ETH Zürich
Since the start of 2022, we have collaborated closely with the corporate web team at ETH Zürich—the "MIT of Europe"—to identify and capitalize on opportunities for infusing a more vibrant, contemporary, and visually striking aesthetic into the institution's expansive online presence.
The Challenge
ETH Zürich is an old and massive institution with a complex web presence. Our challenge has been to continually bring the online presence in step with contemporary trends and technologies. This has required a deep understanding of the institution's brand and the ability to work with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure the tools are effective and user-friendly.
The Goal
The goal of this project has been to consistently release new components and designs for the ETH Zürich ecosystem of websites which fulfill the needs of the institution's various departments and stakeholders while also bringing a contemporary look and feel to the brand.
Project Principles
Solutions
These are some of the ways we have helped ETH Zürich achieve their goals:
UX Research & Concepting
Much of our work for ETH Zürich has involved careful analysis of the existing online ecosystem and conducting taxonomical research that allows us and the internal team to identify gaps and propose new components that cater to the specific needs of the corporate communications department, site authors and visitors alike.
Web Design
We transform component concepts into visually beautiful and functional mockups and prototypes, which the ETH web developers can implement in the production code with the help of our keen attention to detail. Our work combines aesthetics, technical proficiency and the pragmatism to synthesize multiple perspectives into a common vision.
Process Optimization
Through careful analysis and deep listening, we have been able to propose improvements such as the implementation of a master Kanban board for enhanced project visibility, the introduction of new component file types in Figma, and the creation of comprehensive documentation artifacts to ensure consistent understanding among all team members.
Nick Niles has proven to be an extremely competent UX designer and has approached our web design projects with the needed flexibility and knowledge resulting in very successful and well-accepted design changes for the websites in our web content management system. As a member of the institution’s web team, I can say it has been a pleasure working with him.
Christine Khammash
CMS Manager, ETH Zürich
