Taking control of an out-of-control website through thoughtful and intentional redesign

Many higher education websites don't fail overnight — they grow out of control. Pages are added for every audience, every initiative, every form and every request until the site becomes "everything for everyone" — and therefore useful to no one. This presentation will walk through how we determined whether to update or fully rebuild our website, how we made the case for a complete redesign and how we are executing a thoughtful, audience-first rebuild with a defined timeline and governance strategy. Using our current redesign project as a case study, I will cover:

• How we evaluated whether our site needed incremental updates or a full rebuild.
• The key questions that shaped our strategy:
  • Who is this site for?
  • What actions do we want visitors to take?
  • What content truly belongs on a public-facing site?
• How we identified and separated external-facing content from internal resources (moving forms, policies, handbooks and operational documents behind secure login to an intranet environment).
• How we clarified primary audiences: prospective graduate students, faculty recruits, donors and industry partners.
• How we developed a clear project timeline (December parameter setting → January launch → spring build → summer review → July 2026 launch).
• How we formulated and socialized the pitch for change.
• Strategies for engaging stakeholders and managing expectations.
• What to do with legacy content and "all the stuff" that accumulates over time.

The session will combine presentation, practical frameworks and interactive discussion. You will leave with a repeatable roadmap you can apply to your own unit — whether you oversee a college, institute, department or center website.