This wraps up the web discussion blog. We'll leave it up for a while to give people a chance to submit more feedback. Please continue to add comments to any of the posts. If you're feeling old school, you can send your feedback to us over email, at efans@umn.edu.
This last post serves as an open thread for anything else you've been wanting to tell us about the redesign of the Extension website.
Thanks for all your thoughtful comments!
It’s important that our website communicates our personality. There’s a reason the IRS website (government. forms. taxes.) doesn’t look like the Disney website (imagination! entertainment! magic!). So what is our personality? What are three words or phrases that sum us up?
Permission to brag! We want our website to highlight the things we do particularly well. What are we known for? What unique value do we bring to the state? Feel free to brag about individual, program or broader successes. What are you proud of, and how could the Extension site help you broadcast your successes?
Let's take our audience descriptions a step further. Come up with a short persona that exemplifies your audience. A persona is a fictional person who represents a major user group for your site. Fill in what you can of the following fields:
How does the web help you connect with your target audience to offer education and trainings? How could it better help you deliver online education in the future?
Think about what bugs you when you are using the web. What makes you give up on a site? What plea do you have for web professionals everywhere? Share your pain. To kick off the comments, I’ll share a few of my peeves.
Time to dream. For this exercise, there are no restrictions, no rules, no budgets, and no timelines. What is your fantasy Extension site? Describe it in all its glory.
What do you see as the biggest obstacles to overcome on our way to a successful new Extension site?
Complete this sentence: "The new Extension website will be successful if _________."
Web guru Gerry McGovern compares users coming to your site to passengers getting off a plane in an airport. When passengers deplane, their eyes scan for their top destinations, or tasks: Trains, Tickets, Toilets (Gerry is Irish). They are expecting big signs with clear directions.
Think about your audience again. What are the top one to three tasks people come to your area of the site to complete? In other words, what are YOUR "Trains, Tickets, Toilets?"
Do you think people can complete these tasks easily?
Who are our role models? Whose website makes you say, "I wish our website was more like this?" What impresses you about the website? What compels you to hit that Bookmark button?
Give us the link, and tell us what you like about it. Share your favorites in the comments.
To get the conversation started, I'll share the NASA site. Some things I like about it:
Describe the audience for your website/web pages. Who goes to your website? What are they hoping to accomplish in their visit? How do they know to visit your website?
As Extension begins their website redesign process, we’d like to gather the EFANS perspective on what the Extension website should be. For programs, the new site will go beyond program pages to incorporate entire program websites - so that all your program information will be in one place.
To gather this feedback, we’ll be posting questions for you on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays that will address different aspects of our websites and their users. Please comment often (on current and past posts) and encourage your EFANS colleagues to do the same. This is your chance to have your say in the new Extension website!
Today’s discussion topic: Let’s start out with the big picture. What things do you think should be considered as the Extension website is redesigned? Think about content, design, navigation, user experience, interactivity, etc. What do you like about the current site? What is on your wish list for the next iteration?
"The redesigned Extension website will provide the public with a single source for current Extension information. Users should not need to understand University or Extension structure in order to find content they want. It will be consistent in look, feel and functionality and ensure compliance with University and Extension branding, navigation and accessibility requirements. The level of effort required to put content online will be reduced through integration, automation, templates, design standards and decentralized maintenance, allowing content owners to focus on education instead of technology, and benefit from higher visibility on the Extension site."