The University of Essex has today unveiled a bold, new digital presence which reflects its challenger identity, while underlining its reputation as a top 30 gold rated UK university. The new website, designed and developed by digital agency Delete, is one of the focus points of the University’s ambitious growth strategy.
Working from a brief to create a University digital presence unlike any other, Delete’s approach to the site design focused on improving the user experience for prospective students, whilst delivering a unique sense of excitement about life at Essex.
The website has a more ‘mobile-first’ user experience, and is designed to set the University apart from competing institutions with a bold, engaging and distinctive design.
The new site aims to boost awareness of the research excellence of the University in the UK and across the world, while engaging potential students.
Users can browse at a surface level to build an understanding of the university or delve deeper for detailed information such as course overviews and tips and advice on studying. Each landing page contains high quality imagery and videos to resonate with a young audience.
These applications are powered by Sitecore, which provides the University with a powerful content management system and marketing automation tools. The solution also features integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Funnelback, which powers the website’s search function.
Tom Dougherty, Partner & UX Director at Delete, commented: “The University’s goal was to have a website that was primarily focused around the needs of prospective students, so we started with an energetic, exciting and different design which would set the experience of studying at the University of Essex apart. The resulting site generates a truly stand-out digital presence for one of the UK’s top universities.”
Bryn Morris, Registrar at the University of Essex, said: “We wanted to create a site unlike any other university in the UK, and Delete has certainly delivered. This new digital platform puts the University of Essex at the forefront of the sector – exciting prospective students about studying with us and increasing engagement with our existing community.
Creating a new digital identity that stands out in a competitive market adds a new dimension to our communications, through a unique and fresh design that is accessible and easy to use.”