Duke Continuing Studies

Duke web designer Andy Smith and I spent the better part of a year overhauling Duke University's Continuing Studies site. This was an extensive project encompassing program/course marketing, an e-commerce interface and internal business practices.

Options

We created several levels of navigation to help various audiences quickly find what they need. We stacked panels with visually appealing, card-style listings of different categories of offerings.

Visuals & Search Depth

We chose a grid display of program cards, and enabled more advanced search functionality for customers who want to "find" and not "browse."

Consistent Presentation, E-Commerce Feel

We worked with program managers to develop a universal set of subheads in order to give users a consistent experience. We used an easily recognizable set of icons to display information users most frequently search for, and provided options to print program information.

Uniting the Front and Back Ends

We themed the back end database which is managed by an outside vendor. Our priority was to provide users with a coherent and a visually consistent experience as they move back and forth between the front end website and the back end e-commerce system.