Informing & Empowering Rice University Employees

Informing & empowering employees

Rice University Human Resources

Aug 2016 – Aug 2018

I worked as part of a team of 20 HR professionals as the sole web designer and developer to update existing tools and roll out various projects that reached all 5,000 employees.

This work supported recruitment, benefit election, talent development, compensation, and employee relations efforts to inform and empower employees at any stage in their career.

Skills

Research

Participatory design sessions

Persona development

Use case modeling

Clickstream analysis (Google Analytics)

Competitor analysis

Technical

UI/UX

Information architecture

HTML5/CSS3/Javascript/jQuery

Messy Predecessor

When I joined the team, the Rice HR website was designed using table‑based layouts and fixed widths. The structure of the site was loosely based on team specialization.

A high page per session ratio and low time spent per page hinted that visitors not familiar with Rice HR had a hard time navigating the site.

User-Centered Design

By defining user personas, a simpler structure based on user needs emerged. The new structure improved site metrics, demonstrating that users are finding what they need easier than ever.

Using modern responsive design methodologies, the redesign conforms to any device and screen size. Also, it features a cohesive, familiar visual identity across the site.