Transforming tufts.edu

In 2008, University Relations at Tufts, in partnership with schools and departments across the university, began a comprehensive project to overhaul the homepage and upper-level pages of the Tufts website. Our goal was to create for users a new online experience that is as dynamic, engaging and innovative as the actual Tufts experience.

On Aug. 21, 2009, we debuted a new homepage and upper-level for Tufts.edu. Check out some of the feedback we have received from members of the Tufts community:

The new Tufts.edu homepage is very exciting! Finally an internet home that is reflective of a superb university.
-- Benjamin Sacks, A'10

The new design has the WOW factor that a university of Tufts caliber should have.
-- Carl Cervini, parent of Carlo Cervini A'12

As an alumni, I can only say the new website looks great! Very polished, web 2.0 and chic!
-- Kiyan Foroughi, A'04

Here are some of the improvements we have made to the Tufts online experience:

Homepage

• The new homepage, sporting a visually engaging design, retains a dominant feature story while allowing for greater flexibility with multiple stories, links and events, bringing the vibrancy of the Tufts community to the web.
• Our status update, in the vein of social networks like Facebook, provides an at-a-glance look at what's happening at Tufts at the moment.
• The "Tagged" section gives a keyword-level overview of other interesting initiatives, websites or ideas that may interest users.
• We also bring popular links to services like Webmail, SIS and Blackboard to the top of the homepage and every upper-level page, in direct response to their popularity in our search engine.

Navigation

• Many of the improvements on the new website came directly from input collected during interviews and usability testing with prospective students, current undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the community.
• Our site navigation and new site architecture are perhaps the greatest change that visitors to Tufts.edu will notice, as we have organized content from the user perspective—not based on organizational structure—with multiple entry points to account for different themes and audiences.
• We believe you’ll find the new site to be more intuitive and easily navigable, with new additions such as gateway pages for students, faculty and staff, alumni and neighbors of our three campuses.

Upper-Level Pages

• An exciting new feature of our Visiting, Maps & Directions section is a new campus maps application, powered by Google Maps, that allows users to search by building or office, see what offices are in which building, get directions and find parking or public transit options
• Our new Offices and Services section offers a searchable A-to-Z directory of all offices, services and departments on Tufts' three campuses, presenting an easy way to find the information you're looking for.
• A new searchable majors and minors database allows prospective and current students to easily browse Tufts' undergraduate offerings by field of study or keyword.
• A new section called "Get to Know Tufts" provides an overview of the people, vision and ideas that comprise Tufts, as well as a look at the university's history and a glimpse at what life on campus is like.
• There are new sections that aggregate useful information about non-degree learning opportunities and information about research funding and grants for faculty.

While this was a lot of work, we're not done. Expect to see new features added and old features improved in the months to come. In the meantime, we'd love to hear your feedback on the new site.

The Process

• Defined project goals
• Established university-wide Tufts.edu Redesign Working Group
• Performed inventory of content on existing site
• Conducted baseline testing for existing site
• Interviewed users, including current and prospective students, faculty, staff and alumni
• Created new sitemap
• Drafted wireframes for new homepage and secondary-level pages
• Conducted usability testing with new wireframes
• Developed and proposed two design solutions
• Selected a design for new site
• Coded the design in HTML and Cascading Style Sheets
• Created content, with input and approval from stakeholders university-wide
• Developed the content management system that dynamically manages several components of content on the site
• Completed infrastructure changes to manage new tufts.edu
• Launched!

tufts.edu through the years (1990s to present)

How far have we come? Check out this blast from the past.