The UX of a University Website, xkcd Style

Ever had to visit a university campus and tried to use the campus map on their website to figure out where you need to go? It’s not easy. Between my wife’s recent acceptance to medical school (and the ensuing flurry of activity to get her registered, find a place to live, move across the country, and so on…) and a number of university experiences myself, I’m fairly confident in saying that, in general, universities have less-than-stellar website usability.

“But Ian,” you say, “as the upper echelons of higher education, shouldn’t these institutions be well-equipped to serve the needs of their online visitors?”

The problem, as shown in the comic below from xkcd, is that someone in the IT or marketing department at these universities has decided what needs to be featured on the home page, rather than asking the people using the site regularly (students, prospective students, parents, staff, etc.) what they need.

Don’t get caught thinking you know what your users want. As you can see, there’s a (pretty good, I think) chance that you’re going to be wrong.