We just launched one of the many Fiscal Operations (opens new window) departmental websites. The overall structure of this site mirrors the look of all the Fiscal Operations websites which will be going up shortly.

Structure

In the old site every sub department was basically just a set of pages. In the new site each department has it's own independent site to accomplish it's own needs. Some have promotions, news, events and quicklinks while others don't. Beyond the physical structure the navigation has also been clarified to simple 8-10 items per page with the goal of get people to where they need to go quickly.

Design

The design of the new site is built from the base Wayne State templates. When people hear that they think boring, mundane structure but we use this base structure to build off and customize based on the needs of the department. The fiscal operations department don't need to sell to prospective students, they just need to present information quickly and in a way that is straight forward. We used the based template to enhance the readability and style of the text.

Overall

The content of the site has been completely rewritten. The goal was clarity, making sure a visitor landing on a page could find the information they are looking for within 10 seconds. We helped train the Bursar staff on correct usage of headers, bullets and link titles. We think it came out a lot better than the old site and will continue to get better as time goes on.

View the Office of University Bursar at http://bursar.wayne.edu/ (opens new window)