USC TIMES Stories, snippets & sc en es from the University of South Carolina. A I K E N / BE A U FO R T / C O LU M BI A / LA N C A ST E R / SALKEHATCHI E / SUMTER / U N I O N / U PST AT E 9/16/2 0 1 3 introducing the new sc.edu A NEW DAY IS LOADING The home page of sc.edu is getting a new look and a new content management system, representing a new way of thinking about our website. The new design will gradually replace various Web designs that have been in place for a dozen years. J.C. Huggins, director of Web Communications, has spent 18 months working with his team to develop a new and improved USC website. Not satisfied with mere cosmetic modifications, the team took an outside-in approach to both the site’s form and function. The result is a visual feast that’s also easy to use, whether at your desk or on the go. Why does USC need a new website? As the Web has evolved, so have expectations. It’s im- portant to realize that the new site will not be judged against our old website — it will be judged against the other websites people visit every day. So presenting things in a visual and navigational language that visi- tors are familiar with is important. The old site was developed maybe 12 years ago, and, from a visual design perspective, it didn’t look very contemporary. Even more importantly, things break down pretty quickly when you’re trying to navigate the site. We found people predominantly used the search bar to find pages rather than trying to navigate through it; it’s out of frustration. How is the new site different? We wanted a website that presents visitors with a true feeling of what it’s like to be here at USC, so the first thing people will notice is that the visual design is very lively and engaging. We have audience-specific pages, called gateways, to help our internal audiences find what they want easily. For example, if you’re a faculty or staff mem- ber, we’ve collected all the resources you’d likely want to see in one place. It’s organized in a very intuitive fashion, so the onus isn’t on you to figure out where all these individual resources are located. For those at USC who maintain Web pages, the new platform — or content management system — will make it much easier to change and update information because all the changes will cascade throughout the site. This will lessen the problem of information being inconsistent or outdated. Will existing pages be affected? Your iTAMS, VIP and other important pages are not go- ing away! It will just now be easier to find them because there will be one point of entry. What was the inspiration for the new site? We looked at a lot of sites, but made a conscious decision not to limit ourselves just to higher education sites. Instead, we looked at best practices broadly from across the Internet. One feature people will notice is that the site will adapt itself based on whether you’re looking at it from a desktop computer or a portable de- vice. That’s called responsive design, which was pretty cutting-edge when we first started researching our new site. It’s a great feature, especially for people who want to access information no matter where they are. Final thoughts? Change can be a bit jarring when you’re used to see- ing something presented the same way for a long time, but I think faculty and staff will find what they need quickly and easily. We’re also proud that we can introduce USC to prospective students, parents and others in an authentic, contemporary way. Q & A The new sc.edu will feature a responsive design, meaning it will be usable on devices from smart- phones to tablets to desktop computers without installing an app. About a hundred pages will go live at launch on Sept 18. Other aca- demic and adminis- trative pages will be redesigned over the coming months, join- ing the College of Nursing and School of Music sites on the new platform.
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uscTIMEsStories, snippets & scenes from the University of South Carolina.
Aiken / BeAufort / ColumBiA / lAnCAster / sAlkehAtChie / sumter / union / upstAte 9/16/2013
introducing the new sc.edu
a new Day iS loaDingThe home page of sc.edu is getting a new
look and a new content management
system, representing a new way of thinking
about our website. The new design will
gradually replace various Web designs that
have been in place for a dozen years.
J.c. Huggins, director of Web
communications, has spent 18
months working with his team to
develop a new and improved usc
website. Not satisfied with mere
cosmetic modifications, the team
took an outside-in approach to
both the site’s form and function.
The result is a visual feast that’s
also easy to use, whether at your
desk or on the go.
Why does usc need a new website? As the Web has evolved, so have expectations. It’s im-
portant to realize that the new site will not be judged
against our old website — it will be judged against the
other websites people visit every day. So presenting
things in a visual and navigational language that visi-
tors are familiar with is important.
The old site was developed maybe 12 years ago,
and, from a visual design perspective, it didn’t look
very contemporary. Even more importantly, things
break down pretty quickly when you’re trying to
navigate the site. We found people predominantly
used the search bar to find pages rather than trying to
navigate through it; it’s out of frustration.
How is the new site different? We wanted a website that presents visitors with a true
feeling of what it’s like to be here at USC, so the first
thing people will notice is that the visual design is very
lively and engaging.
We have audience-specific pages, called gateways,
to help our internal audiences find what they want
easily. For example, if you’re a faculty or staff mem-
ber, we’ve collected all the resources you’d likely want
to see in one place. It’s organized in a very intuitive
fashion, so the onus isn’t on you to figure out where
all these individual resources are located.
For those at USC who maintain Web pages, the
new platform — or content management system — will
make it much easier to change and update information
because all the changes will cascade throughout the
site. This will lessen the problem of information being
inconsistent or outdated.
Will existing pages be affected? Your iTAMS, VIP and other important pages are not go-
ing away! It will just now be easier to find them because
there will be one point of entry.
What was the inspiration for the new site? We looked at a lot of sites, but made a conscious
decision not to limit ourselves just to higher education
sites. Instead, we looked at best practices broadly from
across the Internet. One feature people will notice is
that the site will adapt itself based on whether you’re
looking at it from a desktop computer or a portable de-
vice. That’s called responsive design, which was pretty
cutting-edge when we first started researching our new
site. It’s a great feature, especially for people who want
to access information no matter where they are.
Final thoughts? Change can be a bit jarring when you’re used to see-
ing something presented the same way for a long
time, but I think faculty and staff will find what they
need quickly and easily. We’re also proud that we can
introduce USC to prospective students, parents and
others in an authentic, contemporary way.
Q&A
The new sc.edu will feature a responsive design, meaning it will be usable on devices from smart-phones to tablets to desktop computers without installing an app. About a hundred pages will go live at launch on sept 18. Other aca-demic and adminis-trative pages will be redesigned over the coming months, join-ing the college of Nursing and school of Music sites on the new platform.
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