Homerton College, Cambridge University
Increasing applications by 25%
The client.
Homerton College combines the traditions of a Cambridge University college with contemporary values and an inclusive culture. It prides itself on being supportive, forward-thinking, and treating everyone as an individual. It is the largest college in Cambridge and has a diverse student base.
The challenge.
To modernise its dated website and position it as an inclusive and vibrant community, in contrast to a “traditional” Cambridge college. Show it as a modern place to study and differentiate it from other colleges in the university. Increase applications and website engagement.
The strategy.
Execute student and other stakeholder interviews. Conduct site user behaviour, keyword and traffic research. Build buyer personas. Launch a new website with a bold, modern, and friendly design. Showcase diversity with powerful imagery and messaging.
What we did.
Stakeholder research
We conducted current and prospective student interviews, surveys, and further desk research to gain a comprehensive insight into how they felt about the college. We also reviewed analytics for past user behaviour and set behaviour tracking using Hotjar. We discovered that students widely regarded the college as a friendly, diverse and forward-thinking institution but its digital assets were severely lagging behind.Student personas
We built up a series of student personas that, along with our research, informed our strategy. We concluded that student applicants need to feel reassured that this is a place they can fit in and call “home”. During open days, applicants meet friendly students and staff who turn out to be “normal”. The facilities impress and the college feels inclusive and special. Therefore, our strategy was to create a “virtual open day” experience that recreated that experience.Bold design and messaging
The college’s egalitarian and inclusive principles would resonate with the target audience if we could demonstrate them in the content and design. Visually, we created a design that reflects the modernity of the college with its progressive ethos with a modern new logo. We injected a strong sense of diversity and student involvement with big messaging statements and large images to convey diversity and inclusivity. We also added various animated micro-interactions to bring the site to life. The new site is bold, modern and friendly. The design has repositioned the college online into a progressive, inclusive, and vibrant community. It accurately shows the college’s culture while giving each audience its own section.Project snapshot.
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175%
increase in average session duration
34%
reduction in bounce rate
Winner
of Silver Vega award
The new website’s ease of use has dramatically improved compared to the previous site. The most tangible benefit was an increase in our applications from 800 to 1000 at a time when Cambridge college applications were down. A 25% increase during COVID is fantastic.
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