University+of+the+Arts+London

= BENCHMARK ANALYSIS = UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON BRITTANY BANMAN



Description
The website www.arts.ac.uk is the homepage for The University of the Arts London, one of Europe’s largest arts university. The University is comprised of six internationally renowned colleges across London, which specialize in various areas of the fine arts. The website compiles the information of all six colleges into one comprehensive site. The site would be used by students (current and prospective), alumni, faculty, administrators, and parents to find general information about the various colleges as well as specific information about courses, news, events, etc.

Analysis
Site Design: The design itself uses a grid structure which is broken as often as it is used, giving the site a colorful and playful feeling, which reflects the artistic nature of the university itself. The site is visually stimulating while still remaining easily understood. The artistic nature is reflected in the use of typography, color and creative imagery. The website usability is overall very good. It is easy to navigate and understand and to find specific information. I intuitively understand where I am on the website and how to get to and from the current page. Color-coding helps to keep the different sections consistent but easily identifiable.



Navigation/Information Architecture: The website uses simple but effective navigation and labels to organize the comprehensive information within the site. This includes large navigational images, color-coded for each college/discipline, within which is further information specific to that college. There is also separate navigation which directs people to specific aspects of the university life in general. The navigation is static and unchanging with the exception of the home page. The information is organized into various levels of hierarchy. Navigation indicates About Us, News and Events, Showtime and A to Z as the most important levels of information on the site after the distinction of the various colleges. Prospective or International Students, Courses, Library, Research, etc becomes a second level of information, within which is further categories. The information is buried and not necessarily intuitively located under headings.



Synthesis of Findings
Overall, this site is effective in conveying the comprehensive amount of information through intuitive navigation. However, the information organization itself could use some restructuring so that it is easier to located important information without digging through layers of navigation and information. It is consistent and easily navigable while still playing with artistic and creative elements in the design. The photographs and color make it attractive to prospective students and to those who are frequent users. Some aspects of the website could be improved such as a little more consistency in the difference between the navigation of the university home page in comparison to the other sub-pages. I also feel that the search bars could be placed in a more aesthetically pleasing and intuitive location.