UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

A Business School Website for the 21st Century

UNC Kenan-Flagler is widely regarded as one of the top business schools in the world. After celebrating 100 years of educating students, they needed a new digital presence to position them for the next 100. 

NMC worked with the school to establish a new higher education website design and digital identity while building a site that presents a streamlined experience for both visitors and administrators.  It was important that the site felt consistent with the strong UNC brand while also positioning itself as an independent and formidable entity in its own right. We were able to lean into the existing reband while differentiating the site enough to make it feel uniquely UNC.

The school website actually encapsulates multiple different programs: Undergraduate, Master of Accounting, MBA, PHD, and Executive Development, comprising thousands of different pages and a multitude of target audiences.  NMC dove deep into the upfront information architecture, working with the School to audit and refine their sitemap and setup a navigation structure that enables visitors to easily track where they are on the site and navigate within and across different programs.

 

Designing a Tailored Experience

The design works to mask the complexity of the School and its content by providing intuitive experiences for different target audiences within their own sections, letting each program operate their own microsites within the broader framework and context of the School website.  This approach allows each program to provide a tailored experience while still taking advantage of the broader brand, content, and resources. Interactive design flourishes throughout the site help it feel engaging for visitors while furthering the organization’s positioning as a School well-suited for today’s digital landscape.

The site was migrated from the proprietary Sitecore CMS to open-source WordPress CMS, and it was setup on a powerful and flexible block system that allows editors to quickly build out custom templates and scale the site over time.

An Engaging Homepage

The site's homepage includes engaging features like a full-width ambient video, program buttons for easy self-segmentation, and a news center that showcases recent articles. These features pull users towards the site's informative interior pages.