Website Development Project

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Information Services

Knowledge Strategy Committee

17 October 2007

Website Development Project - Update

Brief description of the paper

This paper provides an update on the Website Development project Action requested

For information

Resource implications

Does the paper have resource implications? No Risk Assessment

Does the paper include a risk analysis? No

Equality and Diversity

Does the paper have equality and diversity implications? No

Originator of the paper

Dawn Ellis

Website Development Project

Freedom of information

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Information Services

Knowledge Strategy Committee

Website Development Project - Update

The Website Development Project continues to prepare for the launch of Phase 1.

The technical development was hindered during the summer due to long term illness

and absence of key team members.

Phases 2 and 3 have been formally launched with Rollout Coordinators on board

since mid-August. Phases 2 and 3 planning will begin in earnest from October this

year with content audit updates, technical requirement gathering and information

architecture modelling. It is anticipated that this process will take several months and

a complete understanding of requirements will be available early in the New Year to

prepare budgets for 2008-09.

For the information of the KSC, I attach some of the papers submitted for information

and approval at recent Project Board meetings.

No action or decision required at this time from the Knowledge Strategy Committee.

Further information and updates can be found at the Project website on

http://www.ed.ac.uk/websiteproject.

List of Papers submitted for Information

1

Structure and scope of Phase 1

2

Rollout coordinators feedback Phases 2 and 3

3

Impact of EUCLID on the Website Development Project

4

Applications Development Update

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Website Development Project

Structure and scope of Phase 1

A modular approach to the build

The associated diagram indicates the scope, structure and amount of content to be delivered within Phase 1 of the Website Development Project.

The first section to be built will be “The City” (highlighted in the lower left hand side of the attached diagram) which will be published as a ‘proof of concept’. Performance indicators will be set and agreed with the Website Development Project Board in order to confirm the capabilities of the new publishing system before launching with our Phase 1 partners. The build of the remaining sections within Phase1 will then begin.

The new website content management system framework is being tailored to include data feeds from other databases such as those to be supplied by EUCLID (external data feeds shown as stars on attached diagram). To ensure as smooth a user experience as possible and to avoid any potentially confusing website journeys, it is proposed that the majority of the content within Phase 1 will be built prior to being published.

An animated version of the diagram will be regularly published on the Project website to communicate the progress of the build. As each module is completed the diagram will be updated.

It is hoped that building of the proof of concept and associated decisions can be completed by the end of the calendar year. Phase 1 partners are being primed for site population to begin in January 2008.

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Rollout coordinators feedback

The Rollout Coordinators joined the Website Development team in August 2007. They have spent the first month in their role familiarising themselves with the Project and its progress to date. They have each had exposure to the Polopoly development tool as it stands and most have attended training on Writing for the Web.

There follows a collation of updates from each of the Rollout Coordinators.

HSS, Anand Sengodan and Euan Cameron

I have met web representatives in ACE (Music), School of History, Classics & Archaeology, School of Social & Political Studies, Health in Social Science (Nursing), LLC (English Literature), Moray House School of Education and Management School & Economics. I am also working with Euan Cameron on updating web pages to conform with RAE submissions and during these updates/changes we are encouraging and ensuring that pages also conform to UoE Polopoly guidelines.

I am also pacing my prioritisation of new work requests on the basis of the RAE submissions and then on the web project. Our 4 priority Schools for transfer are MSE, Education, Divinity and SPS. LLC may be included, depending on progress with developing their constituent sites.

[The School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures (in particular Delc - German and Italian, and English Literature) is receiving significant development help. This will be followed by Moray House School of Education, where very considerable redevelopment and restructuring is needed before the transfer to Polopoly can be made. Divinity is already in Polopoly 7 and one of our best sites, and is planning the move to Polopoly v.8. Management School & Economics are one of our Schools who are very keen to convert to the new CMS; they have just appointed a web developer to assist with this, and with a re-branding of the School to be reflected, inter alia, in their website. In terms of challenges I see that one of the challenges is not knowing exactly when and what the Polopoly deliverables/deadlines are; we and our schools are unable to plan the work. Another challenge I foresee is

convincing our Schools that uniformity in web pages is the best option for the UoE wide web project. I am however confident that we can achieve this and win them into the CMS project.

CSE, Roger Burroughes

Initial approaches have been made to all Schools within the College of Science & Engineering (albeit only recently in some cases).There has already been some feedback from Informatics, Physics, and GeoSciences. The general tone is positive, but there is some concern over flexibility of design and incorporation of technical methods within the new framework. Also of concern is the amount of initial effort required to move content from existing web pages to the new mechanism - although it is appreciated that there will be a long term benefits.

I am not yet aware of any concerns that are unlikely to be shared by other Colleges and Support Groups - the concerns about layout, porting effort, flexibility, control, and allocation of content ownership would seem to be common to all. There is one possible concern that MAY be more relevant to CSE than other colleges however, and that is the amount of dynamically-generated data and corresponding customised generation methods – some anxieties have been expressed as to whether the new system will be able to deal with such data conduits. Provided we can demonstrate that dynamically-generated data can be seamlessly integrated into the new system, and (additionally) that no functionality or visibility is lost, we may find that most Schools will welcome the re-organisation.

CMVM, Allan Woods and Judy Bird

In College of MVM, we have highlighted all the various websites and their content owners and publishers. At last count we have 72 separate websites divided between the four schools, most with different owners and publishers. We are receiving help from our key web representatives, David Perry (School of

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Molecular Medicine) and Mark Hay (School of Biomedical Sciences) and together we are finding commonality and identifying problems.

We have gone from thinking that just the top level college and school pages would be integrated into the new content management system and use the new templates, to having an enthusiastic response from schools saying they would like to push it all the way down to all the sites, and then back to a more reasonable thought that most research centres will want to stay doing their own thing with their own styles/logos.

It's all still up for discussion in our areas but our current thinking is to give the lower level sites (mostly research centres) the option to join us or opt out. We are meeting with the Vet School in October. Work has been slow there due to the absence of a School Administrator but they have done preparatory work (pruning the information, etc) and are keen to move over to the new system when they can.

Student and Academic Services Group (SASG), Steve Norman

I am identifying the appropriate people responsible for web development in the Student and Academic Services Group (SASG). This is ongoing and has been initially via email. I plan to meet Kristy Gillies from the International Office who is part of my group but has been involved in Phase One. I am holding off on any further detailed contact with the SASG members until things are clearer on common site structure/navigation issues and when there is a clearer idea about a timetable for implementation. I have already had one person asking when they can start using Polopoly and redesign their website. I am keen to do a fine balancing act so that I don’t raise hopes too soon on the one hand and worry people unnecessarily on the other.

Challenges. Agreeing a common web structure for the Support Group (i.e. what is compulsory etc) is a challenge. Being able to give my group a sort of realistic timetable (of when they could begin work on their website) to influence their advance planning is something that is preventing me from further contact as that is the question they will be asking.

Information Services (IS), John Maccoll and Steve Scott

Following recent realignment processes within Information Services, we have drawn together a more closely integrated IS website. This comprises a number of very extensive and significant sites, including Library and (the former) Computing Services, as well as eLearning, Data Library and the Applications Division (MIS). Common navigation and branding has been established throughout.

Subsequently, we have identified two key web representatives to help take this forward into the Web CMS and some limited initial progress has been made in identifying architectural commonalities with cognate support groups. It seems fair to say that at this stage we share many concerns articulated by other Support Groups and Colleges, particularly given the scale of the proposed exercise within IS; also in relation to the distinct nature of sites like the Library and IT services, compared with relatively generic academic unit sites. Boundaries may need to be drawn and limits defined - e.g. between information about the support group, its services, support mechanisms etc., and access to specific learning resources, dataservices etc. via web-based catalogues and information gateways. Questions also arise about relationships with portals, VLEs, intranets and web 2.0 developments like Wikis.

Wider consultation will doubtless need to be considered next, initially perhaps within the IS Website Group and, as appropriate, at IS Executive level."

Corporate Services Group (CSG), Rose Dewar

On behalf of Rose Dewar (from Charles Hill)

Pleased to report that Rose has commenced her 2 year secondment with Corporate Services Group as Web Programme Manager and Rollout Co-ordinator for CSG. Her work will encompass all areas of CSG

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and will be in harmony with the UoE Website project. A Steering Group has already been established and is due to meet for the first time 3rd Oct.

Several KWRs have already been identified and we hope to have a complete list by 3rd Oct. Initial response to the UoE website screen mock-ups and supporting justification has been most positive. At our first UoE website meeting last week, Phase 2, both Rose and I were pleased to see how future plans and involvement/contributions were thought through. There was some discussion regarding the importance of the audience egg identifying the "what do you want to do" scenario and how that determines your functionality. Do you filter the audience first egg Are you a student, staff, visitor versus "I want to fill in a form" then identify who it is? I do not see our short term progress being subject to any technology slippage/delays as we have plenty of work to progress the content editors and future content plans....many of our sites are organisational in structure and so not the most customer friendly!

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Impact of EUCLID on WDP

Integration of EUCLID systems and Polopoly, particularly in relation to the online application and enquiry systems, is a key area of development for both projects.

Where we are

The Website Development Project team has been working closely with EUCLID over the summer, learning about the new processes being created to maintain and update the University’s prospectus and DRPS information. We have needed to do this to be able to anticipate the impact on current publishing processes and resources.

Where we are going

The attached models (A-D) demonstrate how programme and course information is gathered, collated and published online to deliver prospectuses (UG, PG and Visiting Student). Ownership and management of information will change with the introduction of EUCLID. Chart A highlights the work completed so far to ensure a consistent user experience.

A A website journey by a prospective PG student

B The current UG/PG process for 2008 entry course information.

C The interim UG/PG process (current/EUCLID) to prepare for 2009 entry

D The future UG/PG process through EUCLID to prepare for 2010 entry

E The current and future visiting student processes

Impact

The requirement for integration with the EUCLID system was not included in the initial scope of either project. The extent of the integration required has only become known as the EUCLID project has progressed. As a result it was impossible to accommodate the requirements for this work within the original project plans.

The Project has given several weeks work to EUCLID from a communications and technical perspective. This has been required to help understand the changes to processes being proposed were thought through and their impact communicated in a timely manner.

Our already stretched Polopoly development resource has been diverted from planned areas of activity, to work on the integration with EUCLID. This has obviously had a negative impact on other areas of development.

It is important to note that

• The new processes have already impacted on the Communications and Marketing department as well as the greater University community. Time for communications, development and training had not been anticipated.

• The proposed changes to the current enquiry process are substantial. Staff throughout the University need to be prepared for this new approach to ‘customer management’. The WDP is not reassured that CAM and the University are ready for such a shift.

• The proposed solution for exporting information from EUCLID to the Polopoly CMS will impact on the quality and scope of searching the programme and course information on the website. This is a reduction in

functionality.

• With the launch of the EUCLID system, it is likely that more work will be required around usability and consistency of user experience.

Progress

• We are still working very closely with EUCLID, extracting prospectus information from bespoke databases and finding satisfactory solutions to the delivery of EUCLID data through Polopoly.

Positive user experience

Our goal is to work with EUCLID to overcome these issues, making sure that our world class website and the online application system give prospective students a positive user experience. We believe there is still much work to be done.

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An Example Website Journey

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Undergraduate/Postgraduate prospectus development

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Model C - Preparation for 2009 entry – part current process/part

EUCLID process

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Visiting student prospectus development

Model E

Impact of EUCLID on WDP

The integration of EUCLID systems and Polopoly, particularly in relation to the online application and enquiry systems, is a key area of development for both projects.

Where we are

The Website Development Project team has been working closely with EUCLID over the summer, learning about the new processes being created to maintain and update the University’s prospectus and DRPS

information. We have needed to do this to be able to anticipate the impact on current publishing processes and resources.

Where we are going

The attached models (A-D) demonstrate how programme and course information is gathered, collated and published online to deliver prospectuses (UG, PG and Visiting Student). Ownership and management of information will change with the introduction of EUCLID. Chart A highlights the work completed so far to ensure a consistent user experience.

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Website Development Project

Applications development update

The University Contacts Directory (UCD) and the Group Membership System (GMS) have undergone user reviews and minor developments over the summer, with both due to be available for initial use during autumn 2007.

The success of the University Contacts Directory, in particular, relies upon changes in administrative practices across the University. As such, significant communications and training activity will be required during its rollout.

University Contacts Directory update

The UCD has undergone a series of user testing and development cycles over the course of summer 2007. The interface and processes have been refined, and worked well when tested with a small sample of representative end users.

Communications relating to the UCD project began in May, with channels established with administrators (a bespoke emailing list of approximately 150) and their managers (via the Project’s senior management newsletters).

The next steps for the UCD project will be to:

- re-engage with the administrative community and update on progress

- identify and address any gaps in UCD administrative representation across the University

- refine training and support materials to suit large-scale presentations and self-directed learning

- run a series of road shows across all campuses to engage with administrators and ensure uptake of the system

- establish an ongoing support mechanism for the system and its users

It is currently anticipated that administrators will be maintaining the live system by the end of the year, in preparation for integration with the University website’s staff search facility.

Group Membership System update

The GMS underwent some initial appraisal by end users during spring 2007, which resulted in further

development work. The usability of the reworked system has not been formally tested due to time and resource constraints.

Following consultation between the Project Team, the MyEd team and the application developer, minor layout and style amendments have been implemented to improve the presentation of the interface.

It has been agreed that the Project will move forward with a ‘beta’ version of the GMS for the initial rollout period.

The system will have a small user group during Phase 1. This will allow more time for piloting training materials, establishing a rollout process and ironing out any usability issues which could arise. A development review will be scheduled to take place after the launch of Phase 1.

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Website Development Project

Homepage Implementation

This paper introduces the University’s new Homepage and explains the process behind its development, and the principles that drive the design.

The focus here is on the elements that make up the page and the relative visual weighting that they receive. This presents a proposal for the layout, structure and main areas of content for the page. Details, such as the exact link text to be used, and the number and destination of the deep content links may be subject to refinement as further user testing is completed and increasing feedback is gained once the site has been launched.

The photography used in the page mock-ups are for demonstration purposes only, and should not be considered to represent the final imagery that will be used. The requirement for photography to support the design is covered in a separate paper.

Contents 1. The design 2. Process 3. Principles 4. Branding 5. Global elements 6. Main feature 7. Key themes 8. Supporting themes 9. News & events 10. Deep content links 11. External affiliations

Appendix A - Annotated homepage mock-up Appendix B – External affiliations

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1. The design

The design of the front page of the site presents a particular challenge. As the initial point of reference for any potential user of the University’s website, it must meet the needs and expectations of a large and diverse audience, within a clear and usable page structure.

Some key points from the design specification:

• The front page should have a distinct page style that will not be used elsewhere but will exhibit key design elements that will cascade throughout the site.

• The design should focus the user’s attention on key areas of content.

• The homepage design should incorporate strong, vibrant images.

The design itself is the product of work conducted with our external design agency – Dog Digital. A mock-up of this design, with example content is presented below:

Mock-up of the design for the new University Websites Homepage. (Note: text and photography are for example purposes only)

A larger annotated graphic showing the key elements of the design, relating to the points addressed in this paper is included in appendix A.

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2. Process for the development of the homepage

The following steps outline the main stages in the development of the new University Homepage:

Process

Developed by Project Team with contributions from Advisory Board Proposed by Project Team in conjunction with Advisory Board Approval by Project Board

Guiding Principles

Detailed Specification

Concept Development

Developed by Design Consultants

Assessment

Meets specification – Project Team

Meets audience expectations – User Testing Meets business need – Advisory Board

Approval

Project Board approve design

3. Principles

The following principles were approved as a guide for the development of the design of the University homepage:

• Designed from the user’s perspective – with particular concern paid to external audiences, especially new or infrequent visitors to the site and those unused to the languages and structures of Higher Education.

• Promotes the high level themes of the site, which will also be echoed in the site structure.

• Satisfies our corporate values, the expectations of our target audiences and the “look and feel” requirements expressed within our design specification.

• Satisfies the technical requirements as detailed in the design specification.

• Sets the expectations for the remainder of the site in terms of the use of branding elements, graphics, colours, navigation and positioning.

• Provides regularly updated content in the form of news and events information.

• Offers flexibility to provide specific highlighted content according to current business need.

• Incorporates the University Crest and title.

• Allows for the subtle inclusion of external logos (e.g. Universitas 21, Russell Group) without providing undue prominence to these items.

• Affords the ability to offer an internal or external view of the page. This will be solely for the convenience of the viewer, secure access restrictions will be provided by other means.

4. Branding

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• University Title

5. Global elements

Common elements which are to appear on all pages of the site will be introduced immediately on the front page of the site. This will include:

a) Navigation Bar

Global navigation to appear on all pages, consisting of the links to the following areas: Studying, Research, Alumni, Business, News, About, Intranet, Schools & Departments. The exact text to be used for these links is being determined by ongoing user testing.

b) Search & Contacts

In common with all other pages, the homepage will feature search and contact facilities. c) Footer

Global footer to appear on all pages with the following links – Freedom of Information, Copyright, Accessibility and Legal/Privacy Disclaimer.

6. Main feature

A main feature area is provided. This element will receive a high visual weighting, presenting a key opportunity to engage the audience, promote specific items of interest and present a dynamic, changing face for the site.

7. Key themes

The highestvisual weighting on the page, beyond the main featured item, is given to thethree key themes.

Studying, Research and Business

These three themes represent the University’s key areas of business, and core strategic goals, as identified in the University’s Strategic Plan:

Our core strategic goals are excellence in education, excellence in research, and excellence in knowledge transfer and commercialisation. These three goals comprise our key business areas. - University’s Strategic Plan 2004-08

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8. Supporting themes

Supporting themes receive relatively less visual weighting than the key themes. The supporting themes are:

Alumni/Donors

“Alumni” and “Potential Donors” are the two Primary External Audiences, as identified within the Business Case for the project, which are not covered by our three primary themes.

The University is currently engaged in a £350 million fundraising campaign to help finance research projects, estate development, and scholarships. In addition, supporting the development of alumni relationships and networks is identified in the University’s strategic plan as a key strategy, particularly in relation to the advancement of internationalisation. With the importance given to alumni relations, and the increasing role of charitable donations in the University’s funding model, reaching these audiences is a significant priority to help support all areas of the Universities activities. This theme will lead to information for alumni and donors including: services for alumni, the Alumni Portal, The Edinburgh Campaign and The General Council.

Explore

The Explore theme presents an invitation for all audiences to discover engaging and informative content designed to support all areas of the University’s activities.

It will deliver content which does not naturally reside in any of the other themes, but which does represents cross-cutting sub-themes and supports the University’s overall marketing and communication aims. It will include content that will benefit from being grouped together to allow users to explore related information, and content that may not otherwise be easy to discover. This will include information about: the history of the University, its buildings and facilities, prominent staff and alumni, museums and galleries, videos of high profile lectures and events and the University’s policies and governance.

Much of the information architecture of the site is based around specific user orientated tasks, this theme will also afford the opportunity for the University to present the user with content which promotes its reputation, heritage and aspirations, furthering its brand values and supporting all other themes.

9. News & events

New and events support all of the key themes of the website. Current news and events will feature prominently on the front page. Two or three main news items with images, headlines and abstracts will be featured, followed by three or four additional news headlines.

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10. Deep content links

Links are provided to key areas of content which may not be easily located from the themes or the global navigation. These links receive less visual weighting than key themes, supporting themes, the main feature or news content.

User Testing is being conducted around the use of the following “Deep Content Links”:

• Current Students • Staff • MyEd • Job Opportunities • City of Edinburgh • Library • Maps • Semester dates • Support Services • Academic Units • Associated Institutions

11. External

affiliations

The homepage will feature the logos of several key University affiliation and awards (e.g. Universitas21, Russell Group).

A policy for the inclusion of these logos will govern this area of content. An initial draft of this policy, along with a proposal for the specific logos to be included, is attached as appendix B.

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Appendix A – Annotated homepage mock-up

The annotation relates to the numbered section in the attached paper. Text and photography are for example purposes only.

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External affiliations

The homepage will feature the logos of several key University affiliation and awards (e.g. Universitas21, Russell Group).

This paper sets out the policy for the inclusion of external logos and presents a proposal for the logos which should be published upon launch of the new site.

Criteria for inclusion

• Key external affiliation or awards which represent the University at the corporate level.

• Where the association with the organisation or award will support or enhance the University’s overall reputation.

• Where the affiliation is with an organisation or award whose status is generally understood by at least one key external audience.

• Logos that can be easily recognised by their intended (external) audiences.

Number of logos

The University homepage has been designed to give varying amounts of visual weighting to the various elements that make up the page. The amount of screen real-estate used for these logos should be complimentary to the overall design. It is particularly important to the balance of the page that they do not occupy so much space that they draw attention from other page elements.

As there is a limit to how small these logos can be made without loosing legibility, this places a restriction on the number of logos which we can be displayed. In general the fewer logos used the better balanced, and therefore the more usable and graphically pleasing, the page will be. However, the space available could contain a maximum of 6 logos.

Logos on current homepage

Universitas 21, Russel Group, Queens Anniversary Award and The League of European Research Universities (LERU).

Initial recommendations

After consultation with Melvin Cornish, University Secretary, It is suggested that the 4 logos currently published on the front page of the University site continue to be published on the new front page, without further additions.