The Lawlor Group took the time to fully understand the challenges and issues that confront St. Norbert in the marketplace, helping us to determine who was our true competition and which schools do we see as aspirants.

—Dan Meyer
Former Dean of Admissions and Director of Enrollment Management
St. Norbert College
De Pere, Wisconsin

Now Vice President for Enrollment
Saint Mary’s College
Notre Dame, Indiana

June 2005 Lawlor Focus

Great Expectations: Meet Them on the Web

It may seem obvious, but it bears repeating: Good web design begins by defining the site's target audience — their needs, preferences and objectives — and ends by meeting their expectations.

This philosophy is so well ingrained at interactive marketing agency imc² that they have created a position entitled User Experience Director. As a UED, Matt Whitaker is responsible for inspiring and guiding everyone on the design team—from information architects to copywriters to multimedia specialists—to focus on the web site's audience.

"During the earliest stages of architecting a site, we create a client persona," says Whitaker. "We answer questions, which define the persona: Who are they? What is their level of experience with the web? What are they looking for on the site?"

And that's just the first step; every aspect of the site's design and functionality revolves around that persona, explains Whitaker. "At imc², we literally carry around a big board and consider the persona image with every idea."

When the site "blueprint" is created, the client persona informs the information architecture and usability. "Traditional" design elements—the imagery, colors, fonts, font sizes and so forth—are customized for the user's preferences and needs. Content is carefully crafted for a tone and voice that will appeal to the target audience. The result? Distinctive sites "personalized" for very different users.

For example, a site for Xalatan, a prescription drug for glaucoma patients, is designed especially for readability and ease of navigation. It features few menu items per page, static images, high-contrast fonts and an "enlarge text" tool.

SparkleBodySpray.com was also created by imc², but that's where the similarities end. Animated images, small font copy jam-packed across the window and an interactive blog replete with like, um, "teen speak" and IM abbreviations, make it attractive to the young, female teenagers to whom this product is marketed.

When a site attracts more than one demographic, Whitaker highly suggests creating multiple sections: "A college web site can present the same information in two different formats—one for parents and one for students."

In the end, usability testing and focus groups will confirm if the design is on the right track—as long as the feedback is provided by bona fide members of your audience and not stakeholders. After all, they know the web site backwards and forwards. When new users log on, it's a completely new experience. Make sure it's a great one.

Lawlor Recommends

So, how do you retool your web site for its audience? Ask, Test, Tweak and Segment.

Ask: In just a glance, most of us decide if we like a web site's look—or not. Focus groups can reveal an audience's split-second reaction to your site's design. And, focus groups don't have to be elaborate: Asking groups of prospective parents, alumni or other external users to evaluate screen shots of selected web pages can be a useful first step.

Test: Usability testing is essential to learn how easy (or difficult) your site is to navigate. Gather members of your target audience, put them in front of a computer and watch them complete a set of directions you've provided. Simply monitoring their actions and observing their behavior for even an hour will be instructive. Later, solicit their feedback on how to make the site more user-friendly.

Tweak: Simple changes often make big differences. Moving a search tool to a more prominent position, changing the titles of links, reducing the number of images on a page—all of these examples may improve a page's usability and aesthetic appeal for a user.

Segment: Most college web sites have more than one target audience, and it's imperative to address the needs, objectives and expectations of each. Segmenting the site by creating different sections for each group is an effective way to do this. Constructing microsites is a more elaborate option.

Expert Perspective: What Teens Want

We asked, "What is your favorite web site and why?"

People.com
"I love hearing news about celebrities, and magazines can get expensive if you buy them in the store," reveals Chimdi N., a senior who will be attending Columbia University in New York, NY, next fall. "It is always up-to-date with new information and is great for pictures of celebrities, too."
BBCNews.com
Raised by her Ghanaian parents in Silver Spring, MD, Obaahemaa N. aspires to be the first African woman secretary general of the U.N. and likes getting frequent updates on world news. "I like this site because the BBC reports are more objective and concise. I can pinpoint what is going on in the world quickly."
MySpace.com
From Colorado Springs, CO, Branden G. cites archery and keeping in touch with others as his main interests. "Myspace.com is my favorite because of the blogs and because I can understand it."
MySpace.com
Chris K., a sophomore in Palos Verdes, CA, also picks this site because he can "talk to friends and make my own page."
TheClassicalStation.org
After graduating from high school in Cary, NC, Kathryn M. plans to study music and East Asian studies at Vanderbilt University. She loves classical music and says this site is "informative, interesting and visually appealing" and allows her to listen to a local classical music station online.
Google.com
"This is my favorite web site because it proves to be a reliable search engine and immediately targets the information one is seeking," says Rory S., a senior from New York, NY, who will attend Syracuse University next year. "And," she adds, "It is very simple for the technologically impaired!"

In the News

Because teens have been early adopters of technology in general, it's easy to assume they are savvy web users. But a recent Neilsen Norman Group (Fremont, CA) study says otherwise: cognitive, developmental differences between teens (13-17) and adults make teens less-than-expert when it comes to web surfing.

According to the report, teenagers are able to complete "perfectly feasible" tasks on a web site only 55 percent of the time. The rest of the time teens either give up or incorrectly complete basic tasks. Teens also frequently can't find web site search tools, resize difficult-to-read results boxes after a search, or locate free copies of a document that a site provides for downloading.

In order to make web sites easier for teens to use, the study suggests considering the traits of the average teen—lack of patience, short attention span, image consciousness and a lack of literary sophistication—when designing a site's look and functionality. Specific recommendations include making text easy to read with shorter words and sentences, simplifying navigation, and prominently displaying search boxes.

From "Teens Don't Know Everything, "Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2005

Did You Know?

74% of kids ages 8 to 18 have Internet access in their homes. In 1999, the figure was 47%.

Based on a survey conducted between October 2003 and March 2004 among a nationally representative sample of 2,032 students in 3rd to 12th grade who were 8 to 18 years old, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation's report Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds provides valuable information regarding young people's access to and use of a full range of media—TV and videos, music, video games, computers, movies and print.

If you have questions about developing an effective web site or would like The Lawlor Group to conduct a web audit, please contact us at tlg@thelawlorgroup.com.

Add your comments:

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.