user personas provided context and reinforced empathy for the needs of prospective undergraduates who visit the website.
- A comprehensive report and proposed designs synthesized the usability tests and led to stakeholder agreement concerning the optimal revisions to the navigational elements of the Drupal site.
- Promet provided extensive consultation and insights concerning of Drupal menu enhancements that met the needs of the both the user and the university.
Following the usability tests, Promet prepared a comprehensive report and proposed new and detailed wireframes based on the results of the entire research initiative. The report synthesized the research findings, along with key recommendations to improve the experience of the Drupal site.
Why Drupal was chosen
The existing CMS was on Drupal, and throughout the research and consultation process, there was never a question concerning Drupal as the optimal choice for an inviting user experience that conveyed simplicity amidst massive amount of content and complexity.
Technical Specifications
Drupal version:
