NEXT Uddannelse København
Umbraco Awards 2018 Best Gold Partner Solution Winner
110 education programs, 6 identities, 1 site
NEXT wanted to present a unified front as a single school offering better education for more students in a value-creating interaction with the outside world.
To achieve this, they needed a new digital platform that could position them as a powerful, unified brand – with the option of branding individual educational lines and activities.
It was also important that the site was not too image-heavy, as that can quickly become costly.
Focus on the user journey
The bulk of the work entailed getting the 6 different NEXT identities or “universes” to work interactively. It was done creating a clear distinction between individual youth education options (EUD, high schools, etc.) and in using specific content and modules to make navigation between the different “universes” seamless and inspiring for young users - without being perceived as overwhelming or confusing.
It has been an exciting challenge in terms of UX, design and the technical part of the project implementation. We had a very good process that started with planning digital strategy, UX and design, while doing so involving users at the top level of NEXT - as well as future and current students from the different educational lines.
For the launch of the technical implementation of a very user-friendly CMS, web editors worked closely with the backend throughout the process. The customer has matured digitally during the project, daring to make changes and to be challenged. Throughout the project we have focused specifically on the user journey.
NEXT today. From beautiful design…
Both us and the client are very pleased about how the design turned out.
Each of NEXT’s educational programmes has been given a unique color that both defines its identity, while simultaneously showing it interconnects. So it becomes a one joint NEXT.
Among other positive design perks is the constant visible “service menu” (top right corner) where users can find contact information, search and guidance counsellor for each education.
It’s a completely modular site, where each module can be added as needed, and its position changed after creation, without breaking the design.
...to friendly editor experience
Editors now have a simple way to change colors - both for individual modules and at top level/ universe, e.g. for all high schools.
The visualization of colors and identities in Umbraco also makes it easy for the web editor to know in which universe, which color to choose.
Plus, the flexible course module enables web editors to construct the progress of a course exactly how they want. If a particular education has 3 or 10 class-modules, this module scales to fit.
The editor can also choose the proportions of each class-module (xs-xl). The general module structure on all site types makes it is easy for the web editor to change the position of a module on a certain page.
Last, but not least, handling SEO has also become easier, as editors can now add and changed metadata in each section of the site.
What NEXT had to say
"In close cooperation with AKQA, we looked at the project in a wider perspective, asking ourselves: How can we live up to being one of Denmark's largest provider of youth education? And how do we make ourselves attractive to a demanding and changeable target audience like students?
We ended up creating a website with one clear sender that serves as an umbrella for all our educational offerings. Each has their own universe, but all share a strong link to the NEXT brand.
During this process, we have strengthened our internal understanding of our products and have become more aware of how these are best displayed to our target audiences. We have been challenged to create and set up content in a new digital framework, using the web universe as a more strategic business tool.
At the same time, this has helped to create a new dialogue between the communications department as the governing unit and managers/key employees. In other words, we now have a professional communication platform that strengthens the NEXT brand externally as well as internally.”
“We found that Umbraco is very flexible, intuitive and easy to work with as an editor. It is a solution that doesn’t limit us technically and it gives us the opportunity to expand to more components as needed, while simultaneously having many administrators associated. This means a future-proof and profitable solution, which is essential for NEXT. Our website is anything but a standard template - it's unique and it is ours!”