The athletics department revealed the new look for its virtual home after months of preparing for a much needed update. The former design, which was rendered obsolete by many, has been replaced with a newer, brighter, and cleaner model.
This update seems like it was a long time coming, as many have felt that the website in its former state was not particularly user friendly, less organized, and, at times, felt like something out of the neolithic age of the internet. This was in large part because its landscape had not changed in over five years.
“The redesign was part of our contract renewal with SIDEARM Sports, our website provider. Our site had the same look since we signed on with them in 2014, so an update was in order,”said Sports Information Director Mike Falk.
The making of the new site did not happen overnight, and many parties were involved. The redesign entailed a lot of research, collaboration, “A group of people, including Lynn Tubman (Director of Athletics and Recreation), Lily Otu (Assistant Director of Athletics), coaches and students began the redesign process last September by looking at other college websites and exploring what features we wanted on ours. Once we communicated our wishes to SIDEARM, they sent back a series of design drafts and revisions for our approval. After we had a final design approved, we were given a test site to update until the new site launched last week” said Falk.
Though the new version of the site is merely an update, it feels almost completely new to someone who is used to navigating the old version. The feature images on the homepage stand out with appealing titles that blend together nicely. They are also supplemented with the athletic department’s upcoming schedule, highlights from the prior week, and noteworthy Twitter updates available at the scroll of a user. Another noticeable change is the prominence of the hall of fame section.
In addition to the front page, each team’s section is much improved as well. Both schedules and box scores are easier to attain and parse through, particularly because visitors are able to sort through data in more ways than ever before. Tackling this challenge will make it easier for student-athletes and fans to better understand the results of the games and matches.
The most marked difference, however, is the way the tabs on top and their respective subgroups have been rejiggered in a way that somebody would likely be able to find everything they need under one header. This could be beneficial to prospective athletes and current students who are not affiliated with a team, as members of those two groups are more likely to be first time users.
Although the process was arduous, the results thus far seem to be a real home run. “The transition has been seamless for us, since the process of updating the site on the back end has not changed. Hopefully it has been for our site viewers as well. The feedback has been extremely positive so far,” Falk added.
