Build something newsworthy.
- Web Design
- UX Research
- UX strategy
- UI strategy
- Wordpress Development
Industry
Education
Year
2024
A Hub for What’s Happening
Loyola Today is a dynamic digital content hub that highlights the university’s most compelling stories, news, and updates. Designed to serve a wide audience (from students and alumni to journalists and faculty), the site centralizes previously scattered content into a single, elevated platform. It’s a modern, engaging experience that elevates Loyola’s reputation while making it easier to navigate and share the latest and greatest.
The Challenge
Showcasing the latest and greatest.
Loyola’s communications team had a wealth of content, but no centralized home that reflected the university’s prestige and breadth. Their stories were buried across platforms, hard to find, and lacked visual cohesion. The existing newsroom’s outdated interface was holding back engagement, discoverability, and user experience. They needed a modern platform that was just as impressive as the stories it held. One that worked for students, faculty, alumni, and media alike.
The Process
A hierarchy that highlights.
We restructured the site’s architecture to emphasize priority content. Featured stories, timely updates, and long-form magazine content now have distinct spaces, letting users immediately see what’s most important and relevant.
Designed for all.
We implemented UX strategies to ensure different users could intuitively find and engage with content tailored to their needs.
Flexible and visual.
With content flowing in from various sources and authors, flexibility was key. We built dynamic templates that supported high-res photography, embedded video, and even magazine-like scroll effects—while staying true to Loyola’s brand.
Optimized to perform.
Technical enhancements, including batched loading and improved backend workflows, drastically reduced load times and improved admin efficiency. Authors can now publish with more control and less friction.
Integrated and future-proof.
We synced the content hub with Loyola’s newsletter tool (Poppulo) to simplify content distribution. Future-facing features like video post types, scroll position memory, and enhanced search ensure the site can scale with the team’s ambitions.
The Solution
With Loyola Today, the university now has a modern news platform that reflects the prestige and dynamism of its content. The site invites users to explore, get inspired, and stay informed. The new platform makes Loyola’s stories as resonant online as they are in real life.
Key Process Solutions
Distinct spaces for feature stories, magazine content, and daily news
Simplified navigation and filtering for multi-audience use
Content-forward design with flexible modules and media integration
Improved speed and backend usability to streamline content creation
Key Features
Scroll memory for uninterrupted browsing
Clickable images and external links by default
Integration with Photoshelter for photo galleries
Magazine-ready layouts with parallax and dropcaps
Back-end tagging and metadata enhancements (Yoast AI, autofill authors)
