Memorial University’s website has a new look and feel.

Contemporary in style and functionality, the new design ensures mun.ca is accessible across all mobile devices and browsers.

More than just a fresh look, the new web design addresses some key problems that users experienced with the old template.

Externally facing

In the works for a few years, one of the goals of the redesign was to shift the website’s focus and to design it with external audiences in mind.

As part of this process, content on the main mun.ca landing page has been reorganized to help prospective students, staff, faculty, donors and other external stakeholders easily find the information they are looking for. The main page also showcases important achievements and stories within the Memorial University community.

All the same important information visitors need is still there — it’s just packaged a little differently so the desired content is now both easily accessible and visually appealing.

Continuous improvement

“This project is truly more than just a fresh look, providing value and improved services to all clients of Memorial University,” said Laura Pike, team lead, collaboration and web services, Information Technology Services.

“The current phase of this project has been based on best practices, current trends in higher education web design and, most importantly, feedback from our users. In the next phase, we hope to incorporate additional feedback and improve the way in which users edit and maintain their sites.”

Improved search

With more audiences accessing mun.ca on mobile devices more frequently, it is important to provide content cleanly and seamlessly to ensure the best user experience possible.

User experience research shows that more than 50 per cent of users search first rather than look for a link. With that in mind, the teams at Information Technology Services and Marketing & Communications developed a new and improved search tool.

For example, users can simply type in staff or faculty names into the search box – their names and phone numbers will appear automatically. Users can also click on the search or login icons at the top-right corner of the main page to access a search dropdown menu or link to services that require a login, such as my.mun.ca.

“Web design and technology is continually evolving – it never stands still.” — Jeff Hulan

The search dropdown menu includes links to high traffic websites, including popular directories and the university calendar. Looking for items that used to be in Quick Links? You’ll find them in the Search dropdown menu, under A-Z, People and Departments, or the Faculties and Schools directories, which are also searchable.

“Web design and technology is continually evolving – it never stands still,” said Jeff Hulan, associate director, marketing, Marketing & Communications.

“We will continually improve mun.ca with enhancements to search, navigation, how we tell stories through photos, videos and graphics and through the introduction of a modern vendor-supported content management system.”

Important channel

Mun.ca will continue to give site visitors important university information, including major news, events, notices and cancellations.

Information Technology Services and Marketing & Communications thanks everyone who provided valuable feedback that contributes to mun.ca’s continual improvement. Feedback will continue to be gathered over the next few months to provide even more direction on how mun.ca can be improved.

For more information, please visit the website rejuvenation project website.