Since 1923 • For a greater Loyola

The Maroon

Since 1923 • For a greater Loyola

The Maroon

Since 1923 • For a greater Loyola

The Maroon

University website gets an update

The Office of Marketing & Communications updated the Loyola home page with a simpler navigation system and larger search bar with an auto-complete function.

In the spring, the web communications team conducted its first comprehensive study of the Loyola website using prospective students, current students, faculty, staff and alumni to test how users find information and use the website, said Crystal Forte, the web content editor for the Marketing and Communications Department.

“This test focused on changes to the navigation and design of the Loyola homepage and interior web pages as they related to audience-specific tasks,” she said. “We used laptops outfitted with monitoring software so online activity, voice and facial expressions were recorded.”

The web communications team found the search bar to be the most popular way to navigate the site and upgraded it to better suit users, Forte said.

“The (previous) search box was conveniently and intuitively placed; no one in the study had trouble finding it,” she said. “For some participants, the search bar was the only thing they used for all tasks. As a result, improvements were made to the search box to make it larger with an auto-complete function.”

The team also updated the top navigation labels, drop-down menus and college links after finding that the navigation system was unorganized, the labels confusing, and the drop-down menus cluttered, Forte said.

The unorganized navigation system and the unclear labels caused people to avoid links on the website altogether, Forte said.

The drop-down menus made the website clunky and difficult for visitors. Now the drop-down menu items are compiled in the navigation system and there are larger links to Loyola’s colleges, she added.

“The home page is more appealing and I do like when you click the gold navigation, it brings down all the categories and website links,” Genesia Emery, music industry sophomore said. “The layout is neater and savvy.”

The web communications team also included audience specific links in the top navigation system, Forte said.

The website’s new design was unveiled Aug. 2.

Kamaria Monmouth can be reached at [email protected]

 

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