A User-Centric Website Redesign for a Polytechnic

Evolving Web partnered with Red Deer Polytechnic to undertake a comprehensive redesign and rebuild of their main website. The initial goal was to upgrade the CMS to the latest version of Drupal, but the project grew to address the School’s expanding design and brand needs as it transitioned from a college to a polytechnic institution. Evolving Web provided the necessary design and content strategy resources to enhance the user experience, simplify navigation, and align the design with RDP’s green branding. The result is a visually appealing, user-centric website that aligns with the Polytechnic’s brand, vision, and values.

Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP), located in Red Deer, Alberta, has been serving its learners and communities since 1964. Offering over 100 programs, RDP is known for its impressive learning spaces, and facilities. As RDP transitions into a polytechnic institution, it continues to expand its program offerings, including its own degrees, and provides lifelong learning opportunities to 3,400 youth and adult learners annually through extended education programming. RDP's vision for the future is reflected in its commitment to excellence, fostering innovation, and making a meaningful impact on learners, businesses, and communities locally, nationally, and globally.

The primary objective of the project was to develop a website that would significantly enhance Red Deer Polytechnic’s digital presence, with a strong emphasis on driving student recruitment and engagement. The redesign aimed to implement journey-driven strategies that would guide prospective students, both domestic and international, through a streamlined application process. 

The project aimed to leverage RDP’s existing brand and expand on it visually to better convey the institution’s values and differentiators to new audiences. This allowed us to more effectively articulate RDP’s new identity as a Polytechnic, with a wider range of engineering and science programs that provide both theoretical foundations and practical training. To increase visibility and provide better support for Indigenous students, RDP pledged to include a dedicated section for Indigenous student services and resources.

The existing navigation structure was a primary concern, as it was unintuitive, with mixed levels of granularity. Content was organized alphabetically, leading to essential information being buried and difficult to access. This lack of intuitive navigation contributed to a disjointed user experience, where users often struggled with dense and sprawling content that was difficult to scan and comprehend. Our challenge was to overhaul the content to make it less fragmented and siloed, and give the Polytechnic’s staff the tools to organize content so that users can find relevant information quickly. 

Recognizing the need for a more intuitive and user-centered interface, we streamlined the application process and put in place a content strategy to prioritize simplified language and clearer communication. We overhauled the website's information architecture, focusing on logical grouping and intuitive labeling that guide users more effectively through the website. A key feature is the "Information for" drop down menu that tailors content to different types of users – future students, current students, Indigenous students, parents & supporters, business & industry and alumni – making it easier for everyone to find what they need.

The visual design is a departure from the previously dense and heavily gridded layouts, creating a more open, inviting, and visually appealing interface. Pages have less text and a better balance of information with visual cues that create a positive brand experience. The design features offset images and more movement, showcasing authentic student portraits and nature photography, that aligns with the institution’s green branding and emphasizes its identity and values as a sustainability centered around people.

Our work included: 

• Rebuilding the website in the latest version of Drupal
• Moving from self-hosting to Acquia Cloud hosting
• Redesigning the program content type, which previously had a complex backend with 90 fields, helping users compare programs and prioritizing relevant fields for program selection
• Developing a Solr-based search interface, enabling users to filter programs by availability, status, and delivery method
• Improving the “Find a Program” search interface according to how prospective students look for programs, with clear colour distinctions for open and wait-listed programs, and filters for program delivery modes, degree types, program areas and programs available to international students
• Adding a prominent “Explore Programs” call-to-action to encourage students to start their journey by researching programs
• Streamlining the admissions process layout to organize the steps to become a student in a logical flow of information
• Simplifying content editing for RDP’s staff with a new structure that balances flexibility and consistency
• Moving the website to Acquia hosting to enable secure and stable development workflows
• Integrating the website with RDP’s existing systems, including AzureAD for authentication of content editors and site administrators
• Highlighting the college’s sustainability efforts, showcasing their national and international awards for leadership in sustainability

The redesign of Red Deer Polytechnic's website shows the impact of strategic planning, user-centered design, and brand alignment. The new design highlights RDP's core values of being student-focused, sustainable, and innovative, and emphasizes strong industry relationships and Indigenous visibility. The result is a significant boost to recruitment and engagement, with a 52% increase in users year-over-year. The prominent landing pages designed for each user type efficiently drive visitors to the most relevant engaging content. Additionally, the new website follows performance, accessibility, and SEO best practices. It also runs much faster thanks to the modern Acquia Cloud hosting environment.

Our content strategy work empowers RDP staff to create content that reflects the evolving identity of the Polytechnic. The upgraded Drupal-powered CMS simplifies content creation for the small digital team and provides a flexible yet consistent structure for creating accessible, brand-compliant content.