The new osu.edu has launched.

Thank you for reading and commenting on this blog throughout our redesign process. We appreciate the feedback we've received since May. We intend to consider the many comments and suggestions you provided in our plans for continuing improvements.

With this final post, comments to the blog are closed. Additional feedback may be sent to comments@osu.edu.

On May 10, 2007 I logged into the redesign blog and posted for the first time to announce and kick-off the New Media unit's most recent undertaking - a complete overhaul of the Ohio State web site. I spent the next 16 months meeting with groups on campus - from Student Life (formerly Student Affairs), to academic advisors and students, to Vice Provosts.

Late last month, we were contacted by Rachel Reuben, a SUNY director of web communication and MBA student working on a research project about higher ed use of social media.

Rachel's report is finished--and she's highlighted Ohio State in the "best practices" section. (See page 9.)

Read Rachel's blog post about the report--and download it--here:
http://tinyurl.com/osusocialmedia

Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to provide thoughtful comment on the new osu.edu. We appreciate the feedback.

Just as the current osu.edu isn't the same site we launched in 2005, the new site will adapt over time. The new osu.edu can--and will--change to better suit users.

For example, a couple of recent updates we hope you'll notice:

• Pull-down menus on all the audience buttons now give users quick access to the links they need most.
• The lower half of the page has less text so it's easier to scan and has a cleaner look.

The wait is over: The new osu.edu is running in preview mode alongside the current site.

The new site includes several new features:
* A second-level International page.
* A new O-H! spirit page.
* A revamped Visitors' page.
* Image of the Day.
* A blogroll featuring the online journals of faculty and students.
* The latest O-H-I-O photo submission appearing on the home page.
* An events podcast (Buckeye Loop).

View the latest home page mock-up.

Updates include:

• A pull-down menu example
• The ability to search OSU using osu.edu or Google.com
• Find people from the home page
• A "Top ten" list for each audience group shows the most popular/most clicked content on osu.edu pages
• The latest O-H-I-O image
• The latest "Image of the day"

Lantern reporter Allison D'Aurora recently wrote about the redesign and blog.

Check out her story, "University creates more user-friendly web site."

A sketch of a new type of content area featuring a campus event as a daily visual snapshot.

Another possibility for this is themed weeks—-perhaps football images during Michigan Week, student-oriented pictures during move-in week, maybe photos of old commencement speakers leading to commencement, research images, arts, study abroad, pretty campus images at each seasonal change, etc. (Maybe have guest curators? i.e. a "Wexner Week".)

Some OSU sites, Account Management for example, use a default template for tight consistency with the osu.edu site. The first link below is a current Account Management page. Compare the current page with the sketch in the second link.

• Account management: Current page

A sketch of content for OSU Alumni and friends

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  Alumni content areas
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Launch schedule (subject to change) for the osu.edu redesign...

• July '07 - Jan '08

  Sketching, Feedback, Design and Back-end refinements

• Jan '08 - June '08

  Code, Production, Refinement

• June '08 - Sept '08

  A 'Soft' launch: New pages running in parallel to existing site. Updated templates, "Nav bar" become available

• Sept '08 (beginning of Autumn Quarter)

  Launch of new site/pages

Sketches of a redesigned osu.edu homepage.

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  Content areas

2005-: A fixed width design for 800x600 pixel monitors. At the very top a common "Nav-bar" adopted by many Ohio State sites. Main navigation remains in the upper right, but as plain hyperlinks instead of Flash.

2002-2005: A wider layout and feature area within a somewhat elastic layout. The main navigation on the right side was flash. (Click the image to view full-size.)

2000-2002: Main content area is dedicated to a large "feature" visual. Expanded "News" content.