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Personalized Experience Catering to Many Audiences

Cardinal Stritch University

Institutions of higher learning have a bigger challenge than most when it comes to creating a web environment that meets the needs of its wide variety of stakeholders. A university’s public-facing site needs to cater to the unique needs of many audiences, including prospective students, their parents, current students, current faculty and staff and alumni. Within each of these broader groups, each user has distinct needs to address in a way that feels easy and personalized.

Challenge

Cardinal Stritch University came to Ascedia needing a website that provided a personalized, effective experience for each of its stakeholder groups. The new site needed to convey the school’s exceptional culture and values to each user in their own way. Additionally, it needed to be easy for administrators to update and balance the varied needs of the colleges, departments and faculty members. Website management was a challenge previously at Stritch, which resulted in a disparate brand experience across the site and a confusing experience to visitors.

Solution

Strategic Planning

Ascedia worked with Cardinal Stritch to conduct interviews and surveys across a wide variety of stakeholder and user groups, resulting in a defined set of web users with a path towards personalization for each. Persona documentation was created for more than half a dozen main user groups, and ideal user experiences were mapped for each. This ensured that there were clear goals and parameters when it came time to design the site.  

Implementation

Kentico was chosen for its broad capabilities and high level of customization, while knowing it would also provide an intuitive experience for content admins at Stritch, enabling them to easily keep the site up to date. The new site also featured several integrations with other critical university functions, such as an API used to update courses and programs and third-party applicant tracking software.  

Ascedia worked with Cardinal Stritch to conduct interviews and surveys across a wide variety of stakeholder and user groups, resulting in a defined set of web users with a path towards personalization for each. Persona documentation was created for more than half a dozen main user groups, and ideal user experiences were mapped for each. This ensured that there were clear goals and parameters when it came time to design the site.  

Kentico was chosen for its broad capabilities and high level of customization, while knowing it would also provide an intuitive experience for content admins at Stritch, enabling them to easily keep the site up to date. The new site also featured several integrations with other critical university functions, such as an API used to update courses and programs and third-party applicant tracking software.  

Results

While the new Cardinal Stritch website has just recently launched, we’re already counting successes, including:

  • An updated and easy to navigate list of programs and courses that reflect the updated degree structure at the university
  • A streamlined design that helps users easily find the content most relevant to them, all while maintaining brand consistency across all pages on the site
  • An intuitive and easy content management experience for admins, enabling project owners to make updates on their own and keep the site fresh, from news to events to changes in courses and programs

    • Cardinal Stritch

    Organization:

    Cardinal Stritch

    Industry:

    Groups & Associations

    https://www.stritch.edu/

    Services Rendered:

    Digital Strategy

    Content Strategy

    Experience Design

    Development

    Content Management

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