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Anne Petersen

Director of Digital Marketing, University of Illinois at Chicago

Biography

Anne Petersen

Anne Petersen leads online communications at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). A web director with an emphasis on usability, she launched a new site and a new Facebook design within her first five months in the central Marketing and Communications office at UIC after consulting from within UIC’s College of Applied Health Sciences. Both redesigns integrate community and grassroots participation: students, faculty and staff contribute ideas and vote events and pages onto the UIC homepage.

Before UIC, Anne headed electronic communications within the Undergraduate Admissions Office at Penn State University, coordinating efforts for Penn State’s 20 undergraduate campuses. Her work there included a site redesign, producing a virtual tour, coordinating a Spanish-language microsite, and developing a presence within Teen Second Life. While at Penn State, Anne also chaired the Penn State Usability Group.

Anne serves on the HighEdWeb Conference Committee and is also their official photographer. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Penn State and BAs in literary studies and creative writing from Beloit College.

While her name may look Danish, Anne was born and raised in America, though she lived in Køge several years ago. She looks forward to practicing her rusty Danish skills.

University of Illinois at Chicago

UIC is one of the top 50 research-funded institutions in the United States. Our 27000 students make up one of the top 10 most racially diverse universities in the nation.

Part of the land-grant public University of Illinois system, our mission includes strong commitment to excellence in teaching, research, public service and economic development.

Presentation

The fittest survive: site iteration and adaptation

Case: University of Illinois at Chicago

Track: User experience
Conference Day #1, Wednesday November 3rd, 13.00-14.00

Shortening the lifecycle of site changes allows for fast adjustments to interface and content. If something's wrong, you'll hear about it--as long as you're listening.

During the recent redesign and launch of uic.edu, several sections were moved, removed, flipped, switched, shrunk and expanded. Our improvements were moment-to-moment, based on feedback via surveys, analytics, testing, email, in person and through mailing lists. We were able to turn around internal opinion and potential political incidents by responding quickly.

Similarly, during the most recent redesign of admissions.psu.edu, Penn State Admissions needed similar agility. In that case, close contact with front-line phone staff was key: we got news of problems as they happened and could adjust the site appropriately.

Lessons learned: be messy. Get it in front of people. Fail small. Adapt.

And thrive.

See slides online