1. Designing for 365 Days a Year the MIT Home Page Suzana Lisanti, Publisher Susan Curran, Managing Editor

2. web.mit.edu

3. MIT community = 15K people

4. "What interesting and wonderful things are happening at MIT?"

5. Current students

6. Prospective students

7. Grad students

8. Faculty & researchers

9. Staff

10. Parents

11. Alumni

12. Media

13. General public

14. K-12

15. Key messages

16. Witty puzzle-solvers

17. MIT Campus

18. MIT Logo

19. The institutional frame & the creative canvas

20. 1M pages, 1K servers 300K hits to top page a day, 70% from outside MIT

21. Philosophy The home page showcases “the real MIT” through the creative, hands-on spirit of the MIT community. It is a window into what makes MIT unique. Graphics are designed and contributed by members of the community, and content is community-generated. Anyone can request a spotlight, submit a graphic for consideration, or write to us with comments about the page. Many high school students interact with us, as well as students at other colleges, and all segments of the MIT community. All comments are thoughtfully considered.

22. Spotlight criteria #1 Timeliness Promotion of MIT's mission and key messages Balance of interest to internal and external audiences Diversity of topics, creating a well-rounded impression of MIT

23. Spotlight Criteria #2 Intellectually engaging content A bias towards action and participation, as befits a community of “do-ers” Ideas that cut across disciplinary and organizational boundaries Concepts that truly reflect MIT, and reaffirm it as a special place

24. Inspiration: Apple Computer’s “Think different” campaign by Chiat/Day

25. The professionally designed

26. The “real”

27. “Witty thinking is playfulness with ideas, words playing against images, unexpected connections prompting new insights. It is clever thinking, not funny drawing. ” - Edward de Bono inspiration:

28. Challenges So much to show, so little space Balance diverse communities and interests Show images of reality Maintaining editorial and curatorial process How to keep the page uncluttered Dual branding – how to promote spotlight as well as “MIT”

29. Home Page = Sustainable Ecology Changing spotlights show people they’re important to MIT The graphic artist is credited on the MIT home page, with a short bio & link to their web site. “Have you seen the home page today?” provides a common point of interest

30. Brand engagement

31. “generic” images Challenge:

32. “Don’t change the change” Since 1997, the MIT home page has changed daily as an interactive site that informs and actively engages the MIT community and visitors. In an open-source spirit, anyone – the MIT community and the public – are encouraged to submit images or designs. In 2003 the top pages were redesigned, and the #1 request from our community was: don’t change the change.

33. Questions, comments? Thank you.