The Graduate School at UMBC has been both a professional home and academic foundation for me. The organization desperately needed an overhaul of their website, citing issues with navigation, content confusion, out-dated or simply wrong information, and aesthetic branding to match (any) recruiting campaigns.
The project required a complete review of current content for migration eligibility, requirements analysis regarding both technical and political stakeholders, and a complete reorganization of content in a way that makes sense for not only students, but also staff and faculty. Strategies for design language and information architecture techniques helped keep this in-house project on schedule and within scope.
Given the resource limitations and vested interest in producing a quality product, I needed to step into the role of project manager, while at the same time fulfilling the designer and site manager roles. By launch, the product was better for the initiative. I learned first hand how difficult it is to act as a consultant for the best product, while also finding the professional grace to champion difficult details with my immediate and not-so-immediate bosses. Again, the end product was better for the trouble.
The site was built on the Sites platform, a WordPress product endorsed and used by the university. Working within Sites’s limitations was a challenge, but good design goes beyond in-house developed features. After the content analysis, I formed and organized participant groups of students, staff, and faculty for card sorting sessions. A content review team was established for the purpose of editing and approving each page of content to hit the target tone and branding of the site while providing the core information.
This site is now updated on an annual basis by approved content managers to keep information updated, and the target design language fresh. I’m still proud of this site, and will carry the lessons learned with me into the next level of my career.
Design by Dan 
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