Microsite Redesign & Content Re-map
CAPA, a study abroad program provider, tasked the ADK team with redesigning their vast collection of program-specific microsites. My role was twofold: to assist with streamlining the content architecture, and to design a more intuitive user experience for college student users.
Through our initial interviews, we learned that CAPA’s microsites are multi-purpose: used as both a sales tool for schools and as an informational tool for students in different parts of the buying process. CAPA’s microsites needed to convey a large amount of information to a wide assortment of clients. Unfortunately, their existing strategies for doing so felt confusing and unwieldy.
New CAPA Wordpress CMS site architecture
Based on our findings, I campaigned for a content re-map as a first step. The current navigation was fixed to the left side of the page and displayed all pages in a single-tiered format, creating an overwhelming user experience. I brainstormed with our digital strategist to create new content maps that categorized content into broad themes of user-specific information. We presented these proposed categories to CAPA’s sales and copywriting team. They approved and began to reworking the content categories for all their current microsites.
New CAPA microsite content architecture remap
With the re-mapping phase underway, I met with our technologist and lead developer to help brainstorm the best front-end design for the re-architected microsite ecosystem. As this project called for rapid development, we decided to develop a modular system which would reuse the same components for all microsites.
Responsive grid hosting a mobile optimized design for the mobile navigation
My design process required that I create a user interface style guide and determine how to provide the best overall user experience for all microsites, no matter their content. In my sketches, I focused on an omnipresent navigation that allowed for quick accessibility to all content, and the ability to host branding for either CAPA or a specific university.
The final design resulted in the top fold hosting a slim microsite title with supporting imagery for clear identification of the location, a navigation bar for the main categories, and a clean layout of content to deliver good vertical rhythm.
Within a short period of time, we were able to launch CAPA’s new microsite system on a new WordPress build. The new platform now hosts nearly 100 microsites. By CAPA’s account, the process and user experience have been greatly improved. The success of this project also opened the door to an opportunity for a main site redesign, currently in development at ADK.