The University-Student Union is the focal point of student engagement at Cal State LA. It serves as a central hub for various student activities and plays a crucial role in keeping students well-informed about the latest events on campus.
The website has provided a platform for numerous students to remain engaged in campus life, whether it be through attending events, seeking employment opportunities, or participating in different student organizations.
During our audit of the site, we discovered a significant issue: accessibility was poor. It was challenging to locate critical information, and navigating the site proved to be a daunting task.
Our primary objective was to ensure that the website's information was easily accessible and intuitive. We knew that without accomplishing this goal, any attempt to redesign the site would be a fruitless endeavor.
Our second realization was that there was an excessive amount of information presented on a single page. This approach has proven to be counterproductive in the past as it can overwhelm the user. To address this issue, we decided to compartmentalize specific categories of content into their own sections, pages, and subpages.
We partitioned specific documents and arranged them according to their frequency of use.
Enabling students to share events was a critical requirement that led to the design and development of a key feature. We developed a modal that displayed the event details and generated a link, allowing students to share the event with others or add it to their personal calendars.
Finally, our goal was to craft a memorable and meaningful user experience by designing an interface that was both elegant and functional. However, the challenge we faced was how to showcase a significant amount of information while maintaining a lightweight user interface.
Ultimately, we developed an intuitive interface with a robust user experience that places the student at the center of our decisions. We improved the accessibility of the site's information significantly compared to its previous iteration. We also grouped specific parts of the website and prioritized frequently accessed resources.
Follow the development of the website here: https://www.calstatelausu.org/
