Consistent UX strategy will take your organization to next-level success online. But getting decision makers on board is easier said than done in the decentralized world of higher education.

Digital experiences for most universities resemble a vast, lawless territory where divisions, offices, and even individuals act as sovereign entities who do as they wish, for better or — more often — worse.

If you have any responsibility for a university’s digital properties, you know how it goes: Thousands of people with varying levels of digital expertise across your organization make interactive decisions all day every day without regard to consistency…

Most sites, apps, and software do too much, achieving nothing more than full-featured mediocrity. Want to make your digital product better from the start? Limit scope. Limit it considerably.

Most digital products do too much.

In the early stages of digital product planning, organizations rarely push back on calls to limit scope. It seems everyone is on board the uncomplicated bandwagon, at least initially. A typical mantra goes like this: “Here at ACME, we believe in being simple. We believe in quality over quantity.”

Well.

This corporate jibber jabber might be easier to believe with actual evidence. Most sites, apps, and software are pretty dang complicated…

Any time you add an integration to your digital product, make sure it’s supporting your users and project goals.

If you’re planning to launch a new site or app, we get it — every bit helps. Externally sourced add-ons and integrations can be a cost-effective way to add critical features and speed up your production timeline. But by adding another player to the game, you’re also adding a good degree of complexity to your project.

Any time you work with an external vendor to introduce a new component to your project, you also risk introducing a new set of problems…

UX professionals are naturally dynamic, multifaceted, even magical beings. But hiring one person to solve all your usability problems is just an expensive, unrealistic Band-Aid for a larger UX need.

We’ve seen it before. You’ve identified some serious issues with your digital products. You know those issues have to do with usability, and you’re looking to begin investing in better user experience. Huzzah! But woe to you who believe that hiring a single expert to sweep in and “do UX” (whatever that means) is the fabled answer to your problems. If you or your higher-ups think one person can do…

The Great Search Dilemma

We all search online. By now, we are all used to going to a site or app, typing in the thing we want, and choosing from relevant results. Whether we’re trying to find a friend on social media, pulling up the best recipe for mashed potatoes, or trying to remember lyrics for that song that’s stuck in our head, just about everyone knows the basics of online search, probably even your technology-averse grandpa.

Do We Really Need Main Navigation Anymore?

A digital product team might start to wonder: Search is now so pervasive and so well-understood, is it possible that it’s the only thing people need to…

Chances are, your site, app, or software product is not something people use constantly, all day every day. And that means everything for your approach to UX.

Considering Frequency of Use

Some digital products are used more frequently than others. Some, like the text apps on our phones, we use constantly. Everyone from the most accomplished programmer to my dear sweet mother texts. We text at all hours, during conversations, and dismayingly, while we drive.

Because we text all the time, we know our text apps like the back of our hand. …

Your current site or app isn’t supporting your business goals — which means it’s hurting them. You’re ready for an overhaul. In fact, you’ve already started dreaming up that shiny new site or app.

Want to wave a wand and get that efficient, productivity-boosting project that delights users and stakeholders alike? Good news, you can.

Here is the perfect spell for project success: Start with a content evaluation. UX magic takes time to work, but follow these steps and you’ll evade the traps and pitfalls that mean certain project doom.

Step 1: Consider content from the beginning.

You think there’s just a few weeks between you and…

One company’s digital accessibility failure means a wake-up call for anyone not taking compliance seriously.

A Tale of Decision-Making Woe

Domino’s Pizza has touted itself as a leader in excellent customer service. They love to advertise options and tools designed specifically to make things easier and more fun for the consumer. Unfortunately, they did not make these innovative sites and apps usable for all customers, just the ones without disabilities.

When one customer with a visual impairment couldn’t order a pizza due to the company’s inaccessible site and app, they sued. In response, Domino’s claimed that they didn’t need to be digitally accessible in the…