Colleges, universities, and other higher education websites have to be a lot of things to a lot of people. These institutions are filled with some of the smartest people on the planet who are trying to share their information with not only their peers, but also with laypeople and prospective students. Some institutions have hundreds of departments, each with its own goals and priorities. So how do you build a website that meets the complex and multilayered needs of higher education?

Our answer is research. We’ve worked with universities and colleges both big and small — from Stanford and Berkeley to local community colleges. And all of them start in the same place: targeted research to determine who is actually using the website (as opposed to who faculty and staff think is using the website) and what is important to those users.

Clients are often surprised by the findings of our user-focused research. Why? Because the results don’t mesh with their preconceived notions of how many people are using the site and for what purposes. But the end results speak for themselves. Knowing exactly who your audience is and what they need is a crucial but often overlooked step that can make the difference between a good website and a brilliant one. As an added bonus, being able to point to the research can help to manage the sometimes competing goals and priorities (and dare we say egos?) of various departments … and department heads.

Once the research has been conducted, we turn our attention to organization. Universities are often what we affectionately call “hoarders.” When we migrated the Berkeley School of Information’s legacy website to a new version of Drupal, we had to work with ten years of content — much of which was outdated and no longer relevant to the university’s audience.

During the discovery process, we went through each content type and mapped the old content to the new website. This process allowed the School to carefully analyze how much of the old information was necessary to bring over to the new site. It also allowed the Kanopi team to gain clarity on the specific content that needed to be migrated during the development phase. Working with immense amounts of content is a challenge that particularly applies to higher education, which is why we develop a system for content governance early in the process.

We know that many colleges and universities have their own information technology systems and protocols, and we’re happy to work within those. We have a strict “don’t reinvent the wheel” policy! (Another reason we do so much research up front: we know exactly what we’re working with — which saves the client time and money down the road.)

Integration is key when managing higher education websites that are both broad and deep, with multiple sections and applications. Our years of experience integrating single sign-on for users saves time and headaches and streamlines what once was an unwieldy, cumbersome process.

Thankfully for the world we live in, institutions of higher education are hotbeds of free thinking and intellectual independence. Of course, this isn’t limited to the lecture hall and academic papers. The spirit of independence also applies to website management and maintenance. No higher ed client wants to depend on their web company for every little change and problem, so we use a “teach the teacher” support model. We train the power users and site admins so that they aren’t tied to us, but are empowered to manage their own sites going forward. Of course, if things ever get out of hand or the IT department goes on vacation all at once, we’re here 24/7 with reliable, responsive support.

Kanopi has years of experience working with higher education websites and clients all across the United States and Canada. Some recent clients include UCLA, Stanford, Berkeley, Washington State, UCSF, Columbia, the University of Delaware, and the University of British Columbia. We do our homework (lots and lots of homework), test our theories through vigorous research, and then build the very best websites for our nation’s very brightest institutions of higher learning. Contact us to help with yours.

Your nonprofit organization needs a new website. Expectations are huge, but your budget is tiny. Once again, you’re being asked to turn straw into gold. And you get it — donors want their money going to your life-changing programs, not into bells and whistles for your website. But how can you build a website that serves the mission of your organization when you have limited resources?

Sound familiar?

At Kanopi Studios, we love nonprofit organizations. In fact, most of us are volunteers, activists, and donors for causes as diverse as famine relief in East Africa to programming lessons for underprivileged kids in San Francisco. And we understand the push-back some nonprofits get when it comes to spending money and time building a great website — especially when it comes to user experience (UX) research.

We’re a data-driven web development company. That means we don’t just make websites that look good; they have to work hard — and smart — at the same time. In the nonprofit world, that means your website not only needs to look modern and appealing, but most importantly, it needs to be usable and have captivating content for YOUR users to help you raise money. The distinction here is that your audience is unique and you need to understand them in order to build a website experience with which they will engage. In our many years of experience, the best way to make this happen is by conducting user experience research before doing anything else.

You know the saying, “Do it right or do it twice?” Definitely applies here. In fact, not doing UX research will likely cost you money — maybe a lot of it. If a donor comes to your site with the intention to give, but can’t figure out how to do that or is put off by an awkward or frustrating experience, they won’t be coming back. You’ll have missed out on what could have turned into a lifelong philanthropic partnership. And as boomers and millennials turn more and more toward online and mobile giving, your website is becoming an increasingly vital part of your fundraising strategy. Doing thoughtful but affordable UX research will help you understand what your audience needs. This will inform better usability and help you create compelling content, which will tip potential donors over the threshold into donating funds.

So how to conduct the user experience research you need with the budget you have? For starters, hire a web development company that understands and loves non-profits — like us! We offer great non-profit rates while still providing the same top-quality service we give our corporate clients. We happily work within limited budgets, from UX through to the finished product. We know that improving your website is just one of many projects on your to-do list! Leaning on an experienced firm like Kanopi Studios will all you to focus on changing lives while we do what we’re best at.

Here’s just a sample of how we can bring affordable UX research to your organization:

Create an online site survey. We start with your current users and ask them what’s working and what isn’t (and we’re experts in asking the right questions to get the data we need). We keep the survey short and sweet to make sure it’s not daunting to your audience.

Conduct online user session research. We use an analytics platform to see how current uses are navigating around your site, learning from their behavior.

Use online analytical tools. Google Analytics and other online tools are useful (and free) ways to get an idea of how users are currently interacting with your site. In fact, many organizations (maybe yours?) already have Google Analytics but aren’t using it to its full potential.

Keyword analysis. Keeping with the Google theme, Google’s free keyword planner can help you determine which key phrases will resonate with your audience and direct them toward the action you’d like them to take.

Do a comparative analytics review. We not only analyze your site, but sites similar to yours — especially those that are working well.

Recruit friends and family. Research participants don’t have to be strangers, and they don’t have to get paid. Reach out to your volunteers, staff, donors, and board members (and ask them to reach out to their friends and families!) to create a pool of research participants. Try to find people who fit into your target audience, and remember: not every opinion will apply to your needs. The idea here is to identify general trends.

Go where your audience is. Do you organize a big fundraising event like a gala or a run? This is the perfect place to ask a few questions of your target audience, most of whom will be thrilled to offer feedback. And it costs you nothing. Focus on asking specific questions versus just asking for them to provide their opinions on the site. For example, ask, “What type of information are you looking for when you consider donating to an organization?” Asking questions like these can help inform your content strategy.

Use the back of the napkin strategy. In Rocket Surgery Made Easy, Steve Krug suggests sketching out your web design and flow on the back of a napkin or a scrap piece of paper, and ask test subjects to tell you how they would navigate that site. Nothing fancy, but it gives you the results you need. It’s also easy and quick to modify in this format, so you can iterate as you go.

Card sorting. If we’re going old school with napkins, we can’t forget the UX power of card sorting! Use index cards or sticky notes to map out your site–one card for each page or section. Then ask someone in your target audience to sort the cards according to how they would group the information together. The results can be enlightening! (And it’s also kind of fun.)

Sometimes simple changes translate into big results — but you won’t know what changes to make without research. One of our nonprofit clients was struggling with converting website visitors to donors. Our research showed that the problem was the color of the “Donate” button. Seriously. We changed the color and donations increased.

For another client, the confusion lay in how to log into their personalized account page. Through a series of tests, we determined that a simple language change on the homepage would bring more clarity to site visitors and direct them to where they wanted to go. It worked.

We know that as a nonprofit, you have to do more than less. And we’re committed to helping you with affordable ux as well as other effective ways to spread your message and raise money for your cause. Contact us today and let’s talk about how we can create the very best website for your organization.