The UA Office of External Relations is in the early stages of redesigning the UA’s home page and the "top tier" pages of the UA Web site – and is looking for input from faculty and staff.

"Our Web site is one of our most visible marketing and outreach tools," says Kate Jensen, assistant vice president for marketing. Jensen reports that the site received nearly 406,000 unique visitors from 185 countries last month.

"In order to stay current with technology, usability and design and continue to meet the needs of all of our varied users, it’s necessary to redesign the home page and top tiers of the site every couple of years," she explained.

Specifically, the project goals are to create a UA Web site that more accurately reflects the quality and unique aspects of this University and that better meets the needs of our most important user groups.

External Relations has hired an outside consulting firm, Archetype 5, to evaluate the University’s site and provide strategic directions for improvement. Already Archetype has conducted focus groups with undergraduate and graduate students, prospective students, UA staff and UA alumni. Focus groups are scheduled for international students, while UA parents are weighing in with an online survey.

"Although each user group tends to offer suggestions specific to their needs, there have been some consistent themes already," Jensen said. "For instance, most of the focus group participants believe that the UA site should more accurately portray the beauty of this campus."

A new redesign blog, http://www.redesign.arizona.edu, has been created to keep the campus apprised of the progress of the Web redesign, offer insights into new directions and possible beta testing of new designs for the home page. It includes on online survey for the campus community to share opinions about the current site and suggestions for improvement. The Office of External Relations hopes that many more UA employees will share their views.