Designing for higher ed comes with many unique challenges. There are multiple stakeholders with different goals and objectives, different audiences you’re trying to reach, and the need for a flexible design that adapts to those demands. In this webinar, learn how to plan a design strategy to drive engagement and results.

1. Leveraging Design
Systems to Streamline
Web Projects
February 25th, 2021

2. The
Open Source Expansion
Partner

3. Our vision is to empower every person on
the planet with the innovative freedom
and community impact that open-source
technology offers.
Our Vision

4. Today’s
Team
Jay Callicott
VP of Technical Operations
Sheree Hill
Creative Director

5. ● Human Advocate & Passionate Designer
● 21 Years in Digital Marketing & Advertising
● Brand Strategist, UX & Digital Designer
● Digital & B2B Marketing Leadership
● Organizational Growth, Process & Scale
● System and Product Design for Higher Ed
Sheree Hill
Creative Director
/in/shereehill

6. ● Engineer and Organizational Leader
● Passion for Solving Real-World Problems
● Drupal and Open Source Advocate
● 10+ Years Advancing Open Source
● Operations and Product Leader
● Rain distribution won Acquia’s “Open Source
Giants” award in 2019.
Jay Callicott
VP of Technical Operations
in/jay-callicott-8535ba1/
@drupalninja

7. Higher Education
Industry Focus

8. | 8
Focus on
Higher
Education
| 8
● Mediacurrent is partnered with
7 out of the top 10 Universities
in the Adoption of Drupal
● 13+ Years Experience in Higher
Education

9. | 9

10. | 10
Mediacurrent
Drupal
Higher
Education
User
Experience
Three pillars come together to
mitigate risk and provide
predictable outcomes
1. Best in class Drupal
development
2. Proven experience
designing modern Digital
User Experience
3. Intimate knowledge of
Higher Education and all
of the opportunities and
challenges projects
present
Mediacurrent and “The Intersect”

11. Today’s
Agenda
1. Setting Priorities
2. Designing for Scale
3. Empowering the Team
4. Rain University
5. Q&A

12. Setting Priorities

13. | 13
We Need
More

15. | 15
Competing Needs
Increase Conversions
Produces tangible,
short-term results.
Functional Work
Growth & Velocity
Contributes to intangible,
long-term results
Foundational Work

16. Quick Poll: Who has struggled
getting buy-in to prioritize
foundational work that supports
infrastructure & growth?

17. | 17
Silos Suck
Energy
Inefficient Workflows
Uncover breakdowns
Design systems can help peer review within
distributed teams, and assist with handoff
processes between design and
development.

18. | 18
Monsters
Hurt People
Fragmented Signals
Inconsistencies in the
interaction and components
causes cognitive strain on
new users who can’t
understand the logic of the
User Interface.
RAWR

19. | 19
Design systems help teams build faster,
understand components and processes, and
create a consistent user experience.

20. Designing for Scale

21. | 21

22. | 22
The Challenge
● Legacy CMS
● Scattered ecosystem
● Poor Authoring experience
● Inconsistent touchpoint
● Poor Performance

23. | 23
The Solution
● Upgraded Drupal CMS
● Integrated across systems
● Defined digital brand extension
● Touchpoint consistency
● Component design system.

24. | 24
Component Matrix

25. | 25
Component Matrix

26. | 26
Interactive Program Comparison Chart

27. | 27
Animated Data Points

30. | 30
Project Highlights
Reviewing content in light of the brand goals and
the current persona perceptions gave Goizueta
the path forward to a more impactful content
strategy.
A site map, user journeys, and responsive
wireframes defined clear conversion pathways.
Goizueta.Emory.edu won AVA Gold for the
Web-Based Production for both the Educational
Institution and the Performing Arts categories.
15 Microsites consolidated on to one
Drupal platform
300
Digital translation of hundreds of
pages of content exposes
international students to Goizueta
programs
75%
Reduced wireframe design time
with wireframes for RAIN (versus
Drupal out-of-the-box)

31. American
College of
Healthcare
Sciences

32. Brand ID
Art Direction

33. Brand ID
Patterns

34. Design
Production
Workflow
Cloud eBook Example

35. Empowering the Team

36. | 36
Setting the Why
We’re growing!
As we continue to grow, so
does the need for scalable,
consistent branded tools
for our teams.
We want to evolve!
To stay ahead of the curve,
we want to evolve with the
changing visual landscape.
We’re a design authority!
Our brand must be
reflective of modern
aesthetics and trends.

37. | 37
Create Ownership
We’re brand ambassadors!
All of us as individuals
represent your brand to
your clients.
We’re all channels!
Each one of us is a pathway
to a bigger and brighter
world of creative work.
We are creative!
As we continue to grow our
visual presence, more
variety and larger projects
will roll in.

38. | 38
Brand Guide

39. Brand
Personality

40. | 40
Processes: Toolkits

41. | 41
Process: Legacy Brand Docs
Updating Legacy Docs

42. |
42
Rain University

43. | 43
Style Guide

44. | 44
| 44

45. | 45
Our component matrix and brand
strategy planning guide will help
your team plan for any upcoming
website redesign.
http:/
/bit.ly/rain-component-matrix
http:/
/bit.ly/brand-strategy-guide Download Now
OPEN SOURCE
Design
Tools

46. | 46
Virtual brand workshops are
now available. We can work
through brand strategy and
planning for a rollout. Contact
sheree.hill@mediacurrent.com
for more information
WHITEBOARD EXERCISES
Brand
Workshops

47. | 47
To learn more about RainU visit
www2.mediacurrent.com/rainu
HIGHER ED DESIGN SYSTEM
Rain
University

48. Questions?

49. Thank You!