The University of Alberta web experience survey was distributed via targeted email lists and via the UAlberta homepage from February 3, 2011 through February 16, 2011. Research was sponsored by Jennifer Chesney, Executive Director, University Web Strategy. Survey management & data analysis provided by Learning Solutions, a unit of the Faculty of Extension, University of Alberta.

1. UAlbertaWeb Experience Survey Results jchesney@ualberta.ca April 2011

2. Web Experience Survey Respondent Profile U of A Website: Current U of A Website: Future Student Support Social Media Summary The web survey was distributed via email and via the UAlberta homepage from February 3, 2011 through February 16, 2011. As Alumni represent a majority of respondents, some results are viewed both in total and ex-alumni. 2 jchesney@ualberta.ca

3. Respondent Profile 3

5. Insights Highly engaged Alumni participation Users multi-audience identify (85.1%) Provide self-selection of their desired pathway, not force into one audience category when interacting with UAlberta 5 jchesney@ualberta.ca

6. User Group Detail Students Staff 85% full-time (n=548) Potential students (n=254) 35.5% Canadian Citizens 64.5% International 81% Undergrad 12% Masters 7% PhD Current Students (n=554) 87.2% Canadian Citizens 12.8% International Program of study (n=550) Continuing ed: 3.8% Undergrad: 54.5% Masters: 27.5% PhD: 16.2% Status (n=653) Canadian citizen: 64.6% Study permit: 29.4% Permanent resident: 4.7% Tourist visa: 1.2% Employee designation (n=647) NASA: 48.1% AASUA: 47.3% Other: 4.6% Other designations: TAs and GRAs Post-doctoral fellows Joint positions 6 jchesney@ualberta.ca

7. Insights Large number of International potential students participated (64.5%) Shows success of opening up survey with a homepage web link instead of only by traditional emails to select random audience groups. Lower number of Canadian potential students vs. international participating could be a factor of time of year (intl. deadlines precede national) 7 jchesney@ualberta.ca

8. U of A Website 8

10. There are no significantdifferences among the user categoriesjchesney@ualberta.ca

11. Insights Over 2/3 of current students, faculty, and staff visit UAlberta daily 69% of potential students visit UAlberta weekly or daily Under 3% of all use mobile devices as their PRIMARY access device: we need to still develop for all major web browsers 10 jchesney@ualberta.ca

13. A majority of typical visits included an information search for “static” content

14. “Bookmarking” and dynamic content

15. Links, services, & news

16. Crosstabs (last visit)

17. Employees and alumni are more likely to access news

18. Potential students are more likely to access information about campus life and research11 (Only those who have visited in last 12 months & for last visit, those that visit at least monthly) jchesney@ualberta.ca

20. Insights Accessing university email is the most frequent “last visit” action Informational content regardless of how many levels deep it is should be easily extracted via Search University news is a strong driver of typical visits Finding locations and maps is also is a strong driver of typical visits 13 jchesney@ualberta.ca

21. U of A Website Evaluation 96% of users found what they were looking for (n=1619) Non-attendees were 13% less likely than current students (85% and 98%) to indicate they found what they were looking for on the website What would have made the search easier (audience feedback): Design Improvements to navigation Easier to find common links Content Accurate, complete, and current Layout Increased white space Less clutter and masses of links Chunk information and include sub-headings 14 Faculty/Staff 19% Potential Students 70% (Visited in last 12 months) (Visit at least monthly) jchesney@ualberta.ca

22. Insights 72% are either negative or neutral that the site communicates what distinguishes UAlberta from its peers Clear messages of UAlberta distinguishing characteristics need to be on the homepage 48% are negative or neutral that the site communicates UAlberta strengths but 70% of potential students were positive Strengths on homepage are important but not as critical as distinguishing characteristics vs. peers 15 jchesney@ualberta.ca

23. Website Impressions (current state) 16 (Visited in last 12 months) jchesney@ualberta.ca

24. Website Impressions (desired state) 17 (Visited in last 12 months) jchesney@ualberta.ca

25. Insights Current site damned by faint praise. Future site still needs to appear professional but needs to communicate excellence. Future site must be exciting, innovative and user-friendly. Pride is a significant word choice for desired state 18 jchesney@ualberta.ca

26. Website Impressions by Group 19 (Visited in last 12 months) jchesney@ualberta.ca

27. Insights Friendly or user-friendly the strongest desire for the new site by all four major audiences Easy the second strongest desire by three of the four major audiences Professional and Excellence were future state desires also shared across audiences The new site needs to balance friendliness and ease-of-use in a professional (vs. casual) way, while clearly demonstrating UAlberta Excellence. 20 jchesney@ualberta.ca

28. Strengths of the U of A 21 (Visited in last 12 months) jchesney@ualberta.ca

29. Insights Research is clearly the most thought of word by all audiences to describe UAlberta strengths Website should amplify Research, Academics, Programs, Students, & Faculty as strengths in an innovative and dynamic way 22 jchesney@ualberta.ca

30. Promoting our Strengths – Audience Quotes Usability and Design “Don't worry about this! Make the website FUNCTIONAL for the people registered and for those who want more information.” “Make [the strengths] more prominent on the main page, and de-clutter the main page by creating more intuitive links/buttons…” Branding & Accomplishments “Periodically by comparing the outstanding achievement of various research and development with other universities, not just Canadian but internationally.” “Highlight awards, top rankings, recognitions of the school and faculty members.” Research “Always reflecting that the U of A differs from other institutions in the province because of its strong research base…” Feature Faculty, Staff, & Programs “The successes of the people who work here…” 23 (Visited in last 12 months) jchesney@ualberta.ca

32. More likely to find the changes “valuable”

33. Top preferences: a list of all degrees offered and a summary of U of A’s unique strengths

34. Current Students

35. Top preferences: a list of all degrees offered and interactive campus maps

36. Faculty and Staff

37. Top preferences: a daily news bulletin and a list of all degrees offered

38. Alumni

39. More likely to select “neutral” or “not valuable”

40. Top preferences: a list of all degrees offered and content area specific videos and blogs(Everyone but non-attendees & those who have not visited in the last 12 months) jchesney@ualberta.ca

41. New Content Type of Content (n=2634/1447) Group Comparisons Potential students Generally more interested in all content Top preferences: admissions and careers Current students Generally less interested in all content than potential students or faculty and staff Top preferences: research news and careers Faculty and Staff Top preferences: research news and careers Alumni Generally the least interested in all categories, except alumni news 25 (Everyone but non-attendees & those who have not visited in the last 12 months) jchesney@ualberta.ca

42. New Content Format Current students/faculty and staff are more likely than other groups to select mobile app Potential students are more likely than other groups to select email Those who select email would like to be contacted weekly or monthly Alumni are more likely than other groups to select monthly or once every few months Note: Yellow logo represents website, green logo represents mobile app. (Everyone but non-attendees & those who have not visited in the last 12 months) jchesney@ualberta.ca

43. New Content Format – All but Alumni Exclusion of alumni had very little impact on content format preferences, with the exception of email. Preference percentages for the mobile app also tended to increase when alumni were excluded. (Everyone but non-attendees & those who have not visited in the last 12 months) jchesney@ualberta.ca

44. New Content Suggestions User generated suggestions for content Interested in replicating functionality of website in more extensive mobile app Social media for “informal” content (Everyone but non-attendees & those who have not visited in the last 12 months) jchesney@ualberta.ca

45. New Content Suggestions – All but Alumni Exclusion of alumni increased preference percentages for the mobile app. jchesney@ualberta.ca

46. Insights Clear needs in new content requests for UAlberta online channels: Mobile: Academic/Information Services most requested BearTracks, Moodle/e-Class, Email, Library Databases access Social media: News and Events most requested More multimedia, chat, employment/careers info, and all types of events (Alumni, Athletic, all-campus) Email: Research News and Admissions Process info is desired beyond just having it on the website Ability to subscribe to news beyond RSS feed should be incorporated 30 jchesney@ualberta.ca

47. Insights & Actions to take Trending of increased access to UAlberta via mobile browsers support increased focus on mobile app development. 31 Source: Google Analytics jchesney@ualberta.ca

49. Alumni Content Content of Interest (n=1425) Method of Receiving (n=1494) 33 jchesney@ualberta.ca

50. Insights Alumni & Donors gateway needs to be more prominent on the UAlberta homepage Ability for Alumni to continue to access research/libraries databases after they graduate should be considered 69% of alumni prefer alumni content either on the website or in email; only 18.9% prefer the magazine Survey medium influences this outcome 34 jchesney@ualberta.ca

51. Student Support 35

52. Application Decision Process 88% use the website as an information resource during application process (n=317) 84% agreed that the website provided them with the information they needed to make an application decision (n=270) 76% indicated the website was an important factor in decision of whether to apply (n=271) 36% were neutral or said website decreased desire to attend UofA 34% were neutral or said the website decreased their opinion of the UofA 36 (Potential and previous applicants) jchesney@ualberta.ca

53. Post-Secondary Selection Factors 37 (Current, potential students and non-attendees) jchesney@ualberta.ca

54. Post-Secondary Selection Factors (International Potential Students) 38 jchesney@ualberta.ca

55. Potential Student Comparison Domestic vs. International Students International students are: More likely to access information on: financial aid, specific research/types of research, campus life, and general research information More likely to agree that the website communicates the U of A’s strengths and distinguishes it from other schools More likely to have used the website as a resource during application process More likely to be interested in student experience blogs and a social media directory Less active on Facebook but more likely to follow the U of A Facebook account 39 jchesney@ualberta.ca

57. Factors with greatest influence are not addressable

58. Personal and “other” factors included:

59. Program at other University was better suited

60. Moved to other city

61. Medical issues

62. Funding (scholarships available)

63. Entered/stayed in work force

64. Visa/permit issues

65. Large class sizes, U of A not caring about their students, classes not suited to part-time study40 jchesney@ualberta.ca

66. Insights Focus on messaging should continue to include reputation for both national and international potential and current students Edmonton and Camrose locations need to be highlighted & explained for potential students Bringing together all the part-time options offered across the university in one place is needed 41 jchesney@ualberta.ca

67. Platform Preferences Mobile app 15% using, 63% no interest, and 22% would use if other platforms were supported: 12.4% Blackberry 6.2% Android 3.3% Windows Phone7 (Everyone but non-attendees) jchesney@ualberta.ca

68. Platform Preferences – All but Alumni Exclusion of alumni had very little impact as only those alumni with a secondary audience type received this question. (Everyone but non-attendees) jchesney@ualberta.ca

69. Insights & Actions to take Another 22% would use the UAlberta app if their platform was supported Need to build Blackberry OS version (Android underway), possibly also Windows 7 though less demand Top demands for new mobile functions Ask questions Purchase student services Campus 3D tour/maps (student project) Faculty/Dept info lookup Register for classes 44 jchesney@ualberta.ca

70. Social Media 45

72. Alumni have the lowest activity levels and are generally more likely than the other groups to indicate they never access a service

73. Potential students are less active on Facebook than current students BUT visit daily.

74. 55% of potential students visit daily versus 72% of current students.

75. Related to the high proportion of international students making up potential student category (Everyone but non-attendees) jchesney@ualberta.ca

76. Who’s Following Following U of A Group Comparisons Current students are more likely than all other groups to follow on Facebook Current students and faculty/staff are more likely than other groups to follow on Twitter 47 (Everyone but non-attendees) jchesney@ualberta.ca

77. Synopsis of Social Media & Mobile Social media participation rates are dominated by Facebook; however, Twitter is a viable platform for push announcements “Official” activities should not take place via social networks; however, users would like to consume multimedia content and interact with U of A staff on Facebook Users want the mobile app to replicate more of the functionality available on the website Multi-platform development and increased functionality would have a major impact on usage rates International potential students have different media use and information needs than domestic potential students Access research and student life information with greater frequency Lower social network participation, but greater likelihood to “follow” the U of A Alumni have low Facebook participation rates, and prefer visiting the website or receiving infrequent email communication Employee Facebook participation is divided, likely based on age 48 jchesney@ualberta.ca

78. Study Considerations 49

79. Study Considerations Data Set Large sample size + Case completion rate high + Robust qualitative data set + Self selection - Large alumni response + & - Survey Timing International vs. domestic - Sample Size Small sample size for some groups when using “primary audience” - 50 jchesney@ualberta.ca