Designing VisComm Website: Define

In the Define phase of our OU Visual Communication website redesign, we focusedon analyzing the information gathered from our interviews and interviewees. Using this data, we had initially created nine unique personas to represent the different types of people who might be interested in Visual Communications and might possibly visit the website. After going overour findings, we combinedthese into three final personas that best reflected our target audiences: prospective students, parents of students, and alumni. This process allowed us to capture a wide range of perspectives while focusing on the groups most essential to the website’s usability and overall experience.

Throughout this stage, we gained lots of insight into our target audiences, including the types of information they seek at different stages of their lives and what steps they take during each of those stages. One of our biggest realizations was that, although each audience group is individualistic, they share many common interests when it comes to what they want from the OU website. From our interviews, we found that all groups were especially interested in general information about the OU Visual Communication program—such as the degree plan, specific class requirements, and details about faculty. Another takeaway was the strong interest in seeing student work. Parents, for example, wanted to see the kinds of projects their child might complete in the program, while prospective students were eager to imagine themselves doing that type of work in the future. Alumni also valued this, as showcasing their past projects is important for future employers who want to understand their academic and creative experiences.

We also faced several challenges throughout this process. One of our main difficulties was that our interviews did not directly address participants’ expectations at different stages of their lives. Instead, we focused more on the types of information that would be most useful on the site and why they might visit the OU website in general, rather than why they might access it at different points in their lives. Because of this, it was challenging to take the information we gathered and reinterpret it through the lens of their life stages. Another challenge was narrowing down our personas to just three final ones. We initially had at least four strong personas, but ultimately decided that prospective students, parents, and alumni best represented our target audience.

Overall, I believe the challenges and lessons from this stage of the process helped me see things in a new light. Before, I didn’t realize just how important research is in the design process, but I now understand that knowing your audience’s needs is essential. This stage taught me the value of strong research, from asking thoughtful interview questions and building genuine connections with participants to interpreting their responses in meaningful ways. Moving forward, I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned to create a more user-friendly experience for those accessing the Visual Communication website.