Mind Mapping in a website relaunch  project

Challenge  As internal IT supplier of an education holding with several affiliated (higher) education companies  (particularly private universities and vocational schools), I recently got involved with the relaunch of  the website for one of our largest subsidiaries. The existing website was developed within only two  months by a team leaving the organization within days after the launch six months ago. Once online,  the website turned out not to have undergone proper testing, lacked important content, had a  horrible translation and was built on a very poor technical infrastructure. The website also  particularly lacked a clear customer focus and efficient conversion paths. Instead, it reflected a  complicated internal organizational structure with multiple sub-brands, external sub-sites and no  clear communication channels. As a result, the website became a disaster in terms of ranking /  visibility, user experience, content quality and – above all – conversion.

A relaunch seemed the only way to fix all this and the board asked a new group of marketing  employees from the different sub-brands to develop a concept for a website relaunch which should  be completed within three months. The board asked me to support this project with my technical  expertise (and my marketing experience from earlier positions).

It quickly became apparent, that the project not only lacked a clear setup and structure but that the  mindset of the people involved would result in a website similar to the last one… with sub-brands  fighting over user attention, no integrated communication approach and a lack of clear and  straightforward conversion paths. My challenge was (and is) to avoid this and support the team in  creating a “better” website by rethinking their existing marketing approaches.

Selection  I decided that the mind mapping tool (https://www.coursera.org/learn/uva-darden-design-thinking- innovation/lecture/lsFRa/mind-mapping-tool) might be a good option to visualize common interests  of the units and behaviors of different user groups (e.g. prospective students, parents, students,  alumni, teachers, teaching staff, job seekers, etc.) and thus foster the project groups attention to  developing a joint approach for the website. As we already had substantial data on the user  behaviors and preferences (e.g. from website analytics, evaluations, interviews and anecdotical  evidence), clustering information from these sources and connecting relevant data points seemed a  logical next step.

Application  In a first step, I asked all projects team members to prepare the kick-off meeting by collecting and  reviewing relevant information like user behavior on the website (incl. online analytics, adword  campaign results), surveys, competition analysis and interviews with key stakeholders. Each member  was also asked to present his / her analysis at the beginning of the meeting and highlighted  important insights.

During the presentations, every member was asked to note relevant aspects on post-its and collected  them. We then discussed and identified overarching aspects for the design of successful websites  (e.g. focus groups, user behavior, devices, interests, aims of the website, etc.) and wrote them on a

white board. Afterwards, each member presented their post-its, we discussed the aspects and  clustered them around the focal points on the white board.

Insight & Approach  It soon became apparent that some of the project members had a pretty fixed mindset and strong  organizational focus (partly because they had been involved in earlier website projects for the group  and had a long affiliation with the sub-brands). Although some of the products (education programs)  were rather similar and thus relevant for identical user groups, these group members tried to  establish a structure that would only bring theirs brands products to the customer’s attention.

Only when I highlighted the strong interest of our board for cross-brand collaboration and a unified  approach did these members open and started applying a “what if there were no organizational  structures” approach. Once the Gordian Knot was cut, however, the team started adopting a new  perspective and developed a very promising first concept for the website relaunch.

Other than expected from the board, however, key findings from the meeting were that the  development of the new website would require several organizational adjustments and a more  detailed analysis of interfaces and possibilities for joint product initiatives. Also, the group identified  the lack of a coherent brand strategy to be a major hurdle for the development of a new website and  that an imminent rebranding (Corporate Design) will make developing the new website within the  expected timespan impossible.

Instead, the group developed a project proposal which describes the new communication  approaches, key fields of action, technical, organizational and resource requirements and decisions  for the board which will make the relaunch feasible.

This result was, from my perspective, the best we could achieve: Instead of making the same  mistakes again, we will now have the option to develop a coherent website optimized for conversion  and test new and overdue organizational restructures.

For the next steps in this project I will consider using visualization techniques within the team (and  sub-brand organizations) and the learning launch approach with potential customers and students  via A/B testing and rapid user tests to gain additional information on customer groups, conversion  paths and overall acceptance of the new website compared to the current version.


Mind Mapping in a website relaunch project Challenge As internal IT supplier of an education holding with several affiliated ( higher ) education companies ( particularly private universities and vocational schools ) , I recently got involved with the relaunch of the website for one of our largest subsidiaries . The existing website was developed within only two months by a team leaving the organization within days after the launch six months ago . Once online , the website turned out not to have undergone proper testing , lacked important content , had a horrible translation and was built on a very poor technical infrastructure . The website also particularly lacked a clear customer focus and efficient conversion paths . Instead , it reflected a complicated internal organizational structure with multiple sub - brands , external sub - sites and no clear communication channels . As a result , the website became a disaster in terms of ranking / visibility , user experience , content quality and – above all – conversion . A relaunch seemed the only way to fix all this and the board asked a new group of marketing employees from the different sub - brands to develop a concept for a website relaunch which should be completed within three months . The board asked me to support this project with my technical expertise ( and my marketing experience from earlier positions ) . It quickly became apparent , that the project not only lacked a clear setup and structure but that the mindset of the people involved would result in a website similar to the last one … with sub - brands fighting over user attention , no integrated communication approach and a lack of clear and straightforward conversion paths . My challenge was ( and is ) to avoid this and support the team in creating a “ better ” website by rethinking their existing marketing approaches . Selection I decided that the mind mapping tool ( https://www.coursera.org/learn/uva-darden-design-thinking- innovation / lecture / lsFRa / mind - mapping - tool ) might be a good option to visualize common interests of the units and behaviors of different user groups ( e.g. prospective students , parents , students , alumni , teachers , teaching staff , job seekers , etc . ) and thus foster the project groups attention to developing a joint approach for the website . As we already had substantial data on the user behaviors and preferences ( e.g. from website analytics , evaluations , interviews and anecdotical evidence ) , clustering information from these sources and connecting relevant data points seemed a logical next step . Application In a first step , I asked all projects team members to prepare the kick - off meeting by collecting and reviewing relevant information like user behavior on the website ( incl . online analytics , adword campaign results ) , surveys , competition analysis and interviews with key stakeholders . Each member was also asked to present his / her analysis at the beginning of the meeting and highlighted important insights . During the presentations , every member was asked to note relevant aspects on post - its and collected them . We then discussed and identified overarching aspects for the design of successful websites ( e.g. focus groups , user behavior , devices , interests , aims of the website , etc . ) and wrote them on a white board . Afterwards , each member presented their post - its , we discussed the aspects and clustered them around the focal points on the white board . Insight & Approach It soon became apparent that some of the project members had a pretty fixed mindset and strong organizational focus ( partly because they had been involved in earlier website projects for the group and had a long affiliation with the sub - brands ) . Although some of the products ( education programs ) were rather similar and thus relevant for identical user groups , these group members tried to establish a structure that would only bring theirs brands products to the customer ’s attention . Only when I highlighted the strong interest of our board for cross - brand collaboration and a unified approach did these members open and started applying a “ what if there were no organizational structures ” approach . Once the Gordian Knot was cut , however , the team started adopting a new perspective and developed a very promising first concept for the website relaunch . Other than expected from the board , however , key findings from the meeting were that the development of the new website would require several organizational adjustments and a more detailed analysis of interfaces and possibilities for joint product initiatives . Also , the group identified the lack of a coherent brand strategy to be a major hurdle for the development of a new website and that an imminent rebranding ( Corporate Design ) will make developing the new website within the expected timespan impossible . Instead , the group developed a project proposal which describes the new communication approaches , key fields of action , technical , organizational and resource requirements and decisions for the board which will make the relaunch feasible . This result was , from my perspective , the best we could achieve : Instead of making the same mistakes again , we will now have the option to develop a coherent website optimized for conversion and test new and overdue organizational restructures . For the next steps in this project I will consider using visualization techniques within the team ( and sub - brand organizations ) and the learning launch approach with potential customers and students via A / B testing and rapid user tests to gain additional information on customer groups , conversion paths and overall acceptance of the new website compared to the current version .