In our last post, we introduced the concept of “clout”, which we boiled down to “getting people to believe your brand”. This is easier said than done, particularly in higher ed where messaging is highly decentralized. Universities struggle with finding ways to present an authentic, honest view of the institution while influencing prospective students and [...]
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Jan 11
Jan 11
Your college’s brand is more than a logo
In the past week, the University of Colorado revealed the outcome of their two-year, $780,000 re-branding effort. While what has been reported, tweeted and commented on the most has been the new logo, there is much more to this effort as explained on the CU website and through this video: CU isn’t the only university [...]
22
Dec 10
Dec 10
Our holiday wireframe
Not just another e-card Since you’ve probably had your fill of interactive fireplaces, animated snow, dancing babies and singing fish this season, we thought we would present you with a holiday wireframe instead! Season’s greetings! Wow, what an incredible year this has been thanks to all of you! We would particularly like to thank our [...]
11
Aug 10
Aug 10
Trickle-down website redesign doesn’t work
By now you have probably seen the xkcd cartoon mocking university websites. It highlights the differences between what users want and what the leaders of these organizations provide them. Inside Higher Ed published an article about the cartoon last week that ruffled lots of feathers and caught the attention of some of the very administrators [...]
21
May 10
May 10
Usability doesn’t matter if your content isn’t useful
Usability testing is very task focused. You tell the user to find something. The user completes the task. You then move on to the next task, looking for errors and difficulties along the way. What if the interface is great, but the content isn’t very helpful? In some cases (e.g. transactional scenarios), this task-focused testing [...]
11
May 10
May 10
iTunes, mixtapes and content management
I recently came across Clinton Forry’s inaugural post at the Brain Traffic blog, Content strategy, or, Let’s make a mix tape. I LOVED it (and wish I had thought of it myself. ) You should go read it. Here’s the gist… Clinton had been digging through his box of cassette tapes (odd behavior for a [...]
21
Apr 10
Apr 10
When leadership fails, your website fails.
It’s been a little while since our last post, the Incidental Publisher. We were humbled by the great response. In fact, I was starting to work on a follow-up post when life took a detour. A few weeks ago, I lost my sister to a sudden, tragic death. The circumstances of her passing resulted in [...]
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Feb 10
Feb 10
The Incidental Publisher
A web CMS: a system that manages web content. It sounded like a dream come true. But what they failed to mention is that the system simply facilitates the management of the content, not its creation. You solved a technical problem and created a human one– real people with little or no experience are now [...]
12
Feb 10
Feb 10
Your website needs a [pre]design
Have you ever visited a redesigned website that looks nice, but is no more usable than before (or worse)? Did your organization implement a new content management system only to find your content never got any better? Were you disappointed when the new portal failed to revolutionize the way you work? What are the first [...]
