Strategic design organization firm HUGE will help AU research and gather recommendations on how to revamp www.american.edu, a process some students favor.
HUGE is currently assisting AU in the first phase of the Web appearance revamp process, the "discovery, research, and analysis phase." Throughout this phase, HUGE will, among many tasks, research Web site user patterns, undergo competitive market research and try to answer the questions of who uses the Web site, why they use it and what they do while using it.
Elena Atkinson, a freshman in the School of International Service, said she supports AU's decision to consider changes to its main Web site.
"I think it's a good idea because right now I know I don't get everything out of it that I could," she said. "When I do use the school Web site it's hard to find the stuff that I want and I use the search bar."
An investigation regarding the reinvigoration of AU's Web presence began in spring 2006 after Interim President Neil Kerwin appointed School of Communication Dean Larry Kirkman to create a committee to analyze and make recommendations about AU's Web presence, according to David Taylor, Kerwin's chief of staff.
In September, the committee recommended the university hire a firm to help reinvigorate its Web presence.
AU placed a bid that was responded to with proposals by 12 firms interested in working with AU on the project, Taylor said.
A small group from Kirkman's committee identified four firms that were then invited to campus for interviews, and members of Kirkman's committee plus a few additional people narrowed the vendors down to two.
HUGE, which according to its Web site prides itself in "evolving a process and a culture that combine the most powerful aspects of research, design and technology," was chosen at the end of February to work with AU on the project after the deans, vice presidents, interim president and interim provost heard presentations and tabulated the recommendations made by those who reviewed the presentations.
Taylor said HUGE was chosen because it was very "customer focused," and the committee liked its emphasis on audience research and analyzing who uses the site.
A seven-member task force that includes Taylor meets weekly with HUGE and will consult with HUGE in an ongoing basis for phase one. This group assists HUGE with gathering information about AU. A second group, comprised of around two dozen students, faculty and staff, serves in sharing information at key stages in the process and has already met with HUGE staff once, according to Taylor.
HUGE will also conduct key stakeholder interviews, which involve university groups and individuals that rely heavily on the Web, such as marketing personnel for individual schools and programs and constituent interviews, which involve broader groups such as alumni.
Taylor said he is optimistic about HUGE representatives working with AU.
"They are heavy into their analysis of American University and our needs and have interviewed dozens and dozens of people," he said. "They want to drill down at what AU says about itself and who we claim to be - and ultimately, how we present ourselves."
HUGE will conduct research over the next three months and then make a set of recommendations for AU as to what to do about its Web presence.
Jean Lodge, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she is looking forward to the changes that will come about in the months following phase one.
"The main Web site is difficult to navigate," Lodge said. "When trying to figure out information that should be on the main Web site I find that I spend hours trying to figure out simple things"