Marian Middle School

On the old site, a Donate button was the only way to get involved. The redesign put Get Involved beside Donate in the top menu, opening volunteering and events to the wider community, with every key task within two clicks. Nobody tested it with visitors or tracked giving.

Two Marian students in white uniform polos and plaid skirts standing and smiling in front of the blue Marian Middle School sign, with the school's brick facade behind them

One feature, start to finish Get Involved beside Donate, everything within two clicks

  • Research some research, not all of it
  • Design designed the answer
  • Measurement measurement not shown here

Design only. There was no research with families, volunteers or donors, the two-click limit was checked against the site map, and nobody set up analytics after launch.

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Context

Why did this work matter?

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Marian Middle School is an all-girls, faith-based school in Saint Louis. The old menus followed internal departments, so visitors had to dig, and the only way to get involved was a Donate button. There was nothing for people who wanted to give time or come to an event.

Assumptions

What did we believe going in?

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Two beliefs came first, agreed before any design: the community would show up for more than donations, so volunteering and events needed the same top-level place as giving, and every key task should sit within two clicks of any page.

Research

How was it tested?

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I audited every page of the old site, asking what each kind of visitor came to do. Nobody interviewed or surveyed visitors.

Intervention

What changed because of it?

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Six department-shaped sections became five shaped around visitors: About Us, Admission, News & Events, Get Involved and Donate. Get Involved took the place giving had held alone, right beside Donate, and the homepage gave it one of three big buttons.

Migration map from the 2016 navigation to the 2017 navigation. About Us and News & Events are retained. Enrollment is renamed Admission and Support Marian is renamed Get Involved. Donate, previously a child page of Support Marian, is promoted to a top-level item. Nativity Miguel is dropped from the top navigation, and Administration plus the Home, Calendar and Contact utility links move into a new four-column footer hub.
Support Marian becomes Get Involved, beside Donate in the top menu.

Outcome

What was the impact?

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Every key task came in within two clicks on paper, not in a visitor test. Website 2.0 launched in 2017 without analytics. Nine years and a redesign later, the Internet Archive shows seven About Us items in their 2017 order.

Redesigned Marian Middle School homepage. The five-item global navigation reads About Us, Admission, News & Events, Get Involved, Donate. Below, a full-bleed student photograph with three call-to-action cards: Innovative Programs, Get Involved, and Enroll Now
The 2017 homepage: Get Involved beside Donate, and a Get Involved button up front.

Also on this project

Read the full study →

  • Three big homepage buttons: Innovative Programs, Get Involved and Enroll Now.

  • The school's results moved onto the homepage: 96% graduating high school, 84% going on to college.

  • I built the front end too.

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