The Role of Profiles is to represent our staff: Recommendations and reflections from our project

The UX Service recently concluded a project to research staff requirements improve University staff profiles to meet the needs and requirements of staff. In this post, I share my reflections from running such a wide-ranging, interesting and important project for the University. The Role of Profiles project ran from January to July 2025, led by […]

Read more

Digital housekeeping: Applying content management practices to improve digital sustainability

As the UX Service begins our next digital sustainability initiative, it was timely to pull together insights from our recent work for ideas on ways to reduce the environmental impact of digital content. To support the University’s pledge to become net carbon zero by 2040, in 2024 the Website and Communications team supported three interns […]

Read more

Why do some staff use University profiles more than others? Understanding perspectives of different staff groups

Hearing from 40 academic and professional services staff across various Schools and business units revealed why some groups of staff underused profiles compared to others and provided insights into the relative needs and preferences of different groups of staff. Analysis of UUN data associated with staff profiles published on EdWeb as part of the Role […]

Read more

Establishing my position, my role and my association with the University: What staff told us about the importance, purpose and function of their online profiles

Thousands of staff have a profile on the University website, yet many more don’t. Through interviews with staff, the Role of Profiles project sought to find out why, and to establish needs and requirements for profiles. This blog post documents reasons and use cases staff shared for having a University web profile. The move to […]

Read more

Representing myself online: Staff preferences and practices for content within online profiles

Content in University staff profiles plays a dual role in highlighting the achievements and important work of University employees and showcasing the institution as a centre of excellence. A profiles project sought to learn what staff needed from their online profiles. This post collates insights into profile content requirements, based on what staff shared in […]

Read more

Keeping profiles up-to-date: Practices and processes for managing the end-to-end lifecycle of staff profiles

Research for the Role of Profiles project found that many University staff profiles were out-of-date. Interviewing staff about their current processes for creating, updating and deleting profiles identified the work required to keep profiles current, and surfaced areas of good practice as well as opportunities for improvement. Analysis of UUN data associated with University staff […]

Read more

Profile owners, coordinators and consumers: Making sense of multiple perspectives on staff profiles

Interviewing 40 academic and professional services staff about profiles not only revealed insights from staff about their own profiles, but also viewpoints from staff involved in coordinating and utilising profile content. This blog post recounts the process to synthesis and analyse staff interview data to surface these different perspectives and understand associated needs and requirements. […]

Read more

Listening and learning from staff: Our process for interviewing University colleagues about online profiles

The Role of Profiles project aims to identify recommendations for an improved online profile provision, based on the needs of University staff. Interviewing individual staff members was our primary research method. This post outlines how we set up and conducted staff interviews – to hear what staff had to say, and to gather data on […]

Read more
1 2 3 4 5