top of page

DEPAUL CDM WEBSITE

DePaul University has a main university website - depaul.edu - and a separate website for the College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM) - cdm.depaul.edu. The CDM website contains a lot of information, and the content is difficult to maintain. Some of the information presented on the CDM website can also be found on the main university website, as well as on other web-based tools used by students; yet, it was unknown if this duplicate content is useful to CDM website users. In addition, the information architecture of CDM website reflects the internal structure of the CDM college (i.e. the homepage contains links to the three CDM School pages); however, it is unclear whether that structure had relevance for students, as the Schools had been recently established within CDM.

​

A teammate and I worked closely with the Assistant Dean of the CDM college to develop a research protocol that would allow us to explore how and why current and prospective students use the College of Computing and Digital Media’s website.

 FINAL REPORT 

PROJECT BACKGROUND

  1. Is there content on the website that can be removed or moved to a different place?

  2. Is there content missing from the website that would be useful for students?

  3. What information would students like to know about the CDM college?

  4. What tools do students commonly use?

  5. Do the schools in CDM have meaning for students?

  6. What information do prospective students use to evaluate our programs?

  • We recruited participants through social media, the CDM newsletter, and email. We also recruited participants by approaching students in the CDM building labs.

  • To confirm eligibility for the study, participants completed a screener. Participants also provided verbal consent to participate in the study and to be recorded during the interview.

  • We interviewed a total of 11 undergraduate students who were enrolled in the CDM college. Students represented 9 out of the 11 majors in the CDM college. Participants also completed 2 tasks during the interview using their computers or computers provided by our research team and were asked to think aloud and explain their thought process while completing the tasks.

We wrote a research report describing our methods, results, and recommendations and presented this report to the Assistant Dean of the CDM College and her team. Below is a summary of our results, grouped by relevance to our research questions:

 

Is there content on the website that can be removed or moved to a different place?

  • We observed that much of the content on the website is not used by current students.

    • Homepage: When visiting the CDM website, this page was often glossed over and did not contain information that the students found useful.  The main impact of the homepage is the slideshow at the top of page.  

    • Navigation: Students mostly used the search bar to find information within the website. Only 2 students used the navigation bar to find information within the CDM website. No student used the “Schools” buttons (e.g. School of Computing, School of Design, School of Cinematic Arts) to access information about their major.

    • Left sidebar: Only one participant used the left sidebar to find information on the website.

 

Is there content missing on the website that would be useful for students.

  • Content that could be useful to add to the CDM website includes additional examples of student work, a list of notable alumni, and images that depict more female students enrolled at CDM.

 

What information would students like to know about the CDM college?

  • Current students use the CDM website to access information pertaining to faculty, major course offerings and degree requirements, and CDM events.

 

What tools do students commonly use?

  • Tools commonly used by students included the Degree Progress Report, RateMyProfessor.com, the Degree Planner, and the “Quicklinks” dropdown on CDM Homepage to access other DePaul University websites.

 

Do the schools in CDM have meaning for prospective students?

  • Students did not strongly identify with the “Schools” within CDM. Only 3 out of 11 students knew there were Schools within CDM.

 

What information do prospective students use to evaluate our program?

  • All participants used DePaul’s main university website while researching DePaul.

  • 9 out of 11 participants used the CDM website while researching DePaul.  

  • 6 out of 11 participants talked with current or former students, including friends and family members.

  • Overall, students recalled being able to find the information they were looking for without difficulty, including: major requirements, concentrations, and student projects.  

  • Students were also interested in learning about DePaul’s ranking compared with other schools and career paths for individual majors.

  • 7 out of 11 students said that the DePaul’s location within Chicago was a big factor in making the decision to attend.

  • Other factors include: labs with appropriate software, following a family legacy, scholarships/financial assistance offered by DePaul.

KEY FINDINGS
PROCESS
PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Team Size

 3

 

Year

2016

 

My Role

Developing research protocol, facilitating interviews, research analysis, writing and presentation of final report 

​

UX Research
Contact

Success! Message received.

bottom of page