STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY WEBSITE RESEARCH PRESENTATION Context - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY

WEBSITE RESEARCH PRESENTATION

Context

Overriding Objective of the Research

The outcomes of the research should facilitate the design and development of a user-friendly website that optimises strategic communications impact

OBJECTIVES

To identify:

• the main visitors
• internal and external

users, when used and frequency of use

WHO? WHY?

The reason for using the site

WHAT?

The information needs:

• Currently available and

accessible?

• Improvements?
• What else to include?

HOW?

Assessing the functionality:

• User-friendly obtaining information and

communicating?

• What are the issues, problems and barriers?
• Improvements?

LANGUAGE?

Preference

CHALLENGES?

Faced by web contributors in the various environments

New ew proposed ed site e structure e for the e differ eren ent visitors

Research Methodology

OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH APPROACH

KICK-OFF WORKSHOP ONLINE ANALYTICS QUALITATIVE FOCUS GROUPS QUANTITATIVE SURVEYS QUALITATIVE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS

• A descriptive study of the functionality and trends of defined stakeholders
• Research goal and objectives jointly determined with the internal SU team
• Both quantitative and qualitative elements
• Institutional permission and ethical clearance from the SU Research Ethics

Committee: Humanities

• 5 phases:

PURPOSE:

• To flesh out objectives
• To ensure internal core team aligned

CONTENT:

• Onboarding in terms of SU strategy
• Review of inspiring websites
• SWOT analysis for SU website

OUTPUT:

• Team alignment and clarity on next steps
• Detailed set of objectives/information

requirements PURPOSE:

• To understand behaviour of website visitors

CONTENT:

• Google Analytics
• Crazy Egg Heatmaps

OUTPUT:

• Crazy Egg tracked visits (71 pages tracked in total)
• Google Analytics, including tracking site search

terms

KICK-OFF WORKSHOP ONLINE ANALYTICS

PURPOSE:

• Explore stakeholder opinions and perceptions
• Provide input into quantitative questionnaires

SAMPLE:

• Up to 8 respondents per group
• 3 groups – staff users, staff contributors, current

students (internal stakeholders) OUTPUT:

• Key qualitative themes and context
• Input into design of quantitative questionnaire

SAMPLE:

• One-on-one interviews - members of SU

management

• Included members of the Rectorate, Deans and

Senior/Chief Directors

ROLE OF WEBSITE EFFECTIVE WEBSITES CURRENT SU WEBSITE IMPACT ON SU BRAND ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGY CONTRIBUTOR EXPERIENCE VIEW ON GOVERNANCE

QUALITATIVE FOCUS GROUPS QUALITATIVE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS

METHODOLOGICAL NOTES:

• Online structured questionnaires
• Stratified sampling
• Descriptive study of trends
• High level of consistency across

methodologies

• Population sizes - full population
• r a statistically representative

portion

• Desired sample based on:
• Statistically significant

proportion

• Previous experience of low

response rates Stakeholder Group Population (N=) Desired Sample (n=) Achieved Sample (n=) Web contributors 316 30 22 All academic and PASS environment staff 3,450 500 247 Current students 32,000 1,000 483 Prospective students 40,000 500 453 Alumni 30,000 100 126 General website visitors 100 287 TOTAL 1,618

Impact of Covid19 = some desired sample not achieved….BUT consistency of responses = confidence in resulting themes.

PURPOSE:

• To quantify themes identified from qualitative research

QUANTITATIVE SURVEYS

Key Findings

From the key findings and their interpretation, 6 key themes emerged

Purpose & Structuring of Website : Make the hard decision – prioritise external users Website Design : Brutally reduce complexity User-friendly Functionality & Navigation : If it takes more than 3 clicks, you have lost me A Hybrid Model: Balancing Institutional Standardisation & Environmental Flexibility : Freedom to contribute – but with limits Branding & Consistency : 1st impression is everything – and lasting impressions require consistency Future Focused & Systemic Implications : Develop with the future in mind

Theme #1:

Purpose & Structuring of Website : Make the hard decision – prioritise external users

Internally, some hardly ever use the public site, while

• thers tap into it regularly…
• Students using My.Sun for everyday needs
• Tapped into website when applying
• Very infrequent use of public site since then
• Staff using My.Sun for everyday needs
• Occasionally tap in for new or contacts (for example)
• BUT – often save or follow links to key information
• Wide disparity of use – some using regularly and some

not at all

• Similar to staff purposes and methods amongst those

who are moderate users – little entry through home page

My.Sun is a far more frequently used and important tool internally. Most needs supported by My.Sun Public site needs to focus on external

users and their needs

Users are young and mostly South Africa – with 25% international visitors

Country Users South Africa 74.77% Netherlands 3.03% Finland 2.53% United States 2.25% France 1.50% Austria 1.34% Namibia 1.13% Belgium 1.00% United Kingdom 1.00% Germany 0.96%

User profile fits a student profile Prioritise their needs and ensure easy navigation

Source: Google Analytics

Age

80% 53% 9% 15% 14% 11% 6% 6% 5% 5% 0% APPLICANTS / SHORT COURSE INFORMATION Thinking of applying to study at Stellenbosch University I have applied to study at Stellenbosch University My child is thinking of applying to study at Stellenbosch University Looking for information on short courses or online courses offered I am interested in news about the university, or events happening at the university I am an alumnus / alumna of the university I am looking to see what jobs are available at the university I am interested in reading about research done by staff at the university I am an academic from another institution I am a journalist / media looking for interesting news or researching something

Many of the general public visitors to the website are applicants or parents of applicants

Quantitative survey: Reasons for visiting the website Ge General P Public

n=287

80%

40% of current students do not use the public site…. and neither do 1 in 4 staff

Quantitative survey: Contact sample - usage of the public website

Respondents who do not use the site were screened out and did not complete the full survey – they mostly use My.Sun.

Website users

60%

Non users

40%

Students

Website users

77%

Non users

23%

Staff

n=288 n=191

My.Sun has by far the highest frequent of usage among students

60% 6% 6% 2% 12% 2% 3% 3% 12% 11% 13% 9% 3% 11% 11% 12% 92% 71% 53% 46% 26% 26% 22% 21% 20% 19% 19% 18% 6% 5% 1% My.Sun Faculties Students Dates Contact us About SU News & media Maps Sport Careers@SU Research Staff Alumni Management Ethics hotline Every day / most days 2+ times a week Once or twice a week Every 2-3 weeks Once a month Less often Total users

Quantitative survey: Students – Usage (last 6 months) and Frequency of visits to areas of the website

• Q. For each area that you visited, please tell us how often you access content in this area

Areas of the website that can be accessed from links on the home page

And similarly for staff

39% 7% 14% 10% 16% 10% 4% 9% 15% 19% 21% 18% 6% 15% 12% 7% 82% 77% 62% 52% 41% 40% 35% 31% 29% 28% 18% 18% 13% 4% 4% 4% 3% 12% My.Sun Faculties Staff News & media Dates Research About SU Students Careers@SU Management Maps Contact us Alumni Give to SU Sport Ethics hotline Donors Other Every day / most days 2+ times a week Once or twice a week Every 2-3 weeks Once a month Less often Total users

Quantitative survey: Staff – Usage (last 6 months) and Frequency of visits to areas of the website

• Q. For each area that you visited, please tell us how often you access content in this area

Areas of the website that can be accessed from links on the home page

General public show a higher frequency than current students or staff

21% 10% 14% 12% 8% 14% 29%

More than twice a week About twice a week About once every week or two weeks Once every three to four weeks Once a month Less often than

• nce a month

This is my first visit

General Public Alumni and General Public: Frequency of visiting the website

• Q. For each area that you visited, please tell us how often you access content in this area

12% 11% 24% 18% 18% 16% 5% 3% 14% 14% 13% 22% 28%

About once a week

• r more often

About once every two weeks About once a month Once every two to three months About once every four to six months Less often than every six months I have not visited the Alumni section

Alumni

Visit website Visit Alumni website

The alumni section

• f the website is

visited less often than the general website, with many (28%) who do not visit it at all

Google Analytics show that study-related pages are most frequent in top 50 pages

RECOMMENDATIONS

Use the internal My.Sun system for most of the specific requirements of the internal audiences (students and staff) Build the website prioritizing the needs of external users

1 2

Split into an internal intranet site for staff and current students (My.Sun) – and a public website for external stakeholders

3

Theme #2:

Website Design : Brutally reduce complexity

The website has a very complex structure that consists

• ut of 10 000+ pages – and multiple “mini-sites” within

the one site

According to Google Analytics:

• 8006 pages in the all pages report and the top 50

pages represents 53% of the page views

• 2232 pages (28%) have a 100% bounce rate
• 3190 pages (40%) have only 1 view over 5-month

period

• 804 unique searches in a 2.5-month period – of

which majority was staff related (such as policies)

The current site’s home page alone has 4 menu bars

This complexity has an impact both on functionality of the website, as well as perceptions of the university

Hyperactive / distracted / schizophrenic Older person (students = trying to be hip) Unapproachable technocrat / engineer A useful acquaintance rather than a friend

The website is:

• Complex and a bit chaotic
• Not consistent in look and feel
• Not easy to navigate

The website is:

• Daunting / overly complicated
• Detail heavy

The website is:

• Trying but does not feel

authentically modern The website:

• Has a lot of information but

is not relatable

Site = complex and detail heavy = hard to navigate = lacks approachability (that a simplified and more modern approach would achieve) ? ? ?

20% + for top 3 on wishlist Reason for visiting the website

Study Financing Student Life Research News KEY

The ‘Wishlist’ data sheds light on what is absolutely necessary – information around study is key…..

Studen ents St Staff ff Prospec ective e Studen ents Al Alumni ni

RA RANK

Course and subject information Course and subject information News about the University, or events happening at the University Faculty / departmental information Faculty / departmental information Information on how to apply Research done by academics at the University Policies and procedures Student fees and account or payment

• ptions

Accommodation options Looking for information on short courses or online courses Services available to staff Student loans and bursary information Faculty information Just out of interest, to see what is happening with regards to Alumni Information on courses / training for staff Career information and which courses are useful for certain careers Student life, and things to do in & around Stellenbosch I needed my academic history Interesting research by academics

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Map of the University campus To see what jobs are available at the University Information about staff benefits Student life / what’s happening in Stellenbosch To get information about upcoming Alumni events / alumni hubs News / what's happening in Stellenbosch

The preference is either for a full English website or full English and Afrikaans (NOT a partial language solution) – reducing complexity will help to make this demand manageable

49% 61% 7% 38% 29% 66% 8% 9% 6% 9% 12% T

• t

a l E n g l i s h A f r i k a a n s

Afrikaans only Full Afrikaans, partial English Full English, partial Afrikaans Full English and Afrikaans sites English only

English

79%

Afrikaans

21% Language chosen for the survey

Language Preference

English

55%

Afrikaans

45%

39% 54% 21% 43% 30% 57% 13% 11% 16% Total Afrikaans

• Q. What would be your preferred language or languages for the Stellenbosch University Website?

40% 47% 1% 46% 44% 61% 6% 7% 1% 10% 25% T

• t

a l E n g l i s h A f r i k a a n s 51% 40% 4% General Public

English

85%

Afrikaans

15%

29% 43% 8% 55% 48% 67% 5% 5% 6% 3% 14% T

• t

a l E n g l i s h A f r i k a a n s

English

57%

Afrikaans

43% Language Preference

Students Staff Prospective Students General Public Alumni Google Analytics – only 1 in the top 50 pages is an Afrikaans page

RECOMMENDATIONS

Brutally cull the complexity. The following are suggested ‘tests’ regarding whether certain information should or shouldn’t be included in the public-facing website:

Detailed info to be downloadable rather than explicit on the website Move internal only needs to My.Sun Prioritise high intensity needs of external stakeholders Include high intensity needs that cut across stakeholder groups 1 2 3 4

Theme #3:

User-friendly Functionality & Navigation : If it takes more than 3 clicks you have lost me

Some users currently navigate between 8 to 20+ pages however, majority of users do not continue after 4 clicks

Current website has:

• A lot of “layers”
• Inconsistent and changing menu bars
• Difficult navigation
• Repetition on page copy and menu

items

78% of sessions accessed four pages or less, 40%

• f sessions visited only two pages, 28% of pages

have 100% bounce rate

9 609556 1044851 103567 301561 45577 135221 25630 81951 16121 52390 11907 36844 9164 27053 6958 19873 5402 16562 4246 82120

200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 1200000

<1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20+

Number of Sessions Page Depth Page Depth per Sessions

After 4 clicks, only 7% of sessions are continuing

RECOMMENDATIONS

Make your hierarchy logical - Don’t overthink or overcomplicate Ensure there is an easy way to navigate back to the home page Keep the number of main categories low - Try and keep it below 7 Keep the menu bars consistent throughout the site Provide consistent information across faculties, removing repetition of links, body copy, terminology usage, etc. Structure the site according to the key external target audience – potential students - and ensure that the information that is important or needed for them are a maximum

• f 3 clicks away

1 2 3 4 5 6

Theme #4:

A Hybrid Model: Balancing Institutional Standardisation & Environmental Flexibility: Freedom to contribute - but with limits

Current management system has some benefits but also many drawbacks

• Opportunity for faculties (or other

units) to talk about and highlight news and activities of interest to and about their own areas

• Sense of ownership and

participation

• Some information is only applicable

to or available in the faculty / unit

• Inconsistent branding (look & feel) across unit

pages leading to a confused image of the brand

• r loss of brand
• Broken links
• Inconsistent information (at a serious level,

leading to possible legal challenges)

• Time and budget constraints in terms of

contributors (not main job, very limited budgets)

• Feelings of being ‘left to it’ and not supported

enough

• Sharepoint not flexible and difficult to work with

Contributors want to contribute……. ……but see the sense in standardization given issues created by the current way

• f doing things

Described as a good repository for information BUT:

• Outdated
• Inflexible
• Not user friendly
• Limited functionality

Only 7 out of 22 were positive about Sharepoint

This is confirmed by their preference for freedom with guidelines and support

Quantitative survey: Content management options

• Q. Think about how the content is managed and the way in which contributors add or modify content. Some university or company websites have a

centralised model with one department managing most content, others have a decentralised model where different departments have more freedom to manage their own content. Please read through the statements below and then select all those that you agree with

Statem emen ents that Contributors agree ee with

Co Contrib ibutors N= N=22 St Staf aff N= N=78

Entities es must have e the e freed eedom to update e thei eir own conten ent but be e provided ed with guidel elines es 77% 77% 67 67% Entities es must be e taught basic tec echnical skills, with support from cen entral web ebsite e managem emen ent 77% 77% 55% 55% Entities es must have e the e freed eedom to det eter ermine e thei eir own web eb des esign, based ed on the e corporate e iden entity 55% 55% 46 46%

Entities must be provided with a set design for their websites from the central website management 45 45% 38 38% Stellenbosch University should have a single, unified website 36 36% 40% 40% Entities must have the freedom to update their own content as they see fit 32 32% 23 23% Entities must have the freedom to do their own technical development / appoint a service provider for technical development 27 27% 17 17% Entities should have the freedom to create their own, separate websites 27 27% 12 12% Central website management must provide a full suite of services that include content generation and publication, technical support, and design, when required by entities 23 23% 42 42% Entities must be able to update their own content, but final publication must be handled by central website management 18 18% 26% 26% Central website management must do all technical development 14 14% 31 31% Central website management must upload content and make edits on behalf of entities 0% 0% 5% 5% Central website management must manage the entire website on their own, without input from entities 0% 0% 0% 0%

14 agree that more help is needed – half feel this must be housed within the faculty and half feel it should reside in CCD

Quantitative Survey: Contributors - Ideal operating model & Budget

• Q9. What do you think an ideal operating model for the website would look like?

n=22

Each faculty or responsibility centre appoints a dedicated person or team to look after their section of the website 7 The central website management appoints additional team members to serve the campus community 7 The current model, but with additional training and guidelines from central website management 4 Website services are outsourced to a range of approved service providers 1 Other 3

This respondent said that the budget is R0000!

• Q. Does your entity have a dedicated budget for

the website, or are you able to secure needed funds for the website?

n=22 No 21 Yes 1

Only 35% of staff are happy with the way that the website content is managed and maintained, with 33% being unhappy

Staff

• Q18. Are you involved in contributing content to the Stellenbosch University website in any way, either by adding content directly, or

sending it to a person within your entity for upload to the website?

• Q19. How happy are you with the way content is managed and maintained?

Base: those who contribute to website content * Caution small base size

41% of the staff surveyed said that they contribute to the website content in some way

Quantitative survey: Staff who contribute content - Management and maintenance of the website

Contribute content to the website 41% Not involved with website content 59%

33% 35% 33%

19% 10% 22% 14% 25% 10% 32% 40% 29% 6% 10% 5% 28% 15% 33%

35% 25% 38%

Total (N=78) Academic staff (N=20)* Administrative staff (N=58)*

Not very happy Not happy at all Not sure Very happy Quite happy

Balanced with freedom of production of content within the limits

RECOMMENDATIONS

Remove all embedded ‘smaller’ websites Provide templates and standardized CI manual Central management of structure, look and feel and platform Develop rules and protocols around information to avoid duplication and inconsistency Institute mandatory regular training of contributors Explore alternatives to Sharepoint Institute procedures for recognizing and removing outdated content A hybrid model is recommended with the following key recommendations: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Theme #5:

Branding & Consistency : 1st impression is everything – and lasting impressions require consistency

Websites have 2 primary interlinked functions….

INFORMATION IMPRESSION

• Replaced human

interaction

• Acts as a repository
• Judged by organisation of

information, ease of navigation, usefulness and accuracy

• As much a part of an

institution as its physical infrastructure

• Gives an impression of the
• rganisation, thus

positioning the brand

• Judged through aesthetics,

nature and tone of content

These interact with each other and effective websites are clean, simple, well organised, useful and intuitive,

• verlayed with content and

aesthetics that consistently communicate the brand standpoint

The deeper one travels into the website, the less effectively the current site performs these roles….

The home page was described as:

• Useful (by some)
• True to the Stellenbosch branding

(few)

• Great news carousel (most)

BUT, on the negative side (most):

• Too much information / cluttered
• Untidy (full of boxes – everyone

wants to be on the front page)

• Too many menus
• Not intuitive and structured

according to organisational structure rather than from a user point of view

The deeper in you went, the le less con consi sist stency cy there was in look & feel, the more likely you were to ‘g ‘get lo lost’ and find ou

• utdated and

di disorganised content, with some faculties executing their pages well and others not at all well

Throughout the website there is inconsistency across menu bars, information provided, look & feel and terminology

Terminology:

• Studies / programmes / training /

courses are used interchangeably

• Acronyms are used

Menu bars variance example:

• Academic programmes vs.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate vs. Programmes vs. Teaching and Learning

• vs. Education vs. Student

Information variance in faculties:

• Vision and mission
• Community involvement
• Conferences
• About us

Look & feel across the site is different

Split opinions on structure. Information most positive aspect whilst navigation + look and feel the worst

Quantitative Survey: Website Evaluation – What is Liked / Triggers

Students Staff Prospective Students Alumni General Public

LI LIKES RA RANKED

In Informatio ion St Structure Ap Applications

• ns

In Informatio ion St Structure New ews In Informatio ion St Structure Ap Applications

• ns

In Informatio ion Look & Feel eel St Structure In Informatio ion St Structure New ews 1 2 3 Studen ents St Staff ff Prospec ective e Studen ents Al Alumni ni Gen ener eral Public DI DISLIKES ES RA RANKED ED Na Navigation

• n

Look & Feel eel St Structure Na Navigation

• n

Look & Feel eel St Structure Na Navigation

• n

Look & Feel eel St Structure Na Navigation

• n

Look & Feel eel St Structure Na Navigation

• n

Br Brand Image Look & Feel eel 1 2 3

Quantitative Survey: Website Evaluation – What is Disliked / Barriers

RECOMMENDATIONS

Logical flow and navigation throughout the site Strong home page branding that is a true reflection of the brand – Vision 2040 and Strategic Framework 2019-2024 Right first impression requires: Lasting impression requires: Consistent branding, layout and aesthetics throughout the site Careful consideration of content in terms of text and images Simplification and intuitive navigation from home page

1 2 1 2 3

Theme #6:

Future Focused & Systemic Implications : Develop with the future in mind

54% 44% 2% Device Usage

desktop mobile tablet

44% of visitors access the website with their mobile phones

Technology is advancing and mobile users are growing - dream your ideal site upfront!

• Mobile continues to grow (35% YOY)
• Desktop still growing but at a lower

rate

• Tablet use declining
• Bounce rate for mobile still higher

than desktop (mobile sites not achieving as much attention)

RECOMMENDATIONS

When designing and developing the new site, the following is important: Dream the ideal site or functionalities for the site – even though this might not be implemented immediately. For example, chatbots, online applications, certain payments, alumni networking functionality, free online courses, CRM systems Ensure mobile responsiveness of the full site User experience is key – keep it easy, intuitive and clean – this keeps you flexible

1 2 3

Summary of Recommendations

Based on these key themes, the following recommendations apply…

Prioritise external user needs and move aspects of internal value only to My.Sun Brutally cull complexity within the public facing website – focus on most important and not ALL needs Significantly simplify the user experience – apply a ‘user’ lens and not an

• rganizational lens

Select website language/s, taking into consideration user preference, visitation statistics, cost, and complexity Employ a hybrid management model – freedom to contribute but with institutional standardization, supported by guidelines, training and support Replace current Sharepoint with a fit-for- purpose platform Ensure new SU brand identity is the starting point and rolled out consistently across all web pages Build with mobile in mind, as well as functionalities you may want to include

• ver time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

THANK YOU

COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS