Interview: Office of Student Health Benefits Web site redesign

This is the 15^th in a several-part series of interviews with communicators who have redesigned or
updated their Web sites. If you have redesigned your site or have a site
to suggest for these interviews, let us know.

In this edition: Britt Bakke on the Office of Student Health Benefits Web site

What were your reasons for redesigning the site?

• improve clarity of information on the web
• establish the Office of Student Health Benefits as a stand alone website (separate from the Boynton Health Service website)
• visually tie the Office of Student Health Benefits to the University of Minnesota

What kind of user research or user testing did you do?
We logged feedback from department, staff, and students who visited the site.

What factors went in to the organization of the site?

• content heavy - wanted information easy for students to find
• several plans on several campuses - navigation needed to be organized in such a way that a student could easily identify the page that applies to them

How did you think about the visual design of your site within the context of the University brand?
This site needed to go up relatively quickly. We basically used a University template as is. Not very many changes to the design. The design is very simple. This website is information focused.

What was the biggest challenge, and how did you get past it?
Fitting all of our content into each page, keeping it well organized and easy to read. Got past this with lots of editing. And still working on it. :)

How did you manage the project and keep it on track?

• Worked closely with Office of Student Health Benefits staff and web master.
• Started with a rough outline of the architecture and a timeline and consulted those as needed throughout the project.

What tips do you have for other units redesigning their Web sites? What did you learn from the project?

• The templates are easy to use
• CSS rocks

How are you evaluating the site's success?
We continually monitor feedback from departments and current/prospective plan members and make changes as needed.