Photo by Tiffany Xiao/The Choate News
Mr. Todd Jaser managed the Choate website redesign.
This past summer, Choate underwent a major revamp of the website, which was last updated over three years ago.
Redesigning the website began with defining its goals and stakeholders. Choate partnered with a creative agency, 160over90, to create the School’s viewbook, and a website vendor, Finalsite, which reviewed the visual design and content of the site.
However, the redesign process was complicated by the global pandemic, leading the administration to rethink some of its procedures. “A big unforeseen challenge this time around was getting visual assets without students with masks on,” said Director of Communications Ms. Alison Cady, who oversaw parts of the redesign. Due to Covid-19 protocols, much of the media content on the website had to be captured during the last three days of the 2020-2021 school year, once the majority of the community had been fully vaccinated.
In order to create an effective website, the School reviewed the previous site and discussed how to create the best user experience. Choate’s Website & Electronic Communications Manager Mr. Todd Jaser, who managed the redesign of the Choate website, said, “It was a very mobile centric, media-rich goal for us.” Analytics showed that half of the users were viewing the website on their mobile devices, and a majority with their right hand. As a result, the new design included a feature that would allow many of the videos to be played vertically so users wouldn’t need to rotate their phones. The menu on mobile devices was also positioned on the bottom right for right and single-handed use.
Ms. Cady hopes that students are pleased with the new website. “We really intentionally did not want to look like any of the other schools out there,” she said. “I think we hit the mark with that.”
