Get ready for a refresh! We are thrilled to announce the redesign of the It’s Your Yale website, set to launch on Wednesday, August 13. This redesign has been driven by robust feedback from the Yale community, with the aim of making the website more user-friendly, accessible, and efficient.
One of the primary goals of the redesign is to enhance the functionality of searching within the It’s Your Yale website. Additionally, the redesign has boosted the site’s accessibility score, ensuring that any user can easily access and navigate the site. One of the most significant changes is to reframe portions of the content as services, helping users directly find results more quickly, without needing to understand the organizational hierarchy.
Faster, simpler, better
These enhancements will provide a faster, simpler, better user experience across all platforms and devices. “Users visit It’s Your Yale with specific objectives, such as obtaining support, accessing resources, or completing administrative tasks,” said Lisa Sawin, senior project director for operations initiatives. “The services will be organized into clear, user-focused categories. This streamlined approach will save time, reduce frustration, and make the website more intuitive and user-friendly.”
What does that mean in practice? Sawin said that instead of hunting for the shuttle schedules, users can go straight to the Getting Around Yale section, where all transportation info is centrally located. Want to take a visitor out to lunch? Go to the Dining Around Campus section to find a wide variety of options from Yale Hospitality and the Shops at Yale.
‘A breath of fresh air’
Deb Novella, health and wellness program manager, noted that “the new design is a breath of fresh air and provides ease of navigation and availability to search for benefit content either by job class or specific benefit.” She highlighted that the Benefits content has been reorganized to provide comprehensive descriptions that help employees make informed decisions.
The Finance section has undergone significant structural upgrades, which will save time and reduce frustration in finding relevant tools and guidance. “By streamlining navigation and presenting financial tools and guidance in a more logical way, we’re confident employees will spend less time searching and more time getting what they need,” said Kathryn Scelzo, a subject matter expert for the OneFinance Financial Gateway project.
New focus on services
The project team also conducted a thorough assessment of all existing financial content housed on It’s Your Yale and reorganized the information to align with how users naturally engage with financial tasks. The new service-focused categories and an integrated Finance Chatbot will further enhance the user experience.
“We worked to create a simplified, intuitive user experience that will make it easier for members of the Yale community to quickly and reliably find the financial resources they need,” said Michael Jarosz, director of university policy and co-lead of the OneFinance Financial Gateway project.
Alison Valentino, director of internal controls and co-lead of the OneFinance Financial Gateway project added, “We are confident that maintaining accurate, updated content through continuous improvement and enhanced governance will address needs that the Finance community brought forward.”
Stay tuned
The redesigned It’s Your Yale website reflects our commitment to creating a more efficient and engaging platform for the Yale community. We invite you to explore these exciting changes for yourself on August 13.
Get ready to navigate It’s Your Yale with ease!
