University of Minnesota KDI

Hi, University of Minnesota KDI

We’ve combed through the work we’ve amassed over the years and hand-picked these case studies just for KDI that are similar in nature (scope, scale, and technology solution) as what’s requested in the RFP. As you likely know about us, most of our work is in higher education and as such we have plenty to share in that space. There is a full range of creative, technical, and strategic know-how in these case studies for you to fossilize just what kind of partner you will find in idfive.

Welcome University of Minnesota KDI

On this page, you’ll find the case studies we’ve selected especially for you. All of them showcase the talent, passion, and ingenuity we put into everything we do. Reach out if you have any questions!

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An elaborately costumed dancer twirls during a staged production, causing a long rainbow banner to billow outward into a spiral

UMD Arts & Humanities

Advocating for the arts and the humanities.

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UMD Arts & Humanities

The Challenge

For the University of Maryland College of Arts and Humanities, a website redesign was an opportunity to bolster the reputation of the college for both internal and external audiences. While the college serves a majority of the University’s students through core education requirements, it isn’t always thought of as its own entity. To correct this misconception, the website needed to provide compelling answers to a simple question: What is the College of Arts and Humanities? With 14 unique departments (and numerous centers, institutes, and galleries) all housed under one roof, answering this question became complex. How could the new site communicate the shared goal of exposing people to new and innovative ways of thinking about the human experience?

The Solution

Informed by audience and stakeholder interviews and an in-depth website scan, the redesigned website highlights the College of Arts and Humanities’ vital role in education, research, and advocacy. The new design offers the flexibility to feature student, faculty, and alumni achievements through engaging homepage interactivity and microinteractions, while additional content allows for easy exploration and provides a vibrant space to celebrate the work of the College. Accessible, mobile-first design and content structure aimed at triaging audience needs ensures a positive and on-brand experience for all users.

Maryland State Arts Council

Constructing a new platform for local artists.

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Maryland State Arts Council

The Challenge

The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) needed a brand new web platform to serve as a resource for Marylanders. Basically having an “Arts-one-stop-shop” for all their constituents; from arts and entertainment districts, to organizations and individual artists. Most notably they needed to directly grant artists access to highlight and sell their work.

See the MSAC website.

Research

idfive’s thorough Discover360 process uncovered the need to create a dynamic web application using a multitude of data sources, user roles, workflows, scenarios, and content types. We created streamlined experiences with the flexibility for integrated content like custom profile dashboards for organizations and artists, an interactive map of all arts in MD, etc.

Number of templates, including an arts registry.

Design

The site had to reflect the incredible diversity of the arts in Maryland with a visually arresting design and subtle, textural, illustrated backgrounds that touch on every genre of the arts. Infusing that with bold and modern design elements focusing on sensible layout of information made the site not only visually appealing, but practically enjoyable to explore.

Development

To create a seamlessly integrated web application, idfive’s development team engineered an elegant, joyful, and simple to use profile dashboard to allow artists across the state of MD to manage their content. They also custom-built several JS MVS applications that allow powerful browsing of art work in the directory.

1.8K

Profiles Migrated

To maintain the integrity of the content of thousands of profiles and their associated artwork, idfive migrated thousands of pieces of content from the previous CMS to a new one. That meant mapping and automating a migration of hundreds of fields from one platform to another.

Client Success

Undertaking a complex site like MSAC requires “structured flexibility” and a truly collaborative effort with the client team. Through wireframe, design, and development, the driving imperative was to create an impactful site that serves a wide range of constituents to promote the arts throughout Maryland.

Deep space photograph displays a distant star cluster and nebula

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Building a universal brand for astrophysics.

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Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

The Challenge

Since its founding over half a century ago, the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian became one of the leading astronomy and astrophysics centers in the world. But brilliant research didn’t necessarily translate into a brand that told a clear story of who they are and how their discoveries continue to expand humanity’s knowledge of our universe.

Research

We began our engagement with CfA with a two-pronged approach, reviewing existing communications and interviewing some of their top researchers and leadership. To gain an outside view, we also interviewed research partners, funders, and advisory board members. We had two clear goals in mind: understand the CfA, and find out how they’re perceived by the world.

850+

Researchers and staff.

For a life-long space nerd like me, working with CfA was an amazing experience. It was such an incredible privilege to get to interview some of the leading astronomers and astrophysicists in the world and learn more about the discoveries CfA has made and continues to make every day. I know all of us at idfive are immensely proud of the fact that our work is helping CfA tell their story better so they can continue to expand humanity’s understanding of the universe.

Sean Carton

Chief Strategist

Strategy

Our research revealed two key data points: 1) The CfA is regarded as one of the world’s leading astrophysics organizations; but 2) nobody really understood their structure, and that misunderstanding often led to difficulties in securing funding or recruiting scientists. They were doing some of the most amazing science in the world, but outsiders were confused about who was doing it.

Branding

We realized that in order to tell the true story of CfA, their name had to change. We wanted it to communicate CfA’s preeminent position in astronomy and astrophysics while communicating the equity of Harvard’s and the Smithsonian’s contributions. The new name – The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian did exactly that, emphasizing science over structure.

Design

We wanted to create a visual presentation of the new name to reflect the CfA’s long commitment to science and collaborative discovery. The symbolic gradient of the logo is reminiscent of a stellar spectrum—a key tool of astronomy instantly recognizable by their external audiences—while the logo’s contemporary typography speaks to both today and tomorrow’s discoveries.

CFA RED

CFA VIOLET

Website

The redesigned CfA website, published in March 2021, features copy guided by updated messaging and a design informed by updated brand visuals. The website’s content strategy puts science first by prioritizing ongoing research via a “Big Questions” section, and highlighting research, people, and facilities within the navigation.

Conclusion

Through all of our work, idfive has helped the CfA navigate a complicated institutional environment to ultimately implement a clear, compelling, and consistent brand that speaks to both internal and external audiences. United and energized by the new brand and marketing, communications, and fundraising tools, the CfA can now focus on the incredible research and discoveries that lie ahead.

Nighttime photo of the Milky Way visible over a mountainous horizon

Johns Hopkins APL Civil Space

Expressing the wonder of space exploration.

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Johns Hopkins APL Civil Space

DESIGNING AND DEVELOPING A SPACE EXPLORATION WEBSITE AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Civil Space project needed a brand new website to communicate the magnitude and “cool factor” of their work — from defending the planet from asteroids to unraveling the mysteries of the universe — to multiple audiences. And they needed it in nine months. It was rocket science. Literally.

Check out the APL Civil Space website.

Going Boldly

Sure, idfive developers had created interactive maps before. But to meet the challenge of galaxy travel, they created a destination map of the universe — going boldly where no developers have gone before.

Number of templates, including an interactive galaxy map

Strategy

Following our tried-and-true script, an idfive team kicked off the project with our Discover360™ process. We spoke with scientists, engineers, management, marketers, and educators. [A side note: These are some awesome, inspiring folks, some of whom worked on the country’s first space program in the ’60s.] We surveyed a wide cross-section of potential site visitors. We geeked out on web analytics and content audits (not to mention interstellar space), and scoped out what others in the field are doing. Armed with all of that data, we were able to share with our partners a creative brief and strategic direction that would inform everything from site architecture to design. Our aha moment: The site needed to appeal to a wide range of audiences — from middle-school students to rocket scientists — without confusing the one or condescending to the other.

Then COVID-19 hit.

But the idfive team and our APL Civil Space partners refused to let a global pandemic get in the way of our momentum. We switched our brainstorming workshop to a virtual format and presented the first rounds of a proposed Information Architecture and wireframes. Following revisions and approvals, we moved to the design phase and presented three concepts. Elements from all three were incorporated into the final design.

To meet the tight timeline and maximize budget, our developers completed the front- and back-end work concurrently with the design phase, relishing challenges like building a map-of-the-galaxy app. Our copywriters made sure that the final copy would appeal to space novices and rocket scientists alike.

Design

The visuals needed to be as awe-inspiring and compelling as space itself. Our design “North Star,” as pointed out in the project creative brief: “Think of the first time you saw the night sky on a clear, moonless night — away from artificial light or interference.” One picture = 1,000 words.

Development

idfive developers took the challenge of engaging site visitors to a new level by creating a Drupal 8 widget with Augmented Reality and 3-D assets that delivers state-of-the-art space instruments to your screen. Or maybe you have an iOS and want to drop the New Horizons spacecraft on your kitchen counter.

Conclusion

The APL Civil Space website engages school children, rocket scientists, and everyone in between with a richly visual, highly interactive experience — one that piques curiosity, encourages further exploration, and induces wonder. Just like the night sky on a clear, moonless night.

Colgate students hurry to their classes on a sunny day in early fall, the chapel visible in the background

Colgate University

Celebrating 200 years.

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Colgate University

BUILDING A MODERN WEBSITE FOR AN HISTORICAL HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION

Colgate University, a prestigious private university in central New York, is globally recognized for offering an innovative curriculum and an experience dedicated to career outcomes, on a sprawling, bucolic, rustic campus. Showcasing the Colgate experience cohesively across several digital touchpoints was a rewarding opportunity that continues to evolve through our ongoing partnership.

“Finding the right partner may have been our most important step. We understood that we were not only seeking a partner to build our website but one who would also fill the role of the teacher as we learned a new hosting environment and CMS.”

Jason Kammerdiener

Web Manager, Colgate University

The Challenge

Colgate wanted to upgrade their CMS to a more modern, sustainable platform. With the help of idfive, this project underwent an intensive stakeholder discovery to determine the priorities, requirements, functionality, and architecture needed to support a bustling, evolving institution.

The Result

The result was a beautifully redesigned site built on the Drupal 8 CMS platform, with the flexibility to continue to grow. With more than 1,500 pages migrated by a hybrid team of Colgate staff and idfivers, the new site was positively received by the Colgate community immediately upon launch.

200

Years of history to share

“The idfive team really had fun with this project! Partnering with Colgate to tell a story that means so much to alumni, current students, faculty and the surrounding Hamilton, NY community was rewarding. The site enables visitors to relive a sense of pride and look forward to a Colgate’s dynamic future.”

Jake Tarbert

Associate VP

The Challenge

How do you tell the story of a venerable institution’s two-century legacy without getting lost in the past? How do we bring history to life while positioning a bold vision for the future? Taking both of these challenges to mind, idfive developed a content strategy based on historic artifacts, an interactive timeline, and an invitation for the community to share their own Colgate experiences.

The Result

With an enhanced design developed to embrace and celebrate this golden celebration, we launched a site that worked flawlessly across every platform and blended seamlessly into the architecture of the main Colgate website.

The Challenge

When the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 brought campus visits for prospective students to a halt, Colgate recognized that digitally showcasing the full Colgate experience – campus included – was paramount to encouraging students to commit. Colgate turned to idfive to translate their This is Colgate and Outcomes printed viewbooks into rich, engaging online experiences for prospective students and their families.

To keep these online Viewbooks sustainable year-over-year, we developed an information architecture and modular user experience that allowed content to be interchangeable and updatable as information about the University changed while retaining the flow and narrative of the Viewbooks’ print counterparts.

The Result

The site was then designed and developed to be CMS-agnostic, for maximum flexibility. The result was a collaborative content migration and a rapid launch to reach prospects during commitment season.

The Partnership Continues

In addition to major projects with our partners at Colgate, idfive serves as the University’s web and digital support partner. Building a lasting understanding of Colgate’s diverse digital landscape, we’re able to continue being nimble, responsive, and effective to meet the needs of this vibrant institution.

SUNY Potsdam

Shaping the story of a niche experience.

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SUNY Potsdam

The Challenge

Located in New York’s North Country, SUNY Potsdam offers a unique college experience set in the rugged beauty of the Adirondack Mountains. It’s not a school for everyone, but for the right student, a SUNY Potsdam education will be a life-changing experience. Our challenge was to create a site that attracted eclectic students from across the country who were going to thrive there.

See how it came to life.

111

Student clubs & organizations

What I love about this project is that a simple insight that came out of our research — that students who do well at SUNY Potsdam are the kind of people who are looking for a unique school in a unique setting — was able to drive such great results.

Sean Carton

Chief Strategist, idfive

Design

SUNY Potsdam offers a unique mix of a liberal arts education and a world-class school of music in a stunning natural setting. In other words, it’s a one-of-a-kind experience for students who want to chart their own path. The new site leverages high-quality in-house photography resources combined with graphic touches that evoke the University’s environment to immerse prospective students in all that SUNY Potsdam has to offer.

User Experience

Allowing plenty of space for the content to unfurl pulls the expansive feel of the Potsdam environment into the website experience. Prominent calls to action and large, bold buttons that are especially mobile-friendly make information gathering and the application and enrollment process even easier. Dramatic typography calls attention to important messaging and guides the user through the expressive copy throughout the site.

SUNY P website mobile view of events calendar

Development

As a small, public institution, SUNY Potsdam needed a site that is easy to maintain and grow. We helped them leverage limited resources to build a Drupal 8 site with a customized backend that makes updates and adjustments easy, without impact to design. idfive also implemented an private-access intranet portal for the campus community that mimics the public site’s design and organization to make resources easy to access for students, faculty and staff.

Client Success

Our research found that students who do best at SUNY Potsdam are those who are already attracted by its eclectic features. Rather than create a generic site designed for broad appeal, we created a site that was honest and upfront in telling the university’s unique story. The result? While we can’t claim all the credit, SUNY Potsdam’s retention rate is substantially higher than the national average.

73%

SUNY Potsdam’s first-year retention rate

Howard University Magazine

Updating the ongoing story of a vital HBCU.

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Howard University Magazine

The Challenge

Howard University publishes a print version of the Howard Magazine three times a year. Howard needed a companion website to elevate the University’s strategic editorial initiatives and make the publication more accessible. idfive was tasked with creating a flexible digital magazine experience that not only accommodates future issues and seamlessly captures the spirit of the Howard brand, but one that also allows users to quickly and easily interact with a wide range of content types—from long-form features and video to in memoriams and book recommendations.

18

Design options for each article

“It was an extremely rewarding experience to build an interactive tool that brings Bison stories to life in an engaging and elegant way.”

Dan Rogers

Director of Development

Strategy

Through a long-standing partnership that has encompassed everything from full website builds to student recruitment campaigns, the idfive team was able to rapidly design and breathe life into the digital magazine website. Simultaneously working on two other web projects for Howard—The Dig and the Office of the President website—the team was also able to streamline the process, leveraging components and features across the three sites to create efficiencies.

Our close collaboration with the Howard team ensured that the site design stood on its own—as a destination for Howard alumni, the campus community, and external stakeholders—while also supporting other University communication efforts. Finally, the trust we’d built over our seven-year partnership enabled us to help the Howard team take more risks with photography and content to create an online magazine that was as bold as the University’s vision.

Design

A bold design with micro interactions draws the user’s eye down the page. Large content blocks are balanced by white space to create a clean, uncluttered look and feel. The aesthetic takes the Howard brand into new territory while adhering to its core tenets.

Development

Front- and back-end development included robust article search and filter functionality in order to provide users with quick access to content across all issues. Flexible, editorial-style content widgets were also built to create an immersive experience with large, impactful photography and high-impact stats.

The Result

The Howard Magazine website has provided students, faculty, and alumni with an immersive experience that allows them to engage with traditionally printed content in new ways. In its first two weeks, the site attracted 4,125 new users. The design has already delivered on the primary editorial objective to increase engagement across all content forms: the most popular feature has been “Making Waves,” a long-form piece that highlights Howard’s distinction—and social responsibility—as the only remaining HBCU with a Division I swimming and diving program.

Howard University “The Dig”

Unifying the news hub of a flagship HBCU.

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Howard University “The Dig”

Designing an Integrated Web Platform for University Communications

Howard University’s Office of University Communications (OUC) manages an extensive portfolio of print and web properties, including the University’s main site, Newsroom, and Howard Magazine.

With its Newsroom, Calendar, and Howard Magazine websites in Drupal 7, scheduled for an end-of-life in November 2022, the OUC had an opportunity to create a new platform to meet its long-term communications needs.

50

Number of Howard web properties that receive distributed content from The Dig.

"Helping Howard showcase their excellence, community, and vision through this redesign was intensely rewarding. We were committed to re-imagining multiple aspects of their news hub: how stories are discovered, the themes guiding those stories, and the visual language."

Pat Balasavage

SR. USER EXPERIENCE AND INTERFACE DESIGNER

The Strategy

A project with an overarching goal this ambitious—to create a communications centerpiece that would speak to the internal and external audiences of one of the country’s leading historically Black Colleges and Universities—needed to start with extensive research. Our work began with a thorough Discovery process, including remote workshops with members of the Howard communications team that helped uncover internal editorial governance gaps and define the overall spirit of the project. From that collaboration, three themes emerged as central to the Howard story: Research, Community, Philanthropy.

The site also needed to highlight the achievements of Howard’s students, faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as celebrate the “change makers”—those in the Howard community who actively commit to positive social change. With themes and imperatives agreed upon, the idfive team developed an information architecture and wireframes with taxonomy terms to represent the best of Howard University. The taxonomies enabled the Howard team to implement a more effective Create Once Publish Everywhere (COPE) strategy across the institution’s major communications platforms.

UX Design

During user research, we discovered the need to balance the traditional brand look, but address the Howard team’s appetite for boldness and pushing the brand. While the site keeps the recognizable Howard blue, we made sure to use well-placed accents and white space to create areas of color and contrast. Angled elements and a variety of layouts were incorporated throughout the site to “break out of the box,” countering the grid-heavy structure of many news publications. We also emphasized high-quality photography, especially when featuring faces of the Howard community.

The final design leaves site visitors feeling:

Educated, as a reliable source of information with a unique perspective.
Uplifted, with a sense of success and progress.
Trust, that Howard is a worthwhile investment.
Pride, in the tapestry of the Black community.

And how users feel is central to our “neurodesign ux” practice.

Development

idfive developers took extra care to make sure the user experience came to life through hover effects and subtle animations, which help increase the feel of interactivity sitewide. The team also developed a wide variety of hero treatments to keep the different pages fresh, enhance engagement, and drive action.

The Result

The Dig has become the “single source of truth” for Howard University, with relevant content that can be easily shared across platforms.

There’s more where that came from.

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