Wharton School, Emeritus Society Website Redesign

Emeritus Society is a website dedicated to MBA graduates who have graduated forty-five years or more from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The group is also called WGES. They are active alumni of 7,500 members who use this website as their home base for information about exclusive programs and events.

Project Duration

This projects has started in March 2020 and was completed in May 2022.

The Problem

WGES members have experience working in various industries in advanced roles and they need an easy to use website to find information about Emeritus Society programs and other information about the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; because
they are interested in maintaining their connection
with the school in a meaningful way, donating their time, connecting with friends, and volunteering in
their communities.

The Goal

The Emeritus Society requires a website redesign that is responsive and concentrated on their unique programs such as mentoring, career development, reunion events, and the Crandall Challenge. They also need a dedicated place to update their website with new content, memories from school, photos, videos, articles, and more.

Emeritus Society Members

My Role

Web Designer, Graphic Designer, Video Editor, UX Researcher, Case Study Writer, Project Relaunch Lead, WGES Point of Contact

Responsibilities

Working closely with the Emeritus committee to establish project goals and user needs for the new website. Developing a sitemap, wireframes, and new website. Managing solutions for new content, editing content, and migrating existing content. Continuously checking in with committee to gather feedback on deliverables.

User Research: Summary

To kick off, a focus group was conducted with the Emeritus Society committee members. A series of questions were asked about paint points with the current site. Committee was also encouraged to share what they would like to see in a new website. We then met with the committee and presented low fidelity digital wireframes with detailed text descriptions of how their content would be displayed.

There was a pause in work that occurred between 2020 to 2021. A relaunch meeting was then held with committee members and additional time was provided to review and react to the digital wireframes. We met again with the committee to document their feedback and layout a timeline.

Once the a high fidelity prototype was ready, we met again to review the flow of the website. User feedback was collected and then applied to the site. Once content migration was complete the site was soft launched and committee members again had time review the website and provide feedback before the scheduled go live date. 

Wild Stems User Research Survey

User Research: Pain Points & New Features

User Interview Responses

Emeritus Society Members Group Photo

Q
&A

What is most important to you when using a website?

"Website should be simple and easy to use."

Q
&A

What design features would you like to see in the new website?

"The design should be inviting and interesting. Needs an with element of fresh content."

Q
&A

When exploring your new site what is most important?

“Members must know they are always on the WGES website.”

Q
&A

What is most helpful when using a new website?

“Detailed instructions should be added when tasks are more complex.”

Emeritus Society Buyer Persona Dave

Persona: Dave

Problem Statement: WGES members have experience working in various industries in advanced roles and they need an easy to use website to find information about Emeritus Society programs and other information about the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; because they are interested in maintaining their connection with the school in a meaningful way, donating their time, connecting with friends, and volunteering in their communities.

Emeritus Society User Journey Map

User Journey Map

Examining the steps to review WGES updates and submit new content: Review site for member spotlight, reunion 2022, Crandall Challenge luncheon information, and submit new quarterly content update.

Emeritus Society Wireframes

Digital Wireframes

Digital wireframes were created to provide a roadmap for the Emeritus committee how the newly proposed site. Dynamic content libraries were proposed for the About Us and Homepage to increase visibility of new content for users.

Homepage Diagram

Digital Wireframes

As the initial design phase continued, we made sure to base screen designs on feedback and findings from the user research of our Emeritus committee members.

Crandall Challenge Diagram

Organizing large amounts of information into a easy to read, scannable layout was a key user need to address in the designs.

Wild Stems Low Fidelity Prototype

Sitemap

A sitemap was created to show the Emeritus committee members how we planned to simplify the information and increase the ease use when browsing.

Images of before the usability study and after the usability study.

Mockups

Early designs had leadership spotlight story and did not visually represent founders that are now deceased. After user interviews it was found that a video was needed and we need to indicate deceased founders with an asterisk (*). 

Images of before the usability study and after the usability study.

Mockups

The second user interview revealed there we needed include more indicators that users are on Emeritus web pages. The button “Home” became “WGES Home”. Page titles all include the subheading “Wharton Graduate Emeritus Society”.

Key Mockups

Key Mockups
Wild Stems High Fidelity Prototype

High-fidelity
prototype

 

View Live Website

Accessibility Considerations

Mobirise

1

Text is easy to read and images have meaningful alt-text. Making the website screen reader compatible for users with Dyslexia, and low to no vision.

Mobirise

2

Colors meet WCAG high contrast standards for users that are color blind. 

Mobirise

3

All videos have closed captioning for users with low to no hearing.

Takeaways

Impact:

The completed design makes users feel the new website is simple and easy to use. We have achieved our goal of making an inviting website that showcases new content and information.

User quotes from user feedback session:
“The bottom line -- it's BEAUTIFUL.”

“To me the whole look of the content feels easy to use. This is an entirely upgraded site...is worth our efforts.”

“Wonderful, a dream fulfilled for us - thank you so much Hannah, Justin, and Eleni for making this happen!!!”

“It is indeed wonderful. Many obstacles (nationwide), but you and everyone hung in there and helped fulfilled our WGES dream.”

What We learned:

For this unique project we were able to create a strong relationship with the Emeritus Society committee members. They felt comfortable providing feedback, expressing their unique needs, and calling attention to any changes. Our design process was reliant on user feedback at every step. We were transparent about project goals and timeline milestone dates. We learned how to meet the needs of our users while working virtually and with a group of alumni outside of the Wharton External Affairs organization.

Next Steps

Mobirise

1

Continue to update site with content provided by Emeritus Society committee members via online forms.

Mobirise

2

Conduct additional user research and document feedback to determine any new areas of need.

Mobirise

3

Continue to measure the success of this project by, analyzing the analytics from WordPress and Google Analytics. 

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