College of Pharmacy Website
I led and managed the website redesign project for the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy, working closely with the Director of Marketing. We partnered with an external agency to rebuild the site from the ground up. As the client-side project manager, I leveraged my design expertise, development knowledge and strong communication skills to drive the project forward and ensure its successful, on-time delivery.
OVERVIEW
Art Director
Multimedia Designer
Project Manager
Videographer
Website Designer
ROLE
Background
The College of Pharmacy’s original website was designed and developed in the early 2000s using Drupal, a platform that, while powerful at the time, became increasingly outdated and difficult to maintain. Built on Drupal 7.0, the site required frequent security patches and developer intervention for even basic content updates, creating bottlenecks for staff and limiting flexibility. Additionally, Drupal’s steep learning curve and lack of user-friendly tools made it challenging for non-technical users to manage day to day content needs. With the Drupal Security Team announcing the end of official support for version 7 in January 2025, the need for a complete redevelopment became urgent. I was brought on as Web Manager in August 2024 to lead the strategic relaunch of the website on WordPress - a more intuitive, sustainable, and user friendly content management system that would empower internal teams to easily manage and update content without relying on developers.
During stakeholder interviews with faculty, staff, and students, the primary users of the College of Pharmacy website, one consistent theme emerged: the site was difficult to navigate. Users expressed frustration with the outdated structure, unclear menus, and poor information architecture, which made it challenging to find essential resources such as academic programs, research initiatives, or contact information. These insights highlighted a significant usability gap and reinforced the need for a complete redesign focused on user experience, accessibility, and intuitive navigation.
To ensure a successful transformation of the College of Pharmacy website, we partnered with an experienced web development agency that specialized in modernizing outdated and hard to maintain websites. Their expertise in user centered design, accessibility, and higher education digital strategy made them a strong fit for the project. Together, we worked to reimagine the site architecture, visual identity, and technical framework, building a platform that would not only meet current user needs but also scale with the college’s evolving goals.