MICA.edu

The Problem.

For an institution that prides itself on the quality of its art education, MICA's website does not follow basic design or user experience principles. An initial analysis of the website reveals multiple navigation sets, each with numerous sub-navigations and architectures.

The Process.

When beginning the process of redesigning the information architecture for MICA.edu, I developed four personas that spanned the four main user groups of the website: faculty, current students, prospective students, and alumni. The respective workflows show how each user would ideally access the information vital to their MICA.edu experience.

Before devising two different information architectures for MICA.edu, I evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the current information architecture through the lens of my four personas.

The Solution.

The first information architecture I created is a more standard layout. It simplifies the website’s current information architecture by combining some elements in the secondary navigation and renaming the primary navigation elements to add consistency.

The second information architecture is inspired by my personas. Organizing the website’s vast amounts of information by user group gives users direct access to the pages they need most without sifting through extraneous information.

I then designed two sets of wireframes for the homepage of my first information architecture option. The wireframes, which include desktop and mobile versions, clearly guide the users to the navigation while keeping the website’s “quick hits” front and center.