Higher ed has a problem with its websites. Many of us are past that first big hump of "The Millennial Redesign." We've plopped down money on a shiny new CMS. Our design is hip and groovy. But an issue snuck in when we weren't looking. Centerpieces have become a staple component of the ever important home page. The problem is that they have homogenized us. We're all doing it, and we're all doing it the same, and pretty much everyone does it badly. This presentation will look at a number of sites and their centerpieces, look at common themes, address why our current trend is a problem, and make suggestions as to where we can go and what we can do to stand out and differentiate ourselves.

1. got centerpiece?
so does everyone else
(2013 edition)
michael fienen - @fienen - nucloud.com - #gotcenterpiece

2. [ we suck ]

3. 3

4. [ inspire ]

5. [ motivate ]

6. [ innovate ]

15. [ differently ]

19. JULY 26
FRIDAY
2013

22. [ branding standards ]

23. [ marketing identity ]

26. [ THE REDESIGN ]

27. [ >1200 sites redesigned ]

28. [ routine ]

29. [ normalize ]

30. [ dilution ]

33. [ jQuery, Prototype, Dojo ]

34. [ Foundation, Bootstrap, 960gs ]

35. [ Content Management Systems ]

37. [ collaboration ]

40. [ your homepage ]

42. [ One Big Question ]™

43. [ HOW? ]

59. [ notice anything? ]

60. [ well done ]

61. [ pretty ]

62. [ no #girlsundertrees ]

65. [ no innovation ]

66. [ 4 categories ]

67. [ visual ]

69. [ storyteller ]

71. [ informational ]

73. [ one thing in common ]

74. [ 8th Deadly Sin ]

75. [ transactional ]

81. [ utility ]

83. [ a 5th category? ]

84. [ lost puppy ]

86. [ boring stat time ]

87. [ .4% clickthrough ]

88. [ 79% can track... ]

89. [ ...only 26% do ]

90. [ Marketing + PR/Comm = 89% ]

91. [ ROI ]

92. [ Relying On Insignificance ]

94. 1%

95. http://bit.ly/gotcenterpiece

96. [ raise your hand ]

97. Jakob Nielsen
"Most important, because it
moves, users automatically assume
that it might be an
advertisement, which makes them
more likely to ignore it."

98. [ effort ]

100. [ SMSU.edu ]

101. [ best overall site ]

102. [ people's choice best homepage ]

103. [ best redesign ]

104. [ best visual design ]

106. [ magic sauce ]

108. [ calls to action ]

109. [ engage ]

110. [ verbs ]

111. [ commands ]

114. [ symptom ]

116. [ measure ]

117. [ goals ]

120. [ old conventions ]

121. [ new standards ]

122. [ first impressions ]

124. [ I THANK YOUR FACE HOLES ]
@fienen - #gotcenterpiece
http://bit.ly/gotcenterpiece