Nuts &
Bolts
Timeline
February 2024 — October 2024
Project Scope
- Stakeholder interviews
- Usability testing pre and post-launch
- Mapping and streamlining Slate pathways
- Simplifying content architecture
- Wireframes and mockups for key pages
- Content work plan and implementation
- Design / dev for new layout components
CMS
Omni CMS
Third-Party Integrations
Trumba, Slate
Site Size
250+ content pages at first launch, 23,000+ pages in the domain overall
Five years after their web transformation, OSU cast fresh eyes on Admissions
NewCity led the comprehensive overhaul of Oklahoma State University’s web presence in 2017-18, which included the Admissions section of their website. A lot changed for OSU over the next five years though – a global pandemic, adding a Tulsa campus, supporting more online and international students. OSU saw strong enrollment growth during this period. They set an ambitious goal to reach 5,000 freshmen by 2026.
So why revisit your undergraduate admissions website when you’re already doing well? Rachel Eng, Sr. Associate Director of Communications, said “It may be a better time to do it, when you’re not hurting, when you can optimize what you’re doing and add value.” Rachel’s team had some concerns that the site navigation might not be serving their audiences as well as it could. They started an internal project to map it all out, but Rachel hit pause – realizing they could benefit from an outside perspective.
Rachel explained, “It’s so easy to make decisions about your website based on your own preferences and what’s going on at the moment. You can think that you have your audiences’ needs in view all the time, but when you’re in it every day you don’t realize how much your own knowledge affects what you think your audiences will understand.”
Staying Student-Led
So they invited NewCity to partner again for this vital part of their site. After interviewing Rachel and other leaders to get an initial sense of where we might improve the experience, we talked to admissions counselors and the admissions operations teams to understand the application journey, where students struggle to complete or where missteps in the application process could impact their enrollment success. We wanted to know the places where they had to walk people through something, or show them a workaround. And we asked what was good – what people never complained about.
Next we conducted a series of usability tests to see for ourselves. The videos were eye opening – some of the audience tasks OSU thought might be problems weren’t, while other tasks were harder than they expected, like:
- Figuring out who to contact in Admissions
- Scheduling a visit
- Understanding transfer credits
- Checking the status of your application
We analyzed all the key user journeys through the site and mapped every pathway to a Slate form or screen. We found examples of redundant or conflicting content, unclear calls to action, and cluttered pages that obscured important next steps. Talking to the OSU team we realized that they had added a lot of content in response to the pandemic or the needs of key audiences, but this had been done without much attention to overall information architecture.
Key takeaway for digital strategy: We had helped OSU implement a strong design system and CMS back in 2018 which made it easy to create new pages. Yay! But a flexible design system and CMS doesn’t provide governance. You need both.
Team Effort
Once we had a clear sense of where the opportunities lay for improvement, NewCity worked side by side with the OSU Undergrad Admissions team on improvements to architecture, layout and content for Slate and key web pages. It was important for their team that this project was scheduled at a time of year when they would actually have time to work on content. They were able to immediately implement the Slate changes to coincide with new enrollment cycle application updates, so the timing was a real win.
Before & After
Because we were working within the existing design system and CMS, there was no need for a big “Here’s our new website!” reveal. As soon as we finished with a section or page, we would push it live.
These are examples of before and after versions of key screens.
Apply Page
Visit Pages
Impact of NewCity’s Enrollment Expertise
Rachel placed a high value on having Robynne Lofton, NewCity’s Director of Enrollment Strategy, on the project team. “She understands where her team is coming from, but at the same time, when I would say something or share feedback, she would respond, ‘Yes, I get what you’re saying and we need to explore that and here’s why.’ So there was a healthy conversation dynamic which gave me confidence to provide feedback as it relates to Oklahoma State and our particular audiences. Coming from an enrollment management perspective, Robynne understands that it’s not just black and white in terms of web strategy. Strategy shifts based on the audience and the goal that you’re trying to accomplish.”
Long-term partnership
Since joining their team as digital partner in 2017, NewCity has watched OSU’s growth with pride. Their momentum in a challenging higher ed environment is a testament to their long-term investment in their people, their strategy, and their digital presence. Key marketing, enrollment and web leaders have been in their roles for several years, building on all the lessons they’ve learned.
The refreshed OSU Undergraduate Admissions site went live in the fall of 2024, just as OSU announced they had reached their goal of 5,000 freshmen by 2026 two years early! OSU now has confidence that their admissions site is primed and ready for the next phase of growth.
The whole website drives admissions
“With our new website, our admissions site and our homepage are all one website. They’re integrated,” OSU’s branding and digital strategy director said. “There’s no disconnect anymore.”
The admissions conversion funnel tracks goals using Google Analytics and Slate. We prioritized new centralized content along key user paths for the prospective student audience — academic programs, scholarships and financial aid, admissions, about, and student life.
As a result, post-launch “Get Mail” (request for information) conversions went up more than 35%, and “Apply” conversions were also up.
Want to talk enrollment strategy?
Enrollment Services is led by Robynne Lofton whose career spans 26 years in enrollment management positions.
