Refurbished website prompts mixed reactions

January 27, 2011 by Kevin Wong 

Phase one of technology makeover kicks off for fall

The preliminary result of an ongoing three-year effort, the new UNLV website launched this January with a modern design.

Primarily feedback driven, the web communications staff wanted a lighter layout with more approachable features for users.

One goal of the new design was to address the lack of a central UNLV calendar.

In place of a constant stream of PDF files, the new front page provides added focus to upcoming events.

A detailed weekly calendar appears left on the homepage with highlighting current events, and campus news and announcements appear on the right.

The slideshow, once mainly used for PR releases, now highlights events around campus to better reflect UNLV student life.

Another main feature was the inclusion of a quick links toolbar in place of the drop down menu used to navigate the website in the older design.

While its predecessor was a long alphabetical list of common needs, the new toolbar carries icons and links to commonly used students features including: MyUNLV, Rebelmail and Webcampus.

“Less affected pages [need] to be jumped through for new information,” said Kurt Raschko, a UNLV Web Communications web specialist.

True to that approach, the new design updated the audience-centered homepages. Across the top navigation, users can select “current student,” “future student” or other categories, to be directed to relevant links and information.

The site got a cosmetic makeover, too.

“The use of black and red felt too heavy,” Raschko said of the old design. The new design uses lighter tones and a more centered layout and the width of the website has been expanded to accommodate larger monitors.

The three-year project, now in phase one, was primarily headed by Stacy Fisher, who no longer works for Web Communications at UNLV but whose designs are still being carried out by the staff.

The redesign of the UNLV website is a work in progress. Eventually, the new templates will be expanded to all Web Communications sites. Until then, some surfing off the main page may still lead users to the old layout.

For those interested in viewing the older website design, the option is still available at the bottom of the homepage.

And for the truly nostalgic, the Web Communications site, web.unlv.edu, has a timeline with yearly screenshots of previous designs dating back to 1996.
User feedback, a vital part of the redesign, is still encouraged.

That feedback is likely to be mixed, as students reactions to the changes have ranged from excitement to disappointment.

Sophomore photography major Jazmin Matos wants to see more specific improvements.

“I don’t like the new website because the links that were not available on the old website are still not available,” she said, citing outdated faculty and staff contact information.

“It’s not user friendly because the links don’t match up and it takes forever to find the page you are looking for,” Matos said.

Sophomore computer science major Aaron Lambert has not run into difficulty using the site.

“I think it is [user-friendly] because you’ve got the obvious links on top,” he said. “The links work fine.”

Stephanie Kwan, a junior hotel administration major, had a hard time accessing WebCampus through unlv.edu, but acknowledged the consmetic improvements on the sire.

“I thought it looked more clean than the previous one,” she said. “Everything looks more updated.”

ON THE WEB:

Feedback on the UNLV website: go.unlv.edu/web/feedback

EDITOR’S NOTE: Maria Ágreda contributed to this story.

Contact Keving Wong at kevin.wong.ry@gmail.com.