Artemis

MSU Human Development and Family Studies Gets Personal

Michigan State University's Department of Human Development and Family Studies (formerly Family and Child Ecology) felt that their out-of-date website didn't show the human side of their work. With over 25 faculty members working on everything from child development laboratories to a public family therapy clinic, MSU HDFS felt that their old website didn't show off the diverse people that make their programs special.

The Problem

MSU HDFS quickly realized there was a lot more to building a website than they had anticipated. How could they create a site that addressed potential graduate students, community members with children, committees that reviewed their research proposals, and their own faculty? How could they decide what information was important and what could be left out? And once those questions were answered, how would they organize it all to make sense to every user?

The Solution

We worked extensively with a committee of 10 department representatives to determine the best way to architect the website with three goals in mind:
1. Direct the department's online audiences to relevant information quickly
2. Provide an intuitive user interface that meets the university's accessibility standards
3. Provide easy content management to keep information useful and up to date

The completed website features a full faculty directory that helps potential graduate students learn about who they could work with and helps grant-approval committees see the faces behind the research.