Led by the Office of Global Marketing and Communications, the redesign project incorporates research and input from dozens of stakeholders across the University, including students, faculty and staff. The Northwestern homepage attracts more than 2.5 million annual visitors from over 200 countries, generating more than 6.5 million pageviews each year.
Northwestern has reimagined its main web pages with a more dynamic and interactive design to provide a better user experience all while highlighting the qualities and strengths that make the University one of the best higher education institutions in the world.
Led by the Office of Global Marketing and Communications, the redesign project incorporates research and input from dozens of stakeholders across the University, including students, faculty and staff. The result is a website that better serves both the campus community and visitors who are not as familiar with Northwestern.
The Northwestern homepage attracts more than 2.5 million annual visitors from over 200 countries, generating more than 6.5 million pageviews each year.
“The website showcases many of the things that make Northwestern one of the top universities in the world: our stunning campus, our impactful research, our vibrant arts, our student-athletes, our people,” said Jon Yates, vice president for global marketing and communications. “It is an invaluable resource for our faculty, staff, students, prospective students, families, alumni and neighbors — for anyone who wants to learn more about Northwestern.”
The site features a more dynamic and interactive design to provide a better user experience all while highlighting the qualities and strengths that make the University one of the best higher education institutions in the world.
What’s new
A dynamic homepage: A dramatic aerial video showcases Northwestern’s location along Lake Michigan while spotlighting the University’s multidimensionality, academic prowess and strength across many disciplines.
A spotlight on the arts: A new section celebrates Northwestern’s artistic disciplines, focusing on training and reach across schools. It features a daily feed of upcoming arts events and details arts-affiliated institutes, centers and labs to illustrate scholarly work and research in the arts and humanities.
Impactful research: The research section has been enhanced, linking to Northwestern’s priority pages, a recently launched “Research Impact” page and profiles of faculty researchers. It better highlights University Research Institutes and Centers and includes interactive filters for areas of study.
Evanston and Chicago: Few universities have campuses that are better situated than Northwestern’s. This page shows off its unique proximity to Lake Michigan and its location within both a magnificent college town and a world-class city.
Promoting Northwestern’s strengths: New pages and features promote Northwestern’s exceptional academic offerings for undergraduate, graduate, continuing and professional students; school rankings; program finders; and experiential learning.
Usability upgrades include improved mobile navigation and display from desktop to tablet to phone. And the site now aligns with WCAG 2.2 standards for digital accessibility.
Better campus navigation
The new site, powered by a Google-enhanced search engine, makes it easier than ever to find your way in the University ecosystem. Using interviews and site traffic analysis, role-based sections have been reworked into essential “workhorse” pages that point users to key resources.
The student page has been reorganized to highlight tools like the Find Services feature and to emphasize campus and community news. There also are customized pages for faculty and staff, parents and families, and alumni.
The homepage illuminates 11 current areas of focus known as the University priorities, and it curates the latest campus news, Northwestern Magazine features and social media, as well as external media coverage.
In addition to the many content enhancements, the team also added usability upgrades, such as improved mobile navigation and display from desktop to tablet to phone. The new site now aligns with WCAG 2.2 standards for digital accessibility thanks to key upgrades such as better color contrast and keyboard focus for individuals with visual impairments.
