Case Study - Review of Darden School of Business Website

Review Brief

Website: darden.virginia.edu/uva-ple

• "Partnership for Leaders in Education".
  This headline is too basic to be used as a standalone headline. I'd use a more powerful headline and use the phrase above as a subheader. Or, use the headline you have now but add a nice subheader.
• The navigation menu below the headline must be responsive, meaning that it has to convert to an icon on mobiles.
• "Please check out our new report..."
  I wouldn't place this call to action right on top. Give your new visitors the opportunity to read first what you're offering. It doesn't make sense to send them away right at the beginning of the page.
• Below the top visual you placed two chunks of text, one after the other. In terms of usability, this structure is not effective because there is too much information to digest, and too much scrolling for mobile users. Also, the phrasing is a bit too "heavy". There are several things you can do to improve this section: (a) add an image or two to create a more attractive look; (b) improve the phrasing by using shorter phrases; (c) emphasize the benefits for your targets and use less self-promoting statements; (d) use bullets when possible instead of text-lists.
• "400 schools, 100 districts, 25 states..."
  Don't use this format/layout because it's an overused gimmick.
• "WHAT SETS THE UVA-PLE CORE PARTNERSHIP APART?"
  Don't use all capital letters phrasing! This is very important.
  Also, I'd place this information on a separate "why us" page.
• About PLE. Don't use the "mission vision value" phrasing. These terms were used so much over the past years that no one takes them seriously anymore. You can still deliver your messages the same, but without mentioning them.
• Most of the text on this page doesn't really belong to an "about us" page. About us pages should include information about the people behind the project, their expertise, their professional competence and so on.

These are just a few preliminary comments. A detailed report has been created for the business owner.

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