Project Overview

The University of Newcastle needed a website that would wow prospective students whilst also building pride in current students, staff and alumni. With a huge amount of content - some 40,000 pages, UON was looking to consolidate their online presence and make the most of each page. Squiz stepped in to build a UX-driven site that ticked all UON’s boxes and provided a streamlined, modern experience.

Project Commissioner

University of Newcastle

Project Creator

Squiz

Project Brief

UON’s brief was to create a website that catered to all users of the site across multiple screens. Students and staff alike were beginning to rely on their mobile platforms to find information about courses and events, so it was crucial that the new website not only identified these users through persona-based research but satisfied their needs through agile, responsive design.

Project Need

As a large university with thousands of on campus students and a growing distance education offering, UON was looking for a solution that would cater to all the audiences that were visiting their site.

We brought in our world-class UX team to work closely with the university through workshops and research. Rather than pushing the information out at the students and staff, we turned the tables and thought about how they search for content, what they’re looking for and how we could provide it as intuitively as possible.

Design Challenge

Responsibility for the university’s old website had been divided up by departments, so there were huge chunks of the website that used different branding, colours and typography. It would be an understatement to say that the marketing team had little control. Keeping the brand true to itself was a massive challenge because we essentially needed to rein

Because of the traditional arrangement with the departments, we had to create a new workflow process that kept all stakeholders in the loop as well as moving the project forward to meet with tight deadlines. By working together, we managed to ensure that all stakeholders were happy with the end result.

Sustainability

Squiz has a forward-thinking approach to sustainability. All of our offices have strict green policies that enforce the use of energy saving LED lighting and recycled paper. We also encourage staff to recycle as much as possible by limiting the availability of regular garbage bins and having dedicated recycling bins throughout the office.