Mercy College of Ohio
Website Content Block Redesign
Context
Goal: Analyze Mercy College of Ohio's website, design and create a framework for maintaining content block "program at a glance".
Duration: 3 months
Tools: Figma, Adobe XD
Role: Graphic Design Intern at Madhouse LLC.
Mercy College of Ohio is a catholic university with a focus in healthcare education. Their most popular program is the nursing program in Toledo, Ohio, with many more majors in the healthcare industry. Madhouse LLC. has been doing the marketing for Mercy College of Ohio for over 10 years, and was looking to have the perspective of a college student and UX design major.
01
Research
Using the existing SEO data, I was able to narrow the audience to adults looking for secondary education in college while maintaining busy lives. While Mercy college had students right out of highschool, they emphasized the flexibility in scheduling, offering nightime and daytime classes, a well as a flexible time frame. The age range of the students in the nighttime college was 30-50, leading me to consider the proficiency in technology of the people visiting the site.
In addition to audience research, I completed an audit of the companies nursing day page. I presented this to my colleagues and supervisors in Madhouse, learning key information about what items were subject to change and what Mercy College valued in their website design. As well as target items they believed were important and engaging for the site visitors. Analyzing what I believed worked for the company and areas that they could improve.
02
Analysis
In my analysis of the webpage, I found that information I expected to be seen was often hidden. For example, the Program at a Glance section, which was located in a sticky side bar on the website. After further conversation with the marketing director of Mercy College and my supervisors, I found that this section was very helpful for the visitors when deciding a major. With the marketing director stating that this section was a "turning point" for their enrollment.
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I decided to focus on this content block and create a graphic to better showcase the program at a glance section. While there were other aspects of the website that I thought could be better, this was the most feasible one within the time frame and the clients desires.
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Problem Statement: Redesign the program at a glance section to be more graphically visible to the audience. Make this section more recognizable, while maintaining a minimalistic design within the brand guidelines.
04
Design
Changing the design from figure 1 to figure 2 above. My goal was to maintain the minimalistic brand of the college while using their color palette, but still have the graphic noticeable.
I wanted to emphasize the program at a glance section by placing it as one of the first blocks seen on the main page rather than the side bar where it was previously located. Along with this I created a framework for the graphics, aligning each graphic with a corresponding bullet in the program at a glance section.
03
Implementation
I implemented these the designs into the website using Mercy College and Madhouse LLC's content management website, making sure to have continuity between the majors. Working with my colleagues at Madhouse we made these changes to the Program at a Glance section for all of the majors that Mercy College offered.. Below, I have attached images of the new program at a glance content block implemented into the current Mercy College of Ohio website.
04
Reflection
This was my first experience working with a client on a UX project. As an intern, I was so thankful to be given the opportunity to use my creativity towards a client project. Madhouse, as a company, was caring and kind, pushing me to think outside of the box, and reaffirming my confidence in my designing capabilities. During this project specifically, I learned that a client's opinion matters and is very informative. Along with this I learned about the process of iteration. From designing my ideal content block, to one that fit into the company guidelines and could be replicated, this was the first time I applied my ideas to an existing brand, using an iterative process with my colleagues. I learned how to use Adobe XD more efficiently, and what the standard of clarity and proficiency is expected in the professional environment. Knowing this i was able to apply this to my classes and future projects shown in my portfolio.