Why #littlebigdetails Matter and What You Should Do About Them

The audience, structure and often the design of university websites are 90% the same (for the most part). Although your website is probably not the sole reason students enroll, it can be a detractor. The difference between a regular site and a rememberable one is the #littlebigdetails. A lot of time is spent on the “big details” of a website, like the centerpiece image, and things that everyone expects, frankly the easy decisions. The harder, but more memorable, are the little details that make a big difference in your user's experience. Learn why these details make such a large impact and how to take a step back to discover how to add a little joy to your user experience. #psuweb13

Transcript

1. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 #littlebigdetails What and why they matter.
2. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 @nickdenardis
3. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Associate Director of Web Communications Wayne State University wayne.edu Host of EDU Checkup educheckup.com Curator of EDU Snippits edusnippits.com Nick DeNardis
4. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Same. Same. Same. Higher Education Websites
5. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Name Search Girls under trees Navigation Promotion News Events
6. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Name Search Girls under trees Navigation Promotion News Events
7. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Name Search Girls under trees Navigation Promotion News Events Impact statement
8. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Outliers
9. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 nd.edu
10. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 georgetown.edu
11. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 drew.edu
12. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Programs Admissions Apply Financial Aid Class Schedule
13. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 You are your website Intrigue your visitors, don’t put them o.
14. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Source: Noel-Levitz Impression of your website
15. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Customizing your site is hard (especially in highered)
16. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Highered suers from • Lack of ‘product’ champions • Limited time/budget • CMS’s... • Decentralization/Centralization struggle • RFP/Committee fatigue • Innovation paralysis
17. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” ~ Mother Teresa
18. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Everything Matters
19. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Details (medium sized ones)
20. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Auto Correct
21. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Nifty interfaces umd.edu
22. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Little Details
23. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 earlham.edu
24. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 admission.universityofcalifornia.edu
25. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 twitter.com
26. @nickdenardis #psuweb13
27. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Little Big Details
28. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 So what are they? Not apparent Useful to the user Solves a problem “Hey, did you know..”?
29. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Pure Utility
30. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 basecamp.com
31. @nickdenardis #psuweb13
32. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 siu.edu
33. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Justifying the time
34. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 GA Event Tracking _trackEvent(category, action, opt_label, opt_value, opt_noninteraction) _trackEvent(‘littlebigdetail’, ‘moved- click’, ‘Future Students’)
35. @nickdenardis #psuweb13
36. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Added Value
37. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 reddit.com
38. @nickdenardis #psuweb13
39. @nickdenardis #psuweb13
40. @nickdenardis #psuweb13
41. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 oc.edu/admissions/undergraduate/
42. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 oc.edu/admissions/undergraduate/
43. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 vfs.com
44. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 givingto.msu.edu
45. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Hidden Feature
46. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 snhu.edu http://j.mp/11JHfxW
47. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 soundcloud.com
48. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 lafayette.edu
49. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Creating a #littlebigdetail
50. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Rules Your website must work first No A/B test you can use Won’t get you an award Put a smile on someone’s face
51. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Step 1: Eat your own dog food
52. @nickdenardis #psuweb13
53. @nickdenardis #psuweb13
54. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Step 2: Watch users and find patterns
55. @nickdenardis #psuweb13
56. @nickdenardis #psuweb13
57. @nickdenardis #psuweb13
58. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Step 3: Solve the problem, track it
59. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 visited connect.wayne.edu? No Yes mailto:user@wayne.edu https://connect.wayne.edu/zimbra/? view=compose&to=user@wayne.edu
60. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Step 4: Profit.
61. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Resources • http://littlebigdetails.com/ • http://uxporn.uxpin.com/ • http://www.flickr.com/groups/microcopy/ • http://edusnippits.com/ • http://sixux.com/
62. @nickdenardis #psuweb13 Thank you speakerdeck.com/nickdenardis