Boise State University
How we built a multisite network to help a massive school guide, inspire, and empower
The challenge
Boise State is known for their iconic blue turf, but the Idaho university needed an innovative digital platform that provides satisfying online experiences and inspires the entire Bronco community to keep coming back to learn more.
The solution
Collaborate with Boise State to build a digital platform supported by a stable yet flexible technical infrastructure and design system, which allows the university to manage content at scale.
Pushing the Boise State brand from print to digital
Boise had an established brand on paper, but it needed to evolve into the digital space. We created a design system that could scale and flex as needed, while ensuring consistency and accessibility at every turn.
The university aimed to set a new standard for accessibility across their platform and crafted a continual accessibility improvement plan to serve visitors. We made sure the new site had high conformance marks across the board by using Siteimprove for real user and automated testing.
Building content creation tools that scale
Boise has hundreds of sites living under one roof, with few quality control checks in place for departmental content creators who have varying levels of experience. We built structured content creation tools for the university’s WordPress multisite network, making it possible for each department to create their own site while working within the communication team’s established standards.
Designing navigation that adapts for individual users
The university needed a way to help mobile users, like prospective Gen Z students, sift through a lot of content. We designed a robust contextual navigation experience on mobile that starts where the user starts and adapts the menu on every page they visit.
Making wayfinding easier with intelligent search
Boise wanted to build trust with their visitors by making sure they found the right answers, at the precise moment they asked for them. We integrated the multisite with an AI-powered search engine, called Cludo, so a user’s search results are always highly relevant.
THAT’S A WRAP
We help colleges and universities find their voice
Every higher education institution has an expansive set of goals and objectives that rely on a solid digital presence. Boise was no different. Our objective was to build them a platform that would empower each department and its stakeholders to pursue their unique goals while ensuring a high degree of brand consistency and governance.
In the weeks leading up to the relaunch, we closely collaborated with Boise State to make sure the work we executed would be successfully rolled out across their organization.
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