Content Strategy

Problem
The Kent State University (KSU) Campus Life website section hoped to increase engagement for Kent’s four top priority audiences:
  • Prospective students
  • Parents
  • On-campus undergrads
  • Online graduate students
My Role
I served as a UX consultant to the Content Manager of KSU Campus Life and facilitator to a group of UXD Graduate Students.

​UX Disciplines: Content Strategy, Facilitation, Message Architecture reflecting Voice and Tone.
Deliverables: Experience Journey, Content Audit, Content Recommendations.

Approach
I conducted a set of activities to inform the content strategy for KSU Campus Life with the intent to deliver a set of content recommendations which would meet Kent's goals and the needs of the top priority audiences.
 
Using a set of Personas representing the four audiences, I drafted an Experience Narrative, mapping the customer to anything non-academic that would promote or diminish the Persona’s relationship with KSU.
 
Using the Experience Narrative and the Personas, I created an Experience Journey for each audience. This was a set of lists, carefully arranged to perform in the context of a relationship with a university. 
The Prospective Student Experience Journey.
I  conducted a content audit for University Health Services (UHS) a subset of Campus Life. The audit revealed that the Student Life section was a collection of content without a targeted purpose. The content was not organized to meet University goals or the needs of the four primary personas.

A tricky set of constraints identified from a Stakeholder Interview with the Content Manager, conducted by another team member, revealed significant constraints on content type and a lack of development resources. 

Results
Even with the constraints on content type and development,  changes could be made to increase engagement. I identified Content Recommendations for KSU Campus Life. The recommendations called out the goals of the university and the goals of the audiences and were completely independent of existing content. 

After delivering the content recommendations, I facilitated a team of Kent State Graduate Students to identify the voice and tone for a Student Life Message Architecture focusing on brand perception. 

Lessons Learned
Although eager to provide high-quality content to KSU Campus Life, the Content Manager indicated in the Stakeholder Interview that a lack of time, development resources, and collaboration between departments posed significant impediments to implementing the most engaging types of content. 

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ksu_experiencejourney.pdf
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ksu_contentfindingsrecommendations.pdf
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ksu_contentrecommendations.pdf
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Get in touch

My UX journey began with a deep curiosity and desire to help people. Starting in counseling, then moving into user research, I discovered a natural ability to surface insights for shaping successful human-centered experiences.

The passion for understanding user needs led me to product design, where I translated insights into intuitive interfaces and became a Lead Product Designer.

Now, as a Sr. UX Researcher and former UX Research Manager, I deliver strategic and product-level insights, fostering a collaborative environment where cross-functional teams work together to bridge the gap between user needs and business success.
​© Copyright Diane Bowen 2025