Griffith University and Squiz Matrix CMS

Challenge

Griffith University ranks in the top 2 percent of universities globally and has over 50,000 students on five campuses in South East Queensland.

The University had a clear vision for a new student portal – a platform that allowed Griffith University to communicate directly to different cohorts of students simultaneously.

They had the following requirements.

Personalised content for students – remembering who they were and what they were studying.
Fast and accessible – from various devices, including computers, laptops, tablets and phones.
Task focused – enabling students to enrol, view their timetable or academic records, and access other Griffith University systems.
Technically integrated – pulling information from a wide range of disparate systems and presenting it via an easy-to-use interface.

Solution

Squiz Matrix CMS was used to integrate a number of systems and databases so students had all the information they needed in one place. Its simple interface made it easy to create a clean, modern site appealing to students.

Content strategy informed the way the portal’s wireframes would be laid out and Squiz ensured that each wireframe could function within the portal and deliver a great user experience.

As Griffith wished to utilise their existing infrastructure for the project to provide personalised content, a single code path to handle the personalisation logic had to be written. Although complicated, the result was hugely successful.

“…MyGriffith…is very impressive and brilliant work where you can find everything you need in one place! I used to get lost whilst searching for information on the Griffith website, this is no longer the case with the new MyGriffith platform. I am impressed by the creative minds who designed such a sophisticated platform in a simplified way!”

Results

The myGriffith portal integrates with 22 different systems and can be easily viewed on multiple devices.
One week after launch, 52.6% of polled students rated the new portal Excellent despite having to adjust to a new student experience mid semester.
myGriffith is used for up to 500,000 sessions per month making it one of Griffith's most highly visited sites.

Approach

Squiz worked collaboratively with Peak Usability, as well as the myGriffith portal team, to apply a robust, user-centred design approach throughout the project.

Users had input through eight focus groups, a university-wide survey and stakeholder interviews, ensuring the final product met all needs and requirements.