Unified Multi-University Website Platform for Enhanced User Experience and Content Management

Education

Challenges in Managing and Presenting Multi-Institutional Content

The client manages over 60 individual university websites, resulting in inconsistent user experiences, high maintenance costs, and limited content management efficiency. Prospective students, current students, and staff face difficulties navigating the diverse content, leading to decreased engagement and higher bounce rates. The existing infrastructure lacks a cohesive multisite framework, impeding scalable content updates and secure deployment workflows.

About the Client

A large public higher education institution overseeing multiple university campuses or faculties seeking a unified digital presence and streamlined content management system.

Goals for a Modern, Scalable, and User-Centric Website Ecosystem

Implement a unified Content Management System (CMS) supporting a multisite architecture for over 60 university websites.
Enhance user experience through intuitive UX/UI design, improving accessibility and content discoverability.
Automate content migration from legacy platforms to the new CMS to ensure data integrity and minimize downtime.
Establish a continuous integration and deployment pipeline to facilitate reliable and rapid updates across all sites.
Reduce website maintenance costs by streamlining content workflows and minimizing redundant efforts.
Achieve at least a 60% increase in user engagement metrics within the first three months post-launch, alongside a significant reduction in bounce rates.

Core Functional Requirements for the Multi-University Web Platform

Centralized management interface for all university sites supporting role-based content editing permissions.
Multisite architecture enabling independent yet linked university websites within a single CMS environment.
Rich, flexible content authoring and management tools allowing for multimedia, schedules, news, and event updates.
Seamless content migration capabilities from existing legacy systems with minimal operational disruption.
Integration of a version control and workflow management system for editorial processes.
Implementation of a robust continuous integration/deployment pipeline to automate testing, staging, and production releases.
Advanced analytics dashboard for monitoring user engagement, bounce rates, and content performance.
Enhanced accessibility features compliant with recognized standards to serve diverse users.

Preferred Technologies and Architectural Approaches

Open-source CMS platform supporting multisite deployment (e.g., a modular CMS with multisite capabilities).

PHP and MySQL for backend development.

Modern frontend frameworks such as Vue.js for dynamic interfaces.

REST API for integrations and external data connectivity.

HTML5 and CSS3 for responsive, accessible web interfaces.

External Systems and Data Integrations Needed

Existing legacy content repositories for migration.
Analytics tools for real-time user behavior tracking.
Authentication systems for secure access control.
Continuous integration tools for automated deployment workflows.

Key Non-Functional System Requirements

High scalability to support future growth of university websites and increased traffic.
Performance optimization ensuring quick load times and minimal downtime.
Security measures adhering to best practices, including role-based access control and data encryption.
Availability and uptime of 99.9% for all web services.
Maintainability with a modular architecture to facilitate future feature enhancements.

Projected Business Benefits and Performance Improvements

The new multisite web platform is expected to significantly improve user engagement, with over a 60% increase in site visitors within the first three months after launch. It will decrease website bounce rates by nearly 30%, reduce content management and maintenance costs, and enable rapid deployment of updates and new features, thereby supporting the institution's digital transformation goals.